“It’s no wonder that truth is stranger than fiction. Fiction has to make sense.” - Mark Twain

Just over 2 months ago President Trump informed the world that a ceasefire was in place and that a deal with Iran was imminent. He went on to say that it would take just a couple of weeks to have it finalized. On social media he boasted, “It is an honor to have this longterm problem close to resolution.” Since that moment back on April 7th he has continued to proclaim that a deal with Iran is close… 37 more times.

I’ve never wasted my time by reading Trump’s book The Art of the Deal, but if the first page doesn’t say “make shit up” then I would advise that the book be permanently moved to the fiction section at a drastically reduced price.

There is no deal, no ceasefire and no apparent end to this war, conflict, squabble or whatever this administration is calling it this week. It’s simply Trump creating a problem where none existed and then lying to all of us about what a great job he’s doing in solving it.

At this point you should just assume that everything he says is a lie. It’s the only thing that he has left and he’s not very good at it.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

My motivation here was to mock the numerous claims Trump has made in the last 2 months about a deal with Iran being just around the corner. My initial thoughts were to create a cartoon that would communicate that the deal was a long, long way off. My first sketches were showing Trump using one of the coin-operated sight-seeing magnifiers. My thought was that he would be making a comment along the lines of, Let’s see how close my deal with Iran is today. It wasn’t a bad idea, but the way I draw Trump would make it difficult to position him looking into the viewer. I also couldn’t decide if he should be standing on one of the rungs like a child would. Perhaps there was a better approach…

I still wanted him to be looking at his “deal” far off in the distance so I started thinking that he might be better positioned way up high. That’s when it came to me. Trump would be perched on top of a massive amount of Epstein files. I liked that a lot. Whenever I can hit 2 topics in one panel it’s a good day.

From there I needed to decide how many boxes could I get safely into the panel without making Trump or the type too small. I also adjusted the boxes from very straight and uniform rows to making them slightly jumbled a bit to be more visually interesting. The tie hanging down over the cliff of files was a no brainer. The last decision I made was in his comment. From seeing the deal in the far off distance I decided that it would be better if he said that he could “almost” see it. That one word pushed the deal even further away.

Final drawing…

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“The trouble ain’t that there is too many fools, but that the lightening ain’t distributed right.” - Mark Twain

Trump being fact checked by Kristen Welker and Dorothy tossing water on the Wicked Witch of the West are my two favorite meltdowns of all time. Up until most recently it seemed like comedians, cartoonists and independent journalists were the only ones truly willing to call out his bullshit. It’s truly baffled me over the years to watch as reporters and interviewers let his lies and insults go mostly unchallenged… until this past Sunday.

Kristen Welker of Meet The Press fought back. She was polite, showed respect and professionalism, but she fought back. She challenged him over and over asking for proof to back up his lies. She fact checked him. Pointed out that his statements were false and defended herself from his insults. She dug in, took the hits and continued… unlike the President. He quit. His face went from angry orange to screaming scarlet and he walked out. At the end it was Muhammad Ali standing over Sonny Liston.

As wonderful as it was to watch I would have enjoyed seeing her dial it up a few more notches. Lately, it seems as if Trump’s latest “go-to” is calling reporters stupid when he doesn’t like a question or can’t answer. He pulled that same crap on Welker and I’m hoping for the day when one of his intended targets fires back at the same level. I would love to see a retort along the lines of, “I might be stupid Mr. President, but I’ve never bankrupted a half dozen companies, bragged about taking 4 cognitive (dementia) tests and I will not be remembered as a toxic turd on the tapestry of this nations history.”

I’m sure that any reporter that goes down that road would be immediately fired, but they would be seen by most as a national hero and the opportunities to capitalize would follow.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

As soon as I saw Trump’s meltdown on Meet The Press I knew that it would be my first cartoon of the week. He acted like such a childish brat and I knew that I had to depict him in that manner. My first thoughts (sketches) were of Trump standing in a playpen while being interviewed. I had sketched out a quick version of Welker as well.

I then thought that it would be funnier if I had Trump sitting in a high chair wearing nothing but a diaper and screaming. At this point I went back and watched some highlights of the interview. What caught my attention most was his frustration and comment about ending the interview. “Let’s call it quits ‘cause I’ve had enough!” That was the moment of defeat and I pounced on it.

He was done because of the Fact Checking and that’s the distasteful meal that Kristen Welker was feeding him. I decided that all I needed was a big spoon with that label on it to make the cartoon work. It needed to be large enough to make the type readable so I decided leave Welker out of the image to give me the space.

I did struggle a little with the structure of the chair. Placement of the legs, the exaggeration of the table to accommodate the belly and so on. In the end I wanted everything to balance so that it didn't look like the high chair would fall over.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“They’re gutting us. It’s over. I don’t see how ‘60’ will be able to function after this.. Goodnight and good luck, motherf***ers.” - Anonymous 60 Minutes staff member

As I’m sure you all know, longtime CBS journalist Scott Pelley was fired this week from 60 Minutes. This was extremely upsetting to my wife and I as viewers and to me personally as a journalist. I grew up back in the days when Walter Cronkite was the face of CBS news and was considered the most trusted man in America. Today he would be outraged and ashamed of the network that he dedicated his career to.

Scott Pelley has been with CBS for 37 years and has spent more than 20 of those working on 60 Minutes. As a news magazine 60 Minutes is an institution that has been around since 1968. Its success and journalistic reputation is unparalleled, but recent events indicate that the clock might be running out.

In October of last year CBS parent company Paramount purchased an independent news site called the Free Press and promoted it’s founder Bari Weiss as the editor-in-chief at CBS News. That was the beginning of the end. Since that moment there have been several accusations of catering to the Trump administration and pressure on journalists to be biased in their reporting. The result has been push-back and firings. Executive producer Tanya Simon, executive director Draggan Mihailovich and correspondents Sharyn Alfonsi and Cecilia Vega have all lost their jobs due to the political BS at CBS.

