Q Toon: Exit Stage Right

Far-right provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos found himself the latest victim of the Leopards Eating Faces Party last month.

ICE arrested British-born Yiannopoulos at Louis Armstrong International Airport on Friday for overstayng his visa. Fellow fascist Laura Loomer is claiming credit for ratting Yiannopoulos out to the Feds; he was arriving in New Orleans for a concert by Kanye "Ye" West, with whom Yiannopoulos has been associated in recent years.

Identifying as gay in the '00's and ’10's, Yiannopoulos made a career out of being an offensive internet troll, insulting women and Muslims, and basically anyone to the left of Emperor Palpatine. As a columnist for Andrew Breitbart's website from 2014 to 2017, Yiannopoulos had been an early and vocal advocate for Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign, especially his anti-immigration plans. 

In February of 2017, he was forced out from Breitbart, cancelled at CPAC, and lost a book contract, after audio surfaced of him defending some sex between teens and adults as “perfectly consensual” and calling some teen-adult sexual interactions “coming-of-age relationships." Exactly the sort of "groomer" stuff conservatives have long used to vilify LGBTQ+ people.

Since then, he has decided that he is no longer gay, telling a Catholic anti-abortion website that he was "living as brothers" with his then husband. (To nobody's surprise, that marriage has not lasted.) In 2022, he signed up to be an intern for then Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene; he also got in on the ground floor of Kanye West/Yeezy/Ye's 2024 abortive presidential campaign.

According to the Department of Homeland Security, Yiannopoulos entered the U.S. legally in 2019 on a tourist visa, which he overstayed. A final order of removal was issued for him after he missed an immigration hearing in July. 

Yiannopoulos last summer tweeted of masturbating to videos of ICE raids, so it is impossible to muster any vestige of sympathy for the guy.

Besides, England agreed to take him back. It's not like ICE dumped him in South Shitholestan somewhere.

Deciding how to draw Mr. Yiannopoulos wasn't easy, by the way. The guy has changed his hairstyle more often than Cher, and has packed on the pounds and shed them back off. In most photos, he's wearing glasses or shades, which didn't seem appropriate for the setting of the cartoon. I opted for his signature 2017 look, but in what is either his passport or current mug shot, he appears to have quit bleaching or dying his hair, and sports a modest mustache with a modicum of jaw-line whiskers.

Has to be a mug shot. You have to can't have stuff in the background of a passport photo.

2024: Demokratiedämmerung

Lest auld republic be forgot, let's bring it back to mind: 

For lack of a slide-show feature in this here blog, I present here a column of some of my cartoons from 2024. I might have added the cartoon I drew Sunday, I suppose, even though it's not being published until 2025. Perhaps if I remember it a year from now, it will be part of my 2025 retrospective.

So here, at least to jog my own memory, is what the hell we have been drawing about this year:

Q Toon: Our Tone

There were a handful of celebrity deaths over the weekend, and I tried to come up with a cartoon about Richard Simmons's passing. But everything that came to mind was either trite or in poor taste — as most memorial cartoons are — and given that the assassination attempt against Donald Trump was dominating news coverage to the exclusion of almost everything else, I couldn't bring myself to ink Simmons doing calisthenics at the Pearly Gates.

Or whatever I might have had Dr. Ruth Westheimer, Shannon Daugherty, James Sikking, Shelley Duvall, or Jacoby Jones doing.

Because a bullied young white man with a gun climbed onto a roof and took shots at Mr. Trump, there have been calls to "tone down the rhetoric," especially regarding criticism of the Republican nominee for the presidency of the United States.

Republicans do not like Democrats calling their presidential nominee an American Hitler and a reprehensible, cynical asshole (whoops, those were from J.D. Vance) just because he wants to create a police state to round up all the Latinos, weaponize the Department of Justice and FBI, set up boncentration bamps, and persecute all his political enemies, and he never met a right-wing dictator he didn't like. I get it. Imagine being called a Communist for wanting affordable health care, or a Nazi for supporting women’s rights, or demonspawn for urging people not to gather in crowds during a global pandemic of a novel virus that was killing millions.

