CSotD: A global phenomenon, like it or not
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Crowden Satz outlines Trump’s approach so far to his indictments. He really hasn’t responded to them so much as insisted that he did nothing wrong — though there’s plenty of evidence that he knows he was breaking the law — and played a game of whataboutism, heavily larded with false accusations about others who have had classified information outside legal boundaries.
His denials, distractions and deflections notwithstanding, there’s no doubt about his guilt, only about what to do about it. We’ve already got congressional representatives and an almost-governor advising their MAGAt followers to take up arms against the government, and Trump has invited his fans to come to Miami tomorrow when he faces the judge.
And that judge has previously been admonished for being too much of a Trump fan, though we’ll see how she handles plain, clear, indisputable evidence, perhaps with her previous slapdown in mind.
As for all that evidence, it doesn’t provide much of a clue as to whether it’s worse to lock him up and touch off violence among his fringe or let him off the hook and set a horrible precedent about powerful people and the law.
Lord knows, if the Miami jury pulls an OJ, it would plunge the nation into an existential crisis. Or further in.
Juxtaposition of the Day
“Pants on Fire” is a common enough theme that it’s not surprising to see more than one cartoonist pick it up, though I hadn’t realized it was an international phenomenon until I saw Irish cartoonist Harry Burton use it.
He’s not the only one, and he’s also not the only one to connect Trump’s dilemma with the Canadian wildfires and their smoke plume.
Peter Brookes also picked up on it, and thought to capitalize on the color orange in which much of the East Coast was shrouded.
He also included both the ball and chain and the handcuffs that have popped up in multiple cartoons, the former being used inventively by yet another Brit, Christian Adams.
I’d note, by the by, that British and Australian cartoonists occupy a very good middleground between the American and International styles. I used to tell kids that Americans have a story-telling style, while international cartoonists use metaphors. The Brits and Aussies meld the two so that their cartoons include both some sense of a narrative with a strong metaphor, the balance depending on the needs of a particular piece.
Dave Brown, a former art teacher who delights in adapting classic pieces for modern commentary, this time borrows Mykola Yaroshenka’s 1878 painting while adding a caption mocking Trump’s refusal to admit his dilemma.
Brown’s work is both penetrating commentary and often a history-of-art course. Ask him about James Gillray sometime.
Chris Riddell goes the opposite direction, using an almost American style of comic art to throw Trump’s iconic “Lock Her Up!” cheer back in his, and the GOP’s, face. I say “almost” because, while some Yanks would include the squeezed trunk and the doubtful expression on the elephant, very few would think to have a lighted fuse approaching in the background.
And if you say “Well, maybe Oliphant,” I’ll remind you he came here from Australia.
Speaking of whence, Australian David Rowe goes heavily into metaphor, depicting King Rat ensconced among his boxes of classified documents.
It should be noted, BTW, that the boxes at Mar A Lago are not all full of classified and top secret documents, but the feds had to block out some of the things that had spilled out of this box because it was a merry mixture of clippings and other oddities together with stuff that shouldn’t have been there.
This suggests some similarity to the Biden and Pence documents that were accidentally included in their papers, except that, first of all, they immediately consented to searches and to return the improperly filed documents, and, second, they apparently didn’t know they were there.
Which is different than defiantly refusing to return them, lying about their disposition, and bragging to others about the secret papers you possess.
As Austrian cartoonist Marian Kamensky (Cartoon Movement) suggests, Trump was luxuriating in the possession of secret documents and seems surprised at the handcuffs descending upon him.
And I would note that, in case you didn’t think the Whole World is Watching, Kamensky managed to include a can of Coke (though not Diet) and a hamberder, as well as the accoutrements for the Donald’s constant accusation of a witch hunt.
His only failure is the claw-foot soaking tub, which doesn’t fit Mar A Lago’s combination of 19th century bordello splendor and suburban Bed and Bath cheesiness.
Some things are harder than others to explain to foreign observers.
Juxtaposition of the Day #2
While both cartoons involve the increasingly crowded GOP presidential field, they approach it quite differently, with Chappatte suggesting that Pence is bringing too little too late with the race essentially established, while Margulies notes that Trump seems unaware of the crowd.
They’re both right. It’s hard to envision Pence getting any toehold, having played the servant to Trump for four years and now spouting the mixed message that Trump is unfit for office but he’ll support him if he gets the nomination.
Then again, he might finish ahead of Whoziwhatzis, the governor of North Dakota who must surely have lost a bar bet, since there’s no other explanation for his declaration of candidacy.
Which brings us to Margulies, who is right about the mob vying to topple Trump, which is actually the mob enabling his chances, since Primary Rules don’t require a 50% finish, simply that you be the top vote getter.
For those not keeping up with the specifics, here’s a photo of the GOP contenders.
However, while it’s felt that Chris Christie may have the best shot at effectively attacking Trump, he isn’t seen as having a chance of actually winning the nomination, and somehow Ron de Santis remains the leading alternative, despite having shot himself in the foot so many times that, when he goes barefoot, he looks like he’s wearing Crocs.
Tom the Dancing Bug does a nice job of framing the competition between these notable figures, who would be a lot funnier if we didn’t know that whoever wins will have a good shot at taking the White House.
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