This week it was Scott Pelley’s turn. In a closed-door meeting he confronted editor-in-chief Bari Weiss and accused her of “murdering” the show. He also took a few verbal swipes at the new executive producer Nick Bolton. Pelley was dismissed.

Since his termination Scott Pelley has not stepped into the background or stayed silent. He has gone on to describe instances where leadership instructed him to inject lies and bias into his reporting and to also include assertions in stories that were unverified.

This is all extremely disturbing. It’s about far more than a few individuals losing their jobs. It’s about political pressure controlling the news and the way journalists do their job and report the facts. There’s never been a more important time in our history to have great journalists that can report honestly. As Americans we all need to be well informed and understand the truth. Redirecting that basic right to curry political favor is an outrage.

“The waste is heartbreaking.” - Scott Pelley

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

I have to admit that I’m somewhat disappointed in this cartoon. It’s not because it’s a bad cartoon or anything. It’s because I’ve seen about a half dozen from my colleagues with a similar image of the dynamite/clock image. I hate it when my idea isn’t unique.

I did sketch out a few other thoughts before landing on this image. If you look closely you can see a faint sketch of an outhouse with the crescent moon replaced by the CBS eye logo. Maybe I should have gone with that crappy idea.

I went with this one because it perfectly illustrated the message that 60 Minutes was being destroyed. I went with the contrast of the large stopwatch vs the smaller time bomb to push the visual interest. I also decided against having any numbers on the clock because I didn’t want any other type to fight for attention with the tic, tic, tic or the trump, trump, trump.

Final drawing…

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“I can bitch, I can bitch ‘cause I’m better than you. It’s the way that I move, the things that I do, oh, oh, oh” - Elton John, Bernie Taupin

This cartoon isn’t about one particular issue, but I will admit that my inspiration came from Trump’s recent Truth Social rants. The first one was in regard to the ruling that his name be removed from the Kennedy Center and the second was his response concerning all of the entertainers pulling out of his Freedom 250 Great American State Fair.

In both instances, correction, in ALL instances where Trump feels the least bit slighted he immediately goes off and has a Presidential hissy-fit on his Truth Social platform. He attacks, insults, mocks, ridicules and derides whomever he sees as the enemy. He paints them all with the same brush of unworthiness. He then switches gears and attempts to patch his frail ego through several sentences of self adoration. Most recently he compared his star power with that of Elvis in his prime and referred to himself (once again) as the “Greatest President in History (THE GOAT!)”

This is just his narcissistic pattern and I have no doubt that teams of psychiatric scholars will study these verbal vomits and research his Play-Dohish mind long after he and the rest of us are long gone.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

I’m not on Trump’s Truth Social platform, but I think I get to see most of his posts (especially the truly crazy ones) because people share them all over the place. I remember reading the ones about the Kennedy Center and the Freedom 250 nonsense and I thought to myself, WAH!, WAH!, WAH!

That’s where the cartoon was conceived and born. I thought wouldn’t it be funny and just perfect if he simply posted the word WAAAAAH and followed it ups with his typical bullshit line of thanking everyone for their attention to this matter. This post could represent and simplify thousands and thousands of his whiny-ass ramblings.

The first thing that I created was the post itself. I wanted to make sure that it looked fairly legit and it had to have his signature scowling flag-draped avatar. (How intimidating!)

After that I only needed to come up with a reasonable sketch of the man poking the phone with his tiny digits. There were a few subtle adjustments from the first sketch to the last. I had him leaning forward to begin with but straightened him up moving forward. My thinking was that it made him appear more upset and determined. I also pushed his right arm forward a bit to gain separation of his hand from his bloated head. Just little things that help to improve the cartoon a tick or two.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“I hate Islam, it’s a demonic death cult.” - Indiana Lt. Governor and Christian Nationalist pastor Micah Beckwith

“We’re giving people permission to hate again.” - Indiana Lt. Governor and Christian Nationalist pastor Micah Beckwith

“Now, I love Muslims, because they make great Christians when Jesus gets ahold of them, but I hate Islam.” - Indiana Lt. Governor and Christian Nationalist pastor Micah Beckwith

This ladies and gentlemen is the latest and greatest political embarrassment my state has offered up to mock and despise. And we all thought that Dan Quayle and Mike Pence couldn’t be topped.

Now, please understand that these bizarre comments aren’t anything new coming from our Lt. Governor. Since taking office he’s given us all a history lesson by praising the “Three-Fifths Compromise” which declared that slaves would be counted as three-fifths of a person. Pastor Beckwith also gave us all a big laugh back in 2011 when he was traveling through the state to our south and noticed a sign that read, “Kentucky Downs”. He followed up by asking “is that a form of Kentucky autism??” There have also been investigations of Beckwith’s office for ghost employment and allegations of AI generate pornographic images of another politicians wife. In the last few months he’s generated controversy with his comments pertaining to 2 separate high schools. The first, Valparaiso High School, lead to the superintendent issuing a public apology to parents and student in regard to Beckwith’s appearance as a speaker. The second, Westfield High School became a story because our Lt. Governor criticized the school’s band on his Facebook page. Apparently he didn’t care for them performing music from the “demonic” opera, Carmen.

You might be asking what Indiana Governor Mike Braun has to say about his Lt. Governor preaching hate. Just yesterday he made this comment. “I wouldn’t have said it that way, he’ll have to figure out a way to get around it, ‘cause that’s probably not what he intended to do.” Except it is exactly what he intended to do. Beckwith has doubled down and defended his comments over and over. Days ago he posted the following on his X account. “I would like to take the opportunity to wish all Muslims in Indiana the best. And by best I mean I hope you all become Christian.”