Toning down the rhetoric is not something we political cartoonists are particularly good at, but you will notice that I didn't draw Mr. Trump with a pig's snout, and I have (so far) refrained from giving him a middle name from dystopian fiction.

For my cartoon, I selected five examples of Republicans loose talk about guns and killing. The first (a paraphrase) dates back to 2016; the fifth (a direct quote) was earlier this month. I could have included many more — especially Republicans' virulent rash of gun fetish Christmas cards. 

(I didn't leave myself room to identify the fourth politician, and it occurs to me that readers may not know whether she is Lauren Boebert, Sarah Palin, or Kristi Noem. Is there any one of them that you think could not have said she was bringing a gun to settle political differences?)

Trump's responses to, not just hypothetical or rhetorical, but actual violence against Democrats is unforgettable:

When a madman hammered nearly to death the husband of then–House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Donald Trump jeered and mocked. One of Trump’s sons and other close Trump supporters avidly promoted false claims that Paul Pelosi had somehow brought the onslaught upon himself through a sexual misadventure.

After authorities apprehended a right-wing-extremist plot to abduct Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, Trump belittled the threat at a rally. He disparaged Whitmer as a political enemy. His supporters chanted “Lock her up.” Trump laughed and replied, “Lock them all up.”

We're also told that he found the violent attempt to overthrow the U.S. government on January 6, 2021, thoroughly entertaining. Most of the rest of us did not.

So forgive me if I'm not ready to sing For He's a Jolly Good Fellow with his MAGA mobsters.

✍

By the way, it was Rep. Lauren Boebert.

Q Toon: D.C. Rider

Republican Speaker of the House Mike Johnson reached across the aisle to cobble together a stop-gap budget deal to keep the U.S. government running until September. The must-pass deal will probably pass the Senate in time to keep the government from shutting down when the last stop-gap budget deal expires at the end of March.

Johnson needed Democratic help passing the bill, because — let's be frank here — when it comes to running a government, today's Republicans are utterly incompetent.

What else could you expect? Today's Republicans are fundamentally opposed to government, so why would they be good at governing? Most of them hate the government and want to drown it in a bathtub of red ink. They are in Washington to get on TV and own libs and get shares on social media, not to pass budgets and accomplish stuff. 

They can't even accomplish stuff they claim they want when they have it handed to them all put together and tied up with ribbons and bows, like this year's border security bill.

What few Republicans who are actually interested in getting the government to do things are leaving town, and not waiting for the next election. The latest departure is Wisconsin's Mike Gallagher, who has represented the northeast corner of the state since 2017. He has had a 100% vote rating from the National Right to Life Committee and Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, National Association of Manufacturers, Americans for Prosperity, Freedom First Society, and Gun Owners of America.

His approval ratings drop to 92% from the National Rifle Association, 82% from the Club for Cancerous Growth, and 79% from the American Conservative Union; but still, he's no middle-of-the-road Republican-In-Name-Only wishy-washy Alexander Throttlebottom.

But like Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), Gallagher simply couldn't wait to get the hell out of Washington, and is leaving Congress before his term ends. Democrats, expecting next month to pick up the seat vacated when George Santos (R-Living Island) was expelled, would then be only two votes shy of the majority. In other words, if only one Republican were to break ranks and votes with all the Democrats, the result would be a tie, enough to defeat any amendment, bill, or impeachment.

The previous must-pass stop-gap budget deal only passed because Mike Johnson's predecessor begged for Democratic support, which is why Kevin McCarthy is no longer Speaker of the House. Now Johnson has decided he had no alternative but to follow McCarthy's lead. As if to prove the point that Republicans simply cannot govern, Marjorie Taylor-Greene (R-Through the Looking Glass) wants to call for a vote of no confidence in Johnson.

And start the tortuous process of electing a Speaker of the House all over again.

