Clay Jones, and Open Windows

We know Trump has no respect for democracy by Ann Telnaes

His supporters should be held accountable for their complicity Read on Substack

==========

Tiny Orange Balls by Clay Jones

Rubio has too many jobs Read on Substack

Kids, I can’t give you the super-long blog that you deserve to go with this cartoon. I have to be at an event in about 30 minutes in Washington, DC, and I haven’t looked to see how many metro stops that is, and I still need to get dressed and make myself smell good.

I started this cartoon at home, worked on it some more on the train, and finished it in my hotel room. After that, I went to Ben’s Chili Bowl, which is an institution in this city and only two stops from my hotel on the green line. And now I kinda want a nap because of those half-smoke dogs.

Anyway, Marco Rubio is currently doing a lot of duties in the Trump regime. He’s the Secretary of State, in charge of the National Archives, director of USAID, and now he’s the National Security Adviser, which was dumped on him after Trump demoted Mike Waltz to the role of Ambassador to the United Nations.

The ambassadorship to the UN would be an important job in any other administration, but not this one. Trump would rather pull out of the UN than participate in it. The ambassadorship to the UN is about as important in the Trump regime as the Secretary of Education.

The last person to be Secretary of State while also serving as National Security Adviser was Henry Kissinger, and Marco Rubio is not Henry Kissinger.

Marco struggles to be Marco. He has no firm commitment to any political position because Trump might tell him to change one, or two, or several.

Marco is not the dumbest Republican in Washington. I wouldn’t put him down with Tommy Tuberville, Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Marsha Blackburn, or Cindy Hyde-Smith, but he’s no Katie Porter either. Sorry, I couldn’t think of any current Republicans to use an example of a smart person.

Senator Tammy Duckworth said there is “no way he [Rubio] can do that and do it well.” When he was just the Secretary of State, he wasn’t doing that one job well. And who can say he ever did his Senate job well?

Duckworth also said, “There’s no way he can carry … that entire load on his own.”

Marco was in the Signal chat group leaking out war plans, and he didn’t notice there was a stranger in the group.

Trump is just dumping shit off on Marco, who doesn’t even have enough of a backbone to say stop. But I hope he learns how to say stop by the time Trump gives him a fifth job…

…of playing with his balls.

Now, I gotta go hang out with cartoonists.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see!)

The ERA and More in Peace & Justice History for 5/6

May 6, 1916

Emma Goldman and Alexander Berkman
Alexander Berkman and Emma Goldman started the No Conscription League in the U.S. to discourage young men from registering for the draft which had passed Congress the previous month.
This was prior to American troops’ being sent to Europe in what is known as World War I.

Read the No-Conscription League Manifesto 
May 6, 1944
Mohandas Gandhi, due to declining health, was released from
his last imprisonment in India, having spent 2,338 days in jail
during his lifetime.
May 6, 1954
Two American pilots and most of their crew died flying ammunition supply missions to French colonial troops under siege by Vietnamese insurgent troops under General Vo Nguyen Giap. James “Earthquake McGoon” McGovern and Wallace Buford became the first U.S. aviators to die in Vietnam. Pres. Dwight Eisenhower had not wanted to commit the U.S. military to Vietnam so shortly after the end of the war in Korea, so McGovern and Buford were working for an organization contracted by the CIA.
May 6, 1970
U.S. Senate hearings began on ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment (ERA) to the U.S. Constitution: “Equality of rights under the law shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”
Similar amendments had been introduced in every Congress since 1923.

Writer and editor Gloria Steinem testified: “During twelve years of working for a living, I’ve experienced much of the legal and social discrimination reserved for women in this country. I have been refused service in public restaurants, ordered out of public gathering places, and turned away from apartment rentals, all for the clearly stated, sole reason that I am a woman.”

Gloria Steinem in 1970
Steinem’s full testimony  
more 
ERA history 
May 6, 1973
14 cities across France saw demonstrations against their country’s nuclear weapons tests in the Pacific Ocean.
May 6, 1979
125,000 rallied in Washington, D.C. to oppose nuclear power.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may6

2 From Clay Jones

Bert and Ernie and Bill by Clay Jones

Run, Rubber Ducky, Run! Read on Substack

There’s been a lot of talk, and jokes, about six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick and his super young girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. Even SNL made a crack about it in its cold open.

In the skit, Trump signs an Executive Order making it socially acceptable for a man in his 70s to date a 24-year-old. The “Belichik Law” will “make girlfriends young again,” says Trump, played brilliantly by James Austin Johnson.

But hasn’t it always been socially acceptable for an older man to date a younger woman? In the skit, Trump says, “Old men can now date far younger women. We like that. It’s hot! But in reverse, it’s quite disgusting, right?”

My opinion on this matter is that as long as it’s at the legal age limit, then mind your own business. But Republicans are fine with a 49-year age gap, or 23, which is the difference between Donald Trump and Melania. But isn’t it weird that when an old fart starts dating a women who is waaaaaaaaay younger than him, she’s always a model? Holy shit. Have I been fucking up by deleting all those Facebook friend requests from hot girls in bikinis that I’ve always assumed were scams? Maybe my soulmate is a Sports Illustrated swimsuit model. Never mind. I just remembered that, for some reason, that only happens to rich men.