I could go on and on and on about this nonsense, but I’m sure that by now I’ve made all of you out-of-staters beyond jealous of me and my fellow Hoosiers.

Suffer.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

I had a lot of difficulty with this cartoon. Not with the idea, but with the drawing. The idea came about very quickly. It was a short creative trip to go from HATE ISLAM to HATE IS LAME.

The issue I had was in drawing a decent cartoon of Micah Beckwith. I did a previous cartoon of him a few weeks back and I wasn’t happy with my effort back then and I struggled with it again this time. You can see my various attempts (and failures) above. As my deadline approached I ended up settling for a so-so caricature and filed the cartoon with the paper. I really hated doing that, but I had a deadline and I didn’t want to disappoint my editor and the publication.

The next day I woke up very disappointed in myself and so I went back to my drawing table and I came up with a much better attempt and likeness. Even though the original cartoon is the one that printed I did change it for my own personal satisfaction. Fortunately I have been able to share the improved version here and on my social media pages. I feel much, much better because of that.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

Below is the original final drawing before I improved the character.

“Big egos are big shields for lots of empty space.” - Diane Black

This past week the nations number one narcissist directed his Department of Justice to settle another score on his behalf. On Wednesday the DOJ launched a criminal investigation into writer E. Jean Carroll who accused Trump of sexual assault and was awarded close to (KA-CHING) $90 million in 2 civil suits against the President. He was found liable in 2023 of sexually abusing E. Jean Carroll back in the 1990’s in a department store dressing room and then was also found liable in 2024 for defamation.

It doesn’t take much to imagine how infuriating this must be for a person whose orange skin is so micro-thin that it probably only has one side. He lost… in court… millions of dollars… to a woman… TWICE! That was probably a bad day to be a bottle of ketchup.

The current investigation seems focused on the claim that Carroll committed perjury when she testified in the civil suits. In a deposition back in 2022 Carroll stated that she had received no outside funding for her lawsuit, but it was revealed latter that billionaire and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman had assisted her financially with some expenses and legal fees.

This is nothing more than the President still being butt-hurt over losing to Carroll and his ego just can’t accept it and move on. The testimony and financial assistance shouldn’t have anything to do with the rulings on sexual assault and defamation. This is just another example of the most powerful man on the planet attempting to salve his massive ego by going after an 82-year-old woman. on the bright side, I guess that’s better than him going after 13-year-old girls.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

My initial thoughts when approaching the idea for this panel was to try and draw Trump as Lady Justice and change the name to Lady Weaponization. I really liked the idea of drawing him in a dress, but I also realize that I’ve been drawing him a lot lately so I wanted to try a different approach.

I moved on to drawing a quick sketch of E. Jean Carroll which I liked and decided to depict her as the “target” for Trump’s DOJ on a wanted Poster. I then decided to add money floating around in the background to represent the $90 million she’s been awarded. As I was doing that I started thinking about iconic cash phrases like “Show me the money” or “Ka-Ching”. That’s when it dawned on me that E.Jean (Ka-Ching) had a wonderful cadence. That was the moment that I was sold on the idea and proceeded to the final drawing.

There were some little adjustments along the way. Placement of the dollars and making sure that there was a nice variety sizes to depict depth. I also squared up the Wanted Poster a bit so that it would fill up the horizontal panel a little better.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“I don’t understand why the Jeffrey Epstein case would be of any interest to anybody. It’s pretty boring stuff. It’s sordid, but it’s boring, and I don’t understand why it keeps going.” - Donald Trump

In spite of the war with Iran, the spiraling economy, the ridiculous ballroom, never ending lies and middle of the night social posts I’m still going to remind everyone once in a while that our leader is a pedophile. I don’t care what deflection tactics he puts into play or how many times his followers scream “Squirrel”, I’m going to continue putting out a new cartoon about this topic from time to time.

This entire situation is horrific and it’s beyond me that this nation hasn’t demanded justice for the victims and accountability from the perpetrators and those that protect them. The Department of Justice has stated that there a total of 6 million pages in the Epstein files, but only half of them have been released. If this administration is going to continually boast about transparency then they all need to be unredacted and released.

To the best of my knowledge only 3 individuals have been criminally investigated because of the Epstein files. The former Norwegian prime minister Thorbjorn Jagland, former prince Andrew Mountbatten Windsor and British politician Peter Mandelson. Pathetically, not a single American (particularly one mentioned over 38,000 times in the files) has been held accountable.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

The idea for this cartoon came about as I was driving along a road that I’ve been on a thousand times and noticed that the words PED XING were painted on it. For a split second I imagined how appropriate it would be if Trump was walking across at that moment.

When I got home I went to my computer and looked up the same phrase as road signage and that’s where the idea took off. There are various versions of the sign and I considered doing one similar to the example in the photo only placing Trump’s silhouette on the yellow diamond. I scrapped that idea because I thought it would communicate a little better if I actually drew Trump walking. I was concerned a tiny bit because I was relying on the abbreviation PED rather than PEDO, but I sided with staying true to the signage…mostly. I did make a slight change to the word XING by adding a hyphen.

While I like this cartoon I did realize going in that it might take readers an extra second to connect the dots and I was right. I have received a couple of responses from folks saying that it took them a moment. One gentlemen jokingly asked me if I had forgotten a vowel. Most people had no problem understanding it so I think it was worth the risk.

Final drawing…

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Wishing all of my subscribers and followers a wonderful and safe Memorial Day and Indy 500 weekend. Thank you all for your support.