Q Toon: There's Always Room for One More

The House Ethics Committee has found that Long Island Republican Representative George Santos, a.k.a. Anthony DeVolder, a.k.a Kitara Rivache, a.k.a. Baron Munchausen,  

knowingly caused his campaign committee to file false or incomplete reports with the Federal Election Commission; used campaign funds for personal purposes; engaged in fraudulent conduct in connection with RedStone Strategies LLC; and engaged in knowing and willful violations of the Ethics in Government Act as it relates to his Financial Disclosure (FD) Statements filed with the House.

According to their investigation, Santos used campaign funds on hotel stays in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, on Botox treatments, and subscribing to the mostly-porn site OnlyFans. Committee Chair Michael Guest (R-MS) and Ranking Member Susan Wild (D-PA) have called for Santos to be expelled from the House, something that has been done to 20 Congressmen in U.S. history — 17 of them for supporting the Confederate States of America during the Civil War.

Comedians are saddened at the prospect of losing such a handy generator of punch lines, but never fear. The House is still swarming with poltroons from Marjorie Taylor Greene to Lauren Boebert to Derrick Van Orden to Gym Jordan.

And now the QAnon Shaman, Jacob Chansley, fresh out of prison for his roll in the January 6 Insurrection, has announced a run for Congress from Arizona.

Well, maybe I shouldn't have said "never fear."

Just before sending this cartoon off to Q Syndicate Monday morning, I came across this cautionary note from John Stewart, discussing Santos on The Problem with Jon Stewart back in January:

“The thing we have to be careful of — and I always caution myself on this, and I ran into this trouble with Trump — is we cannot mistake absurdity for lack of danger. Because it takes people with no shame to do shameful things.”

Okay, then. Be afraid.

Be very afraid.

Q Toon: Qui Tollis Crimina Mundi

 

Pope Francis has been preaching lately against the criminalization of homosexuality, most recently along with Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby and Rt. Rev. Iain Greenshields, the Presbyterian moderator of the Church of Scotland as the three were returning from an ecumenical pilgrimage to South Sudan.

The Pope isn't backing down from Catholic dogma that homosexual acts are a sin, mind you, but in light of antigay laws in 57 countries around the world — 11 of which make it punishable by death — and moves in some of those nations to make being gay or lesbian even more illegal than it already is, I for one appreciate the Pope for speaking out.

For the record, the Anglican Communion worldwide is deeply divided over issues surrounding LGBTQ+ persons, while the Presbyterian Church is officially welcoming.

Now, as for whether wearing white after Labor Day or putting pineapple on pizza is the greater crime, I defer to the experts. Or at least to my Italian-American husband if I know what's good for me. 

Some people consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral. And some people come to the State of the Union in February wearing this:

I suppose it could be worse.

But we were discussing men's fashion today, and — not having seen whether Senator Fetterman was wearing his hoodie Tuesday night — in the halls of the Holy See, not those of Congress.

They don't observe Labor Day in Rome, of course. At least, not in September. Like the rest of the civilized world, they celebrate May Day. If there are fashionistas at the Vatican, the proscription against wearing white would come after the Feast Day of St. Ultan of Ardbraccan this year. 

Although I'm pretty sure that the Pope gets a dispensation either way.

Q Toon: Driven to Distruction

 

So I've finally gotten a cartoon drawn about the arrest almost two weeks ago of the 31 white heterosexuosupremacists in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. With them in their van were plans to attack the LGBTQ+ Pride event underway there that weekend.

Eric Ward, executive director of the Western States Center, a community organizing group that advocates for inclusivity and democratic principles, said [the planned attack was] a far cry from an isolated incident.

“People should be paying attention to these arrests far beyond Coeur d’Alene,” Ward said via email. “Idaho is a bellwether state for where the rest of the country may be headed in terms of how anti-democracy groups try to build power and how effectively they’re blunted.” He noted that in 2020, Idaho was among the first states to “turn anti-transgender attacks into law” by banning trans women and girls from school sports and that the local Republican Party has supported candidates for the library board who ran on pulling LGBTQ books from shelves.

