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A dog drawing for you!
I have to say that the political world we are in, the trauma of what is going on, the threat to our democracy, is affecting my work. I’m not complaining, just observing. It is harder to be funny. I felt this way right after 9/11, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to continue drawing humor. I did, of course. But this time we are in is difficult; but I do believe we will get out of it. We have to, there’s no question about it.
Trump and Hegseth are using drones to kill people. Trump says it does not require Congressional approval, claiming that the War Powers Act, instituted in 1973 after Nixon secretly bombed Cambodia without telling Congress, does not apply to strikes on boats. It does.
“What they’re saying is anytime the president uses drones or any standoff weapon against someone who cannot shoot back, it’s not hostilities. It’s a wild claim of executive authority.” Brian Finucane, who was the War Powers Resolution lawyer at the State Department under President Barack Obama and during Trump’s first term.
What’s to stop him from, along with killing ordinary citizens in boats, killing oridinary citizens on the streets of America?
I am concerned that the shutdown is something Trump is using to do further damage, to make sure we don’t have a democracy as we know it. He never intends for Congress to return. His food stamp cuts are an example of Trump using the shutdown as a way to advance his agenda. The NY Times reports:
“The president has stretched the limits of his powers to help those at the heart of his agenda, not the many in greatest need.”
Here are a couple of videos of interest I saw today. First, Jamelle Bouie from the NYTImes talks about JD Vance lying about diversity and unions:
And after bragging about his redecoration of some of the White Hous bathrooms with marble walls and gold fixures, on Halloween night, Trump threw a huge roaring twenties theme party at Mar-a-Lago that was an insensitive, arrogant, oblivious display of opulence at a time when people are struggling to buy groceries and make ends meet. It reminds me of our history right before the 1929 crash.
I haven’t even talked about the huge arch monument to himself that Trump wants to build.
And: the Epstein Files have still not been released.
I hope your Sunday was good. Thanks for being here, see you tomorrow!
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