“Honesty pays, but it doesn’t seem to pay enough to suit some people.” - Kin Hubbard

If the Twilight Zone and The Onion ever gave birth to a fiction writer I doubt that it could come up with a more bizarre and unbelievable story. This past week the President of the United States dropped a $10 billion dollar lawsuit that he had brought against the government (that he runs) and agreed to a $1.776 billion dollar “Anti-Weaponization Fund”. This money will be used to pay supporters of the President that are “victims of lawfare and weaponization” such as the January 6th rioters that attacked the peaceful transfer of power and the nations Capitol on his behalf.

This is like the owner of a major corporation (that inspired thousands of people to commit a crime against 350 million victims) suing a department within his own corporation for an insane amount of money. Then the head of that department (hired by the owner) cuts a deal to provide the owner with a lower (but still insane amount of money) that will come from the 350 million victims of the crime and paid out to the thousands that committed the crime at the owners urging.

I’m mentally exhausted just thinking about and writing that.

The original $10,000,000,000 lawsuit was filed 4 months against the IRS because the President’s tax returns were leaked by a contractor named Charles Littlejohn in 2023. Mr. Littlejohn pleaded guilty to the charges and was sentenced to 5 years. He is appealing the sentence.

The settlement also includes language that states that the U.S. is “forever barred and precluded” from examining or prosecuting Trump, his sons and the Trump organization’s current tax issues. Hallelujah! For the last 17 months I’ve been hoping to find a single difference between our leader and Al Capone and there it is. Trump can’t go to jail over his taxes.

This is just a very dark time for our nation, but I did see a tiny little flicker of light today. 2 of the brave officers that defended our Capitol on January 6, 2021 have filed a lawsuit to stop the creation of the President’s $1.776 billion dollar slush fund. Officers Harry Dunn and Daniel Hodges are still displaying their bravery and attempting to defend this nation from another reckless MAGA mob disguised in suits and ties.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

I struggled with this cartoon more than usual. I kept searching and playing around with various thoughts, but nothing really jumped out at me.

I played around with the $1.776B figure that was chosen as an homage to America’s founding and nothing ever developed from it. I also considered Trump on a ladder dropping the initial lawsuit down on a small teeter totter which made the new settlement pop up to him. Lame.

I then began thinking about Trump’s visit to China last week where he and President Xi were both photographed sitting in chairs. The chairs appeared identical, but it was obvious that President Trump’s chair was positioned lower. It was an obvious power move by the Chinese to humiliate Trump on the world stage and make him look less powerful than President Xi. It was at that point that I decided to have Trump sitting up high on a large bag of “Slush Fund” money and make a snarky comment about how high he was sitting.

I played around with the Trump character a number of times, but finally decided on the version where his legs were positioned straight out rather than bent. It just seemed like a funnier version.

I’m still not thrilled abut the way this panel turned out. It’s not bad, but I also know that the cartoon isn’t at the level that I expect from myself. The panel doesn’t have a strong message which it desperately needs given the issue. I think my talent must have just gotten up and went somewhere. It couldn’t have gone too far. I’ll get another blank sheet of paper on my desk and find it.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“Auto racing began 5 minutes after the second car was built.” - Henry Ford

On Sunday the 110th running of the Indy 500 will be televised locally in the Indianapolis area for only the 9th time in the history of the race. This is a big deal for those of us living central Indiana. If we’re not lucky enough to be at the track most of us will go about the day listening to the broadcast on the radio and then later in the evening the race will be replayed on local television. To be able to watch it live is wonderful news for those of us without a ticket.

The very first Indy 500 was held in 1911 and the first locally televised broadcasts took place in 1949 and again in 1950 before the Speedway initiated its blackout policy. There have been a few other years that the blackout was lifted such as the 100th running in 2016 and the Covid years of 2020 and 2021 because of the attendance restrictions.

The decision to lift the local blackout of this years race was brought about because all of the 230,000 plus grandstand seats have been purchased. The amount of infield tickets typically sold will add another 150,000 spectators. This is why the Indy 500 is the largest single day sporting event on the planet and why the town of Speedway, IN will become the 2nd largest city in the state for a few hours. (Yes, technically the Indy 500 isn’t held in Indianapolis).

I was born in Indianapolis and the race is just one of those special things that just becomes deeply rooted inside of us. I’ve attended over 20 races in my lifetime going back to my first in 1968, but its been a number of years since my last one. I won’t bother trying to describe the event. It’s just one of those things that you have to experience with your own senses to fully comprehend. It’s the sights, the smells and the unworldly sound of 33 Indy cars roaring by at 230 mph. A late great childhood friend of mine that I attended many races with had a t-shirt that summed it up perfectly… When The Green Flag Drops, The Bullshit Stops!

A few years ago my wife surprised me with a very unique gift. She purchased the experience of letting me take 2 laps around the track with a professional driver in a custom designed 2-seater Indy car. It was absolutely the coolest thing ever and I returned the favor by purchasing her the same thing the following year. We both took laps at a top speed of 180 mph which shockingly is 50 mph slower than the speeds in the actual race. I highly recommend giving it a try if you don’t mind screaming at the top of your lungs with delight and looking extremely cool in a drivers suit.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

This cartoon is obviously a very personal thing with me and so many of my fellow Hoosiers. The race is a very big deal to us and it’s always seemed unfair that the rest of the world can watch the race live and these of us in this community that embrace it as a part of our lives are left out. That said, I wanted to create a cartoon that reflected the excitement and joy that a lot of us here in the area are experiencing due to the lifting of he blackout.

The idea came from the words at the start of each race… “Gentlemen, start your engines.” This year it will most likely be adjusted to add the word lady because Katherine Legge qualified yesterday at an average speed of over 229 miles per hour. I also made an adjustment by changing the word ENGINES to TELEVISIONS and the cartoon was born.

For a moment I considered having the President of the Speedway making the statement in the cartoon, but I quickly decided that it would be much better by using a generic race fan tuning into the broadcast.