Republican politicians have been whipping up these amateur fascists with a constant drumbeat of anti-LGBTQ+, anti-immigrant, racist, pro-violence rhetoric and legislation. Their ranting seems especially heated this year, but it has been going on for decades now, amplified by their cheerleaders and coaches at Fox News, OAN, Newsmax, and social media echo chambers.

Perhaps I should have identified the politicians in the lower panel of this cartoon. I've drawn about some of them before; Idaho Governor Brad Little is a newcomer here, however. 

The Idaho House passed legislation in March that would criminalize gender-affirming medical treatment for minors, tacking it onto existing laws banning female genital mutilation. The state Senate refused to take up the bill, thus saving Gov. Little from having to sign or veto it.

As for the rest of the motley crew in my cartoon, we've already discussed Texas Governor Greg Abbott's executive order classifying transgender therapy as child abuse, the "Don't Say Gay" law signed by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, Congresstroll Lauren Boebert's malice against colleagues' transgender children, Ohio's pending bill, and Reprehensible Marjorie Taylor-Greene's anti-LGBTQ+ rantings and ravings. I just haven't gotten around to those same policies in Alabama, Arizona, and a host of other GQP-run states. 

That, along with their racist appeals to get "Critical Race Theory" — an academic topic on the level of multivariate calculus and quantum physics — out of public elementary schools is exactly what drives neoNazis like these "Patriot Front" lunatics to think they must save the White Cis Male Race from replacement by colored transgender wimminfolk.

Heck, I certainly understand the appeal of the LGBTQ+ experience.

Is it that attractive to everyone? Probably not.

But you can't tell that to the idiots in the U-Haul. They're listening to someone else.

[J]ust as police must contend with the growth of extremist groups, the public must pay attention to the elected officials and personalities in the mainstream who ignite the talking points that ultimately animate far-right groups.

When they see a mainstream politician pick up on something they agree with, they see that as validation,” [Kurt Braddock, a professor at American University] said of false claims some Republican lawmakers have made about trans people being “groomers” and “pedophiles.” “Just like the ‘great replacement theory,’ it trickles down to the far-right elements and they run with it.”

How Did We Nazi That Coming?

 Too obvious to draw; too irresistible not to meme. 

Q Toon: A Broom of Her Own

It's time for every editorial cartoonist to crank out his or her Hallowe'en-themed cartoon, whether it has a Great Pumpkin, trick-or-treaters, vampires, Frankenstein monsters, headless horsemen, Steve Bannon, or — clearly my favorite —take-offs on classic Charles Addams cartoons.

I'm not riffing on the Addams Family cartoons today (the current movie release hasn't promised me any kickbacks, so why would I?); I have instead adapted one of his other toons to star Congresscreature Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) over her recent gratuitous tweet attacking U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, Rachel Levine.

Earlier this year, Greene showed off her smartassery by posting an anti-antitransgender placard outside her office, across the hall from a member of Congress who has a transgender daughter. Greene stubbornly deadnames transgender persons great and small, and cited her belief in a strict, immutable dichotomy of genders as reason to legislate against U.S. embassies ever flying pride flags.

Frankly, I could have made this cartoon about several others of Greene's ilk, including Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), Tucker Carlson (oh, but I just drew him last week), and the right-wing echo chamber in general, since the command from wherever they get their orders from was to pile on Adm. Levine last week.

Add to that just about every Requblican-majority state legislature in the country, scrambling to mount a full-bore assault on every aspect of life for transgender citizens, from sports to bathrooms to health care to voting rights to whatever they think of next. Critical Gender Theory in our county parks, I suppose.

No wonder China is laughing at us.

Q Toon: I'll Get You, My Pretty

By now, you are probably well aware that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Idiocracy) last week responded to a colleague's transgender rights flag across the hall from her office by posting a sign reading "There are two genders: male and female. Respect the science."

