Q Toon: What a Friend We Have

After accepting the congratulations of his minions and toadies following the mass murder in Orlando, Republican presumptive nominee Donald Berzilius Trump tweeted:

"Thank you to the LGBT community! I will fight for you while Hillary brings in more people who will threaten your freedoms and beliefs."

Campaigning in Atlanta, Trump appealed not only to the LGBT community, but the communities of gays and lesbians as well:

"The LGBT community, the gay community, the lesbian community — they are so much in favor of what I've been saying over the last three or four days. Ask the gays what they think and what they do, in, not only Saudi Arabia, but many of these countries, and then you tell me — who's your friend, Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton?"

The Twitterverse responded with the hashtag #AskTheGays, in which it seems pretty obvious that Trump hadn't Asked The Gays before speaking on our behalf.

The next week, The Donald held a closed-door meeting with right-wing evangelical Christian leaders and announced the formation of a "Religious Advisory Board" including vocally antigay luminaries such as former Focus on the Family president Dr. James Dobson, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr., Bishop Harry Jackson, First Baptist Church of Dallas Pastor Robert Jeffress, and Faith and Freedom Coalition founder Ralph Reed.

We're still waiting for the formation of an LGBT Advisory Board for whenever Trump decides to #AskTheGays.

Q Toon: Through the Eye of the Needle

I take a risk any time I draw a cartoon like this one on the weekend before a presidential primary or caucus, knowing it won't be published until after the votes are counted and their entrails analyzed beyond recognition.

It's too bad I didn't draw it a week earlier. I have been at a loss to understand the fulsome praise heaped upon Donald "Two Corinthians" Trump by Liberty University President Jerry Falwell, Jr. (I didn't realize they had a history together.). Robert Jeffress of First Baptist Dallas has also come as close as he can get to officially endorsing Trump without risking his megachurch's tax-exempt status (and I guess those two have no history together to explain what Jeffress sees in The Donald). An NBC News/Survey Monkey poll taken before the Iowa caucuses led one to believe that evangelicals were "flocking to Trump."

Among white evangelical Republican voters nationally, Trump earned the support of 37 percent, while Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, whose father is a pastor and has played a key role in recruiting faith leaders to support his son, is at 20 percent. In the same survey conducted the previous week, Cruz registered 9 percentage points higher. Below the top two contenders, Ben Carson earned 11 percent among evangelicals, and Marco Rubio took 10 percent.

What do these people who think President Obama is the Antichrist see in the guy often described as a thrice-married casino mogul? It can't be his powers of insightful exegesis:

Trump was raised Presbyterian and has often fumbled in his attempts to appeal to Christian and Evangelical voters. He declined to discuss his favorite Bible verse in August, after claiming the Bible was his all-time favorite book. He later tried to recite a verse that didn't actually occur in the Bible. He has also said he never asks God for forgiveness, and when asked which book of the Bible was his favorite, he said he likes the Old and New Testament equally.

On the other hand, they probably appreciated his promise to appoint Supreme Court justices who would overturn the current Court's rulings for marriage equality. The Muslim-bashing didn't hurt his standing with them, either.

But the evangelicals could get that stuff from nearly every one of the candidates in the Republican party. They bought it from Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum before -- two Iowa caucus victors who are now stranded in the wilderness wondering how they let some Richie Rich from Noo Yoark Sitty swipe their schtick.

Liberty University Bans Student Democrats' Club

From press reports:

Brian Diaz, 18, told The Washington Post he was notified of the action by e-mail May 15. The e-mail said the club supports candidates whose views are "directly contrary to the mission of Liberty University."

The club, with about 30 members, was organized during the 2008 presidential campaign and supported Barack Obama's candidacy.

"They . . . let the Liberty University College Republicans stay on campus but they don't let us," Diaz said. "Sounds like censorship to me."

Sounds to me like Liberty University has revealed that its mission is to support Republicans.