As usual, I pushed the visual elements from big to small, thick to thin to make the image more interesting and fun. I added a small checkered flag in his right hand and the words INDY 500 on his cap just to make sure I was communicating the message clearly.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

”The difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits.” - Albert Einstein

Since it’s launch back in June of 2025 an estimated 600,000 people have sent in a $100 deposit to preorder a Donald Trump mobile phone. As of today none have been delivered.

Over the last 11 months the Trump Mobile website has changed the release date several times and ultimately removed it altogether. Just last month the site updated its Terms and Conditions to state that the preorder deposit “provides only a conditional opportunity if Trump Mobile later elects, in its sole discretion, to offer the device for sale.” It goes on to say, “A deposit is not a purchase, does not create a contract for sale, does not transfer ownership or title interest, does not allocate or reserve specific inventory, and does not guarantee that a Device will be produced or made available for purchase.”

In the immortal words of Judge Smails, “You’ll get nothing, and like it!”

None of this is surprising to me. Trump’s audience has been getting lied too and scammed long before he ventured into the world of politics. Prior to occupying the White House he bankrupted multiple businesses (including a casino) and these days he uses the power of the Presidency to sell everything from bibles to baseball hats. He is the ultimate con artist/salesman and his favorite product to peddle is the man himself. His merchandise, his boasts, his lies and (according to polls) many believe that assassination attempts are things that he sells successfully to his followers. At this point he could have the words BUYER BEWARE tattooed on his forehead and it wouldn’t make any difference to them. They’re all suckers and the rest of us are suffering with the fuzzy end of the lollipop.

Update: Trump Mobile is now saying on social media platforms that the phones will begin shipping this week. I know 600,000 people that should begin holding their breath.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

Unlike my last cartoon this one came together very easily. I had drawn a cartoon years ago that had a person with a sucker for a head and I immediately knew that I wanted to portray Trump’s fleeced phone followers in the same way. If you look at the initial page of thumbnail sketches I did for a brief moment sketch out an empty delivery box, but that didn’t spark any ideas. I drew several quick characters trying to land on one that seemed pleasing to me. I ended up going with one in the upper left quarter of the page that appears to have a lollipop floating above it. I did go a little back and forth with having him wearing a hat because I initially imagined the sucker being red and so I was concerned about having a red hat on a red sucker. What sold me on including the hat was the idea of making the sucker green. I always hated green candy and I liked the idea of the Trump fan being “so green” that he’d fall for anything.

One of the things that I really like about this cartoon is the extreme proportions of wide vs skinny. It makes the visual much more interesting when I can push the elements this much. It’s also a lot more fun to draw.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.” - Ambrose Bierce

One of the most consistent things about President Trump is his ability to say on message (lies). He will go on and on and on about how great everything is under his leadership. The booming economy. The overwhelming victory against Iran. The surge in respect that we have achieved around the world. Falling gas prices and so on. He’s extremely firm and on point when it comes to boasting about these non-existent achievements, but behind this facade he’s also fully aware that he’s in trouble when it comes to the midterm elections in November. That realization is why he and his political minions started pressuring Republican state leaders to redraw congressional maps to create red districts out of blue ones.

Redrawing congressional districts isn’t new, but it typically takes place after an end of decade census takes place and it’s purpose is to make adjustments based on the changes in populations. This mid-decade redistricting nonsense is based solely on politics and was initiated by Donald Trump towards Texas this past July. It has now lead to several states, both red and blue, moving the political goalposts through mid-decade redistricting efforts. At the moment it appears to working in favor of the Republicans. Congressional districts have been redrawn in several red states and a number of seats will most likely be added to the slim margin that Republicans currently enjoy. At the same time the counter-redistricting efforts of Democrats have been handed recent judicial defeats. The Supreme Court handed down a decision against a Black-majority district in Louisiana which opened the door for other southern states to eliminate districts with minority populations. Another decision by the Supreme Court in Virginia invalidated a Democrat redistricting plan that was approved by the voters in that state.

This is still an ongoing situation and I expect many more twists and turns before November rolls around. Unfortunately, I also expect that this will be the new normal moving forward. I believe that moving forward whichever party holds the reigns of power will do whatever they can to adjust, pivot and rig the game in order to maintain control. Wouldn’t it be nice if we could simply form a more perfect union and elect or re-elect our leaders based on their quality of performance in governing rather than their quality of performance in manipulating the game?

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

To be honest, I’m not very happy with this cartoon. There are just some days where you get an idea and you’re very happy with it and then as you proceed the luster seems to fade and you begin to second guess everything. That’s what happened here.

I wanted to comment on the redistricting efforts across the nation and I was pleased because I had come up with an image that wasn’t of a political nature. It wasn’t Trump or a Republican elephant or Democrat donkey. It was a kid coloring. I liked that. I also liked the idea of adding in a jab about the insanity of gas prices.

What began to bother me as I moved forward was that the imagery seemed a little too lighthearted for the issue. I was using a cute kid coloring a picture to express my dismay at our nation and the politics of cheating to win. A kid with a crayon should have been a kid with a bazooka. At least that’s where my abundance of over analyzation and self-doubt were taking me as I worked on this. The good news is this (and it’s always this), I get another blank sheet of paper in front of me today and another turn at bat. That’s one of the best things about this gig. I get a new and different opportunity to say something and improve my skills every day.

Final drawing…

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“On some great and glorious day the plain folk of the land will reach their hearts desire at last, and the White House will be adorned by a downright moron.” - H. L. Mencken

This past Tuesday was election day for the Indiana primaries. On the ballots were 7 Republican state senators that had voted in December against President Trump and Governor Braun’s plan to redistrict the state entirely red. Because of this embarrassing political defeat President Trump vowed revenge and endorsed challengers to run against the 7 incumbents. In an unprecedented and totally vengeful move National organizations pumped over $10 million into the campaigns and successfully defeated 6 of the 7 state senators. I’ve seen it reported that $13.5 million was spent on campaign media which constitutes a 5000% jump from the $250,000 spent on Indiana state senate campaigns in 2024.