If you really want to respect the science, you have to acknowledge that reality is not as simple as that. I'm no biologist; but someone who is attempted to explain the possible and existing complications in a Twitter thread a couple years ago. For example,

Turns out there is only ONE GENE on the Y chromosome that really matters to sex. It’s called the SRY gene. During human embryonic development the SRY protein turns on male-associated genes. Having an SRY gene makes you “genetically male”. But is this “biological sex”?

Sometimes that SRY gene pops off the Y chromosome and over to an X chromosome. Surprise! So now you’ve got an X with an SRY and a Y without an SRY. What does this mean?
A Y with no SRY means physically you’re female, chromosomally you’re male (XY) and genetically you’re female (no SRY). An X with an SRY means you’re physically male, chromsomally female (XX) and genetically male (SRY). But biological sex is simple! There must be another answer...

Most of what I know about biology comes from BBC nature programs, so genes and chromosomes are beyond what I could ever hope to explain. I also have no idea what it's like to feel that your gender doesn't match your genitalia. 

Heck, I couldn't tell you why I write and draw with my left hand yet shave and use silverware with my right. Maybe some L2R protein leapt from one chromosome to another somewhere along the line. It is what it is and thank God I don't need surgery or hormones to make me fit someone else's ideas of who or what I am.

So Biologist Tweeter Rebecca Helm can have the last word today.

[P]lease be kind, respect people’s right to tell you who they are, and remember that you don’t have all the answers. Again: biology is complicated. Kindness and respect don’t have to be.

Toon: Mayhem Like Him

Here's a list of U.S. Senators and Congressional Representatives who still stand by Mr. Trump's scurrilous, fantastical electoral conspiracy "theories" even after the riot of Qultists at the Capitol that he and they actively encouraged:

Senate:

Ted Cruz (TX); Josh Hawley (MO); Cindy Hyde-Smith (MS); Cynthia Lummis (WY); John Kennedy (LA); Roger Marshall (KS); Rick Scott (FL); Tommy Tuberville (AL)

House:

Robert Aderholt (AL); Rick Allen (GA); Jodey Arrington (TX); ; Brian Babin (TX); ; Jim Baird (IN); Jim Banks (IN); Cliff Bentz (OR); Jack Bergman (MI); Stephanie Bice (OK); Andy Biggs (AZ); Dan Bishop (NC); Lauren Boebert (CO); Mike Bost (IL); Mo Brooks (AL); Ted Budd (NC); Tim Burchett (TN); Michael Burgess (TX); Ken Calvert (CA); Kat Cammack (FL); Jerry Carl (AL); Buddy Carter (GA); John Carter (TX); Madison Cawthorn (NC); Steve Chabot (OH); Ben Cline (VA); Michael Cloud (TX); Andrew Clyde (GA); Tom Cole (OK); Rick Crawford (AR); Warren Davidson (OH); Scott DesJarlais (TN); Mario Diaz-Balart (FL); Byron Donalds (FL); Jeff Duncan (SC); Neal Dunn (FL); Ron Estes (KS); Pat Fallon (TX); Michelle Fischbach (MN); Scott Fitzgerald (WI); Chuck Fleischmann (TN); Virginia Foxx (NC); Scott Franklin (FL); Russ Fulcher (ID); Matt Gaetz (FL); Mike Garcia (CA); Bob Gibbs (OH); Carlos Gimenez (FL); Louie Goober Gohmert (TX); Bob Good (VA); Lance Gooden (TX); Paul Gosar (AZ); Garret Graves (LA); Sam Graves (MO); Mark Green (TN); Marjorie Greene (GA); Morgan Griffith (VA); Michael Guest (MS); Jim Hagedorn (MN); Andy Harris (MD); Diana Harshbarger (TN); Vicky Hartzler (MO); Kevin Hern (OK); Yvette Herrell (NM); Jody Hice (GA); Clay Higgins (LA); Richard Hudson (NC); Darrell Issa (CA); Ronny Jackson (TX); Chris Jacobs (NY); Mike Johnson (LA); Bill Johnson (OH); Jim Jordan (OH); John Joyce (PA); Fred Keller (PA); Trent Kelly (MS); Mike Kelly (PA); David Kustoff (TN); Doug LaMalfa (CA); Doug Lamborn (CO); Jacob LaTurner (KS); Debbie Lesko (AZ); Billy Long (MO); Barry Loudermilk (GA); Frank Lucas (OK); Blaine Luetkemeyer (MO); Nicole Malliotakis (NY); Tracey Mann (KS); Brian Mast (FL); Kevin McCarthy (CA); Lisa McClain (MI); Daniel Meuser (PA); Mary Miller (IL); Carol Miller (WV); Alex Mooney (WV); Barry Moore (AL); Markwayne Mullin (OK); Gregory Murphy (NC); Troy Nehls (TX); Ralph Norman (SC); Devin Nunes (CA); Jay Obernolte (CA); Burgess Owens (UT); Steven Palazzo (MS); Gary Palmer (AL); Greg Pence (IN); Scott Perry (PA); August Pfluger (TX); Bill Posey (FL); Guy Reschenthaler (PA); Tom Rice (SC); Mike Rogers (AL); Hal Rogers (KY); John Rose (TN); Matt Rosendale (MT); David Rouzer (NC); John Rutherford (FL); Steve Scalise (LA); David Schweikert (AZ); Pete Sessions (TX); Jason Smith (MO); Adrian Smith (NE); Lloyd Smucker (PA); Elise Stefanik (NY); Greg Steube (FL); Chris Stewart (UT); Glenn Thompson (PA); Tom Tiffany (WI); William Timmons (SC); Jefferson Van Drew (NJ); Beth Van Duyne (TX); Tim Walberg (MI); Jackie Walorski (IN); Randy Weber (TX); Daniel Webster (FL); Roger Williams (TX); Joe Wilson (SC); Rob Wittman (VA); Ron Wright (TX); Lee Zeldin (NY)