I cannot even begin to tell you how disappointed I am in my fellow Hoosiers. This has always been a very red state, but polling had clearly showed that the idea of redistricting the state was unpopular with the voters in Indiana and then these same people voted them out. These state senators paid the price for choosing to be loyal to their constituents rather than President Trump and our Governor and the constituents punished them for it.

This weak and self-serving man that never misses an opportunity to scream about rigged elections put the power and pressure of the Oval office to direct the outcome of these state races. Pathetic.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

The idea for this cartoon was born from my own personal frustration with the election results. I assumed that a few of the state senators would lose, but I was shocked that the 6 of the 7 were defeated so handily because of the enormous media blitz financed by outside forces. That became the message… the elections were bought and I wanted to say that with the cartoon.

I immediately decided to play with the phrase “Trump-Backed” and decided to utilize the image of a giant bag of cash strapped to the back of a generic candidate as if it were an enormous backpack. I played around with the character a few times and thought about having him with one arm stretched out with a thumbs up. I decided to revert to just having him hold the straps to better communicate the idea that the bag was on his back. I also briefly played with the thought of him being in more of a 3/4 view, but quickly went back to having him centered and facing forward. Im a big fan of symmetry.

Final drawing…

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“The longer it takes you to select a cantaloupe, the worse it is!” - Kin Hubbard

We are in month 3 of a war that Trump has claimed to have already won more than a dozen times going all the way back to March 7th. In spite of this overwhelming (and bogus) victory the President continues to negotiate, navigate and make threats through an uncertain ceasefire. As I write this post our dear leader is now dangling a new deal to Iran which he says will open the Strait of Hormuz and bring a close to his ridiculous war of choice. He goes on to state that intense bombing will resume if the latest proposal is rejected. This seems to be his standard pattern in dealing with people, tariffs and now wars. He makes ridiculous assertions and threats and then wants to haggle out a deal with additional threats if it’s not accepted. When it doesn’t work out the cycle repeats over and over. I suspect that when this war finally does come to an end there won’t be any real victory. The result will amount to nothing more than wasted time, energy, resources and lives. In Trump’s world that’s simply the way the ball bounces.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

As I was driving back from Minnesota after visiting my daughter’s family I had a lot of time to think about my next cartoon. I was listening to various news channels and one of the discussions was about Trump and his failed attempts to end his war with Iran. I won’t go into details, but it inspired me to come up with something that would communicate his endless attempts to find an off-ramp for this self-inflicted mess in the middle east.

I started thinking of the back and forth aspects of negotiations and that took me to the image of ping-pong. From there the phrase ping-pong lead me to beer-pong and that’s when I landed on the idea. There are multiple cups used in beer-pong, but I knew that I could get the idea across more effectively using just one. I initially thought it might funny to have Trump attempting and failing because he stupidly had the cup placed upside down and then caption the image as Iran Deal Pong. I had some reservations that viewers wouldn’t initially catch on to the cup being turned over so I thought it was better to simply having Trump missing over and over and over. This also allowed me to abandon the Iran Deal Pong phrase and label the corrected cup as the “Deal” he was failing to achieve. I think this was a much better solution.

The challenge with the drawing was simply one of filling the space correctly. I had to adjust the size of the character vs the table. This was because I wanted to draw lots of balls on the ground without having the image be too horizontal. I made Trump a little bigger and the table and balls a little smaller to accomplish this.

Final drawing…

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“I think the worst sort of time travel is how the clock speeds up when I’m on my break.” - Joyce Rachelle

You may or may not have noticed that I haven’t posted anything on substack for a few days. Grandpa Tug took some time off this past week and traveled to Minnesota to visit my daughter, son in law and newly doodling granddaughter Keira. I missed Keira’s first birthday a couple of weeks ago and so my daughter suggested that I come up this past weekend to visit and attend their inaugural Kentucky Derby party. I’m not really a big horse race fan, but it didn't take too much arm twisting to persuade me into making the 10 hour drive north.

While there I spent a lot of time dazzling Keira with my godlike ability of throwing one of her toys 2 feet into the air and catching it before it hit the floor. She was absolutely delighted and amazed. I also jumped in and helped to get things ready for their party. My daughter is very organized and she handed me a to-do-list shortly after I walked in the door. Cleaning, vaccumming, some yard work and a number trips to the grocery store and beyond. In between chores I played some golf with my son in law, took a few strolls through the neighborhood and generally just took a short break from the world of politics.

One of the other highlights of this short break was to meet up with my friend and brilliant editorial cartoonist Steve Sack and have brunch. This profession of ours is mostly done in solitude so I always relish the chance to get together with another cartoonist and talk shop. I think we spent about 2 hours sharing stories about our backgrounds, families and how we ended up in this amazing, yet struggling profession. The days of newspapers with editorial cartoonists on staff are basically over, but we still feel extremely fortunate to have our journalistic voices and the ability to create.

In conclusion, the Derby party was a success. Everyone was dressed up with a Mint Julep in hand and had a great time. The race itself was also pretty exciting. I returned home last night and I’m back at my desk as chairman of the drawing board. I probably took about 3 dozen photos while I was away and I’ll post a few if you don’t mind. As always, thank you all for your support. You’re a big part of my survival and I appreciate all of you for having my back.

“I cannot help but notice that there is no problem between us that cannot be solved by your departure.” - Mark Twain

A week ago President Trump took to his Truth Social platform and made a puddle over the Redistricting Referendum that passed in Virginia. He went on about the election being rigged and a massive “Mail In Ballot Drop” that gave the Democrats another “Crooked Victory” and so on. He then went on and bitched about the complicated language in the referendum and stated, “As everyone knows, I am an extraordinarily brilliant person, and even I had no idea what the hell they were talking about in the Referendum, and neither do they!”