 

QToon: Bachmann Terror Overdrive

Retired Congresscritter Michele Bachmann (R-Oort Cloud) was on the radio last week, claiming that "transgender Black Marxists" are trying to take down the United States government.

"These are transgender Marxists — transgender Black Marxists — who are seeking the overthrow of the United States and the dissolution of the traditional family," Bachmann said in the interview on The Victory Channel, televangelist Kenneth Copeland's right-wing Christian network, while discussing the Black Lives Matter and anti-racism protests taking place around the country.

Mrs. Bachmann may be safely out of the halls of Congress, but lest you congratulate the American electoral system for shedding her and fellow batshit crazy ass Steve King, let me remind you that Louie Gohmert, Jim Jordan, and Matt Gaetz ain't going anywhere. At least one solid GOP district in Georgia and another in Colorado are poised to send a QAnon conspiracy-spewing mouth-breathers to Washington to augment the GOP's loony bin caucus this November.

President Donald Berzelius Trump, crackpot extraordinaire, is not a bug of the Republican machine but a feature (as Daily Cartoonist columnist Mike Peterson is wont to note). The party was heading this way before Sarah Palin, even before Dan Quayle. 

Republicans have ridiculed intelligence at least as far back as 1950's (Adlai Stevenson is an egghead!), attaching ever-increasing value to ignorance and superstition. From insisting that creationism is equally valid as empirical science, to believing that natural disasters are evidence not of climate change but of God's homophobia, it's barely a bunny-hop of faith to accepting that injecting bleach will cure disease.

All the scientific evidence to the contrary can't hope to refute "I don't think science knows, actually" from our willfully ignorant president and his doggedly ignorant followers. These are people who still believe the out-and-out lie that Barack Obama is a Muslim born in Kenya in spite of all the proof that he isn't and in spite of the complete lack of a shred of evidence that he is. They happily swallow and regurgitate the absurd notion that Democrats are drinking the blood of children in the crawl space below a pizza parlor because immorality flat earth trickle-down economics.

I tell you one thing, though: when the transgender Black Marxists do take over, they're going to have a big challenge before them if they try sending all those Trumpletons to reeducation camps. Which they will do, being Marxists, of course.

You can't reeducate someone who was impervious to education the first time around.