President Trump, please listen carefully. You are not brilliant and everyone knows it… with the obvious exception of your most loyal and dim-witted cult followers. I have met a number of them and I doubt that they could pour sand out of a boot even if the instructions were written on the heel.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

When I learned of Trump’s narcissistic self-flattery post touting his brilliance I just had to find a way to comment. I knew that the image would be of the President using his phone to post on social media, but what I need to make the panel work was visual or verbal hook to counter the “Extraordinarily Brilliant” comment. I needed to make him look stupid.

I initially thought about things we all do that make us look less than brilliant. Wearing a shirt inside out, having our fly open or toilet paper stuck to a shoe, stuff like that. Nothing really seemed to be working so I moved on to verbal options. I started thinking about having him spell the word brilliant with a typo, but that wasn’t good enough. It was somewhere along this train of thought when the idea of Auto Correct popped into my head. What word would it suggest other than brilliant… BITTER! No one is more bitter than President Trump. Hell, his entire 2nd term is built on bitterness and revenge… and isn’t it fortunate that even Auto Correct realizes it?

Final drawing…

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“Vanity working on a weak head, produces every sort of mischief” - Jane Austen

Not long after after a third assassination attempt on President Trump he addressed the nation from the White House briefing room. He used this moment of gun violence as an opportunity to once again pushed for his obnoxious ballroom to be built on the former site of the demolished East Wing.

Like a lot of Americans I question the sincerity and authenticity of anything surrounding this President and his administration. The chaotic events that took place during the Correspondents’ Dinner this past Saturday seem legit. The gunman can be seen on video breaching security, he had a manifesto and he was captured alive, but like many others my initial response was skeptical. This President seems capable of anything at this point to change the game. His polling numbers suck. The war with Iran is a joke. The midterms are getting closer and there’s still those pesky pedophile files lurking around. At this point nothing would surprise me so his immediate pivot to the ballroom after another failed attempt on his life seemed odd at best. Then again, what doesn’t seem odd these days.

The proposed ballroom has been bumping into some legal issues, but in the wake of the shooting Trump and his merry band of Bozo’s are rallying around the idea that the gilded behemoth would provide better security for major events. It would also provide something much more important to Trump than his personal safety. It would be a monumental gold plated circle jerk for his massive ego.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

When a major news story like the assassination attempt starts breaking my first instinct is to begin thinking about what to say in a cartoon. My second instinct is to resist my first instinct. These events unfold very quickly and media outlets are initially guessing and speculating about everything for the first 24 hours. It’s much better if I hold off on saying anything until some actual facts begin taking shape. In this particular case I decided to wait until the next morning and do some research before I started formulating ideas and opinions.

What struck me most was the immediate response by Trump to use this shooting as a way to push forward the construction of the ballroom. I had no doubt that this is what I wanted to comment on with my cartoon. I began considering how I could communicate the idea of the shooting being used to forward his agenda of the ballroom. It was clearly his main talking point as he addressed the nation. Then it struck me that the phrase Talking Point could be replaced with Bullet Point. That was the moment that would carry the cartoon forward. A giant bullet pointing at what he really wanted would be the cartoon.

The drawing itself didn’t go through many changes. I pushed the size relationship between Trump and the display chart and I changed his hand gesture from an open palm to a pointing finger, but that was about it.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“It only takes one drink to get me drunk. The trouble is, I can’t remember if it’s the thirteenth or the fourteenth.” - George Burns

Olympic beer chugger and FBI Director Kash Patel filed a $250 million lawsuit this past Monday against The Atlantic magazine for publishing an article about his excessive drinking habits. The piece included allegations that Patel imbibes too much and too often which has caused the FBI Director to miss or postpone meetings. The article went on to state that these alcohol related absences have caused issues with time-sensitive decisions that only the director can make. The article was based on interviews with several current and former unnamed officials.

Patel and his legal team’s 19 page lawsuit contains 17 allegations in the article that are “false and defamatory statements of fact”. One of those is that he is known to drink to the point of intoxication. I personally have no idea if he drinks to excess. Like the rest of the world, I’ve only witnessed him fanatically downing a cold one like Delta House Sergeant-At-Arms John “Bluto” Blutarsky. I’m sure it was just a one time thing.

In response, The Atlantic posted the following statement on social media. “We stand by our reporting on Kash Patel, and we will vigorously defend The Atlantic and our journalists from this meritless lawsuit.”

The refreshing chaser to this drinking story happened just today. Patel had filed a similar lawsuit against former FBI Assistant Director, Frank Figliuzzi last year. Presently Mr. Figliuzzi is a contributor on MSNBC and had made statements about Kash Patel spending more time at nightclubs than on the seventh floor of the Hoover building. Just a couple of hours ago a federal judge in Texas cross-checked Patel and tossed his lawsuit under a judicial Zamboni. I’m sure that somewhere right now Kash is drowning his sorrows with a nice keg or 2 of warm herbal tea.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

The idea for this cartoon came very quickly. I had seen some other panels on this topic and I wanted to make sure that I wasn’t in the same lane as my colleagues. I decided to imagine what Kash would do with all that money and the phrase Beer Run immediately jumped to the front of my noggin. It was that simple.

Drawing this pitiful combination of Foster Brooks and Barney Fife begins and ends with the eyes. You just have to mix the right amounts of disturbed and crazy into those sockets and then flesh out the rest from there. I think the only things that I altered from one sketch to the next were the eyebrows, the addition of a beer and the little bubbles of inebriation. Another thing that I want to point out is The Atlantic magazine in the drawing. It’s only function is to simply exist for identification. I didn’t need for it to look like the actual edition where the article exists because it might have gotten a little more attention than was needed to make the cartoon work. Editorial cartoons are like billboards and they need to be seen and understood as the viewer is driving past at 80mph.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“I don’t want to be a puppet of Washington, D.C. My whole goal as a state Senator is to represent the people in my seven rural counties.” - Jean Leising, Republican State Senator

Earlier this year 7 GOP State Senators in Indiana voted against President Trump’s demand to redraw the congressional districts in order to create 2 more seats in his favor. To their credit all 7 of them chose to represent the wishes of the people they represent rather than give in to the political pressure from the White House, Governor Mike Braun and other Indiana politicians that remain faithfully puckered on the POTUS posterior.

The effort to redistrict the state was rightfully defeated and to no ones surprise the President vowed retribution for being denied his wishes. After all, the loyalty of Republican State Senators should only be pledged to him rather than the people they were elected to represent.

The 7 State Senators are all up for re-election in the upcoming primary on May 5th. As you might assume they are all being challenged by Trump endorsed candidates that are being extremely well funded by unusual sources outside of Indiana.

The Washington-based Club for Growth which typically reserves its deep pockets for U.S. House and Senate races has stated that they will spent at least $1.5 million to defeat the sullied seven. The president of Club for Growth, David McIntosh stated, “I do not think of it as seeking revenge. I think what’s happening is the President wants to send a message to Republican leaders in Indiana and around the country that he expects them to be team players. It was a big priority of his, and ours at the Club for Growth, to keep the majority in the U.S. House.”

Other groups working to heal Trump’s bruised ego and sway the elections are the Hoosier Leadership for America nonprofit group and the Georgia-based American Leadership PAC. Both of these organizations are linked to U.S. Senator Jim Banks of Indiana and both plan to spend a combined $3 million to back the Trump approved candidates.

To me the worst part of this narcissistic nonsense is that these elected public servants were doing their jobs and doing them the right way. The polling clearly indicated that Hoosiers were against the mid-decade redistricting and these seven State Senators chose to work for the best interests of Hoosiers rather than become Trump toadies. Hopefully the voters of Indiana will follow the lead of these State Senators and do the right thing.

*I want to point out that State Senator Jean Leising (whom I quoted above) is not up for re-election in this primary. She is however assisting in the fundraising efforts of her seven colleagues that refused to fold.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

The initial concept for this cartoon didn’t alter too much from start to finish. I wanted to communicate the message that well-funded groups in favor of redistricting were doing damage to the Indiana primary elections.

I knew almost immediately the a giant bag of cash bearing down on a small voting booth would be a strong visual. I did play around with the tilt of the bag a few times, but ultimately decided that it would be fine to just have it coming straight down. I did struggle somewhat with the wording. I debated with the term retribution vs revenge and decided on the latter because it sounded more sinister.

I really enjoy the contrast of unusual scale in this cartoon, but I needed to be careful to not make the voting booth too small. Also the proximity of the 2 objects is an important part of the panel. The viewer has arrived just a split-second from impact.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.

“Every absurdity has a champion to defend it.” - Oliver Goldsmith

This Presidency is an ever ascending stairway of the absurd and this past week Donald Trump leapt up a few flights in a single moment. The President of the United States posted an AI image of himself as Jesus Christ and then after removing it claimed that it was an image of him as a doctor. Yes, Donald J. Trump MD - (Mentally Delusional). He then, as expected, went on to finger point and place blame for the mess he created. “Only the fake news could come up with that one.”

For most, the immediate reaction to the image was to be offended and describe it as inappropriate. Even some of Trump’s most loyal followers refused to fall in line and condemned the ridiculous picture. There were, however, others that brushed it aside as just another in a long line of innocent POTUS oopsie moments.

I think the reaction that bothered me the most came from the son of the late Rev. Billy Graham, Rev. Franklin Graham. He stated, “When I looked at the illustration, I didn’t jump to the same conclusion as some. There were no spiritual references - no halo, there were no crosses, no angels. I think this is a lot to do about nothing. There is so much ill-intended speculation. I think his enemies are always foaming at the mouth at any possible opportunity to make him look bad.”

Sorry, Frankie, the Holy Hamberder Fuhrer doesn’t need any help in making himself look bad. In fact, the only assist this embarrassment of a man needs is for another embarrassment of a man to have his back. And as long as you’ve got one foot in your mouth lets see if you can squeeze the other one in there. Point out for all of us the imagery that shows Trump as a doctor. Where’s the stethoscope? The nurses? The anesthesiologist, tongue depressors, medications, surgical masks and so on? Is he even wearing scrubs or a physicians lab coat? No. There’s nothing there. He’s plain and simple a liar and you can’t even call him out on that. Sadly, your true higher power is showing and you should be ashamed.

Sketches & sketchy stuff…

The idea for this cartoon evolved directly from the initial image. I quickly roughed out a sketch of Trump in his biblical attire and went from there.

I went through a number of ideas in my head on what he might be saying in the cartoon and I researched a number of biblical quotes. Some went along the lines of “whoever believeth in me shall have eternal… ignorance.” Another that you see in the first sketch. “I am the light” to which someone replies, “Weight.” There were others, but nothing really was really connecting.

As I was thinking and researching I came across a story about his (eyeroll) assassination attempt. That’s when it clicked. I could have him claiming to be both Jesus and a doctor and pointing out his “Miracle Ear” as the proof. This was a much better solution because it went directly back to the AI generated Jesus image and his lame excuse that saw himself as a doctor. It also connected to the shot ear nonsense so at the end of the day Timmy was a happy boy! Like I’ve said in previous posts, stay in neighborhood of an idea and typically something better will eventually come along.

Final drawing…

If you chose to help me out by becoming a paid subscriber you can have the signed original drawing of this cartoon (or any other you choose) along with a signed color print.