While Republicans are very progressive and accepting of old, rich, wrinkly metamucil-drinking guys dating women who could be their daughters and even granddaughters, they hate gay marriage even though it doesn’t hurt them at all. We’ve finally progressed enough that Republicans don’t even want to talk about it anymore, but you know that if they could, they’ all vote to outlaw gay marriage. (snip-MORE, and it’s really good)

Shake Your Foundations by Clay Jones

Housing assistance is facing a wrecking ball. Read on Substack

This cartoon was drawn for the Fredericksburg Advance.

Did you know that 90% of Virginia’s support for housing assistance comes from the federal government? Other questions are: How much will DOGE/Trump cut from the HUD budget? How much will affect housing assistance? How much will Virginia lose from that 90 percent? Will Virginia lose all of it?

One question we don’t have to ask is: Does Trump or Elon care about housing assistance at all?

Creative note: We publish the cartoons for the Advance on Sundays, and I didn’t even write this cartoon until late yesterday, after I finished my daily syndicate cartoon. I don’t know why I put pressure on myself like this. I didn’t finish working yesterday until 8 p.m. I spent my Saturday working.

Music note: I listened to Fugazi.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see!)

Please Share Liberally-

Inheriting The Wind, and More, in Peace & Justice History for 5/5

May 5, 1818
Political philosopher, social scientist, historian and revolutionary Karl Marx was born in Trier, Germany. His ideas, laid out in the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital, and in many other publications, considered the state, class divisions, the nature of industrial capitalism, and culture and religion as oppressive forces.

A young Karl Marx
May 5, 1925
Biology teacher John T. Scopes was arrested for teaching Darwin’s theory of evolution in a Dayton, Tennessee, high school in violation of state law. Working in a public school, he was prohibited by statute “to teach any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible, and to teach instead that man has descended from a lower order of animals.”

State of Tennessee v. Scopes  ACLU
May 5, 1981
Irish Republican Army hunger-striker Bobby Sands died in Northern Ireland’s Maze Prison (aka Long Kesh); it was his 66th day without food.He had just been elected by a narrow margin to a seat in the British Parliament for the district of Fermanagh and South Tyrone while still serving the last of a 14-year sentence for possession of firearms.
The government introduced and Parliament quickly enacted the Representation of the People Act 1981 which prevented prisoners serving jail terms of more than one year in either the UK or the Republic of Ireland from being nominated as candidates in UK elections
.

“Our revenge will be the laughter of our children.” – Bobby Sands
May 5, 1983
Over one million Sicilians, a fifth of the Italian island’s population, signed a petition against the deployment of more than 100 U.S. cruise missiles at the Comiso Air Base.
May 5, 1991
The last U.S. cruise missile left Greenham Common Air Base in England, the site of a decade of women’s anti-nuclear protests. The encampment persisted for nearly another decade until it was returned to public access.
Protesters leave Greenham Common for the last time
Peace link 
May 5, 2000
Reformers allied with President Mohammed Khatami swept run-off elections, winning control of the 290-seat Majlis of Iran (parliament) from hard-liners for the first time since the 1979 Islamic revolution. Results were subject to certification by the Guardian Council which reversed the results in eleven of the original February contests.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may5

Black Hole Week!

These pages are awesome! Here are some snippets:

Black holes are one of our favorite cosmic objects

So we created Black Hole Week to celebrate them.

Throughout the week, science communicators from across the globe will be sharing news, videos, and social media posts about black holes. Our goal is that no matter where people turn that week, they’ll run into a black hole. (Figuratively, of course — we don’t want anyone falling in!) (snip)

=====

=====

First Tip: Don’t Visit Black Holes!

But if you must, read our safety guide.

Learn more about black holes, how to find them, and how to stay safe on your travels!Read More snip) Enjoy!

https://science.nasa.gov/un (snipiverse/black-hole-week

How Many Dolls?

One Doll, Two Dolls, Three Dolls, Sex Dolls by Clay Jones

The dolls names are Melania and Ivanka Read on Substack

Last Wednesday, Trump predicted during a Cabinet meeting (where everyone was required to praise him while Gulf-of-America caps were aligned across the table) that higher prices caused by tariffs will mean “children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls.”

I’m sure fathers buy their daughters as many dolls as they cry for, because dads are weak for their daughters, but I doubt they buy 30 for Christmas. Am I wrong? What I’m thinking, is that he bought Ivanka thousands of dolls and maybe half as many for his other daughter, what’s-her-name. He probably bought a gazillion GI Joes for Jr and maybe a few Barbies for Eric.

I had “action” figures, not dolls, when I was a kid. Not only did I have superheroes like Batman and Spiderman, I also had a Fonzie (who suffered a traffic accident when I hid him in a lamp and one of his cool legs melted off). I even had an Epstein from Welcome Back, Kotter. Of course, I had a bunch of Star Wars guys. Oh, crap, maybe I did have 30, but I didn’t get 30 for Christmas.

What’s surreal here is that Trump is a glutton. From what I’ve heard from his friends, he’s also a pack rat and a hoarder. His offices are full of useless crap he doesn’t need. It’s all junk. But now this billionaire, who purchases portraits of himself and has multiple homes and golf resorts, is telling Americans to cut down on their consumerism. What?

This is probably the first time in the modern era that the Republican message is, “Don’t spend so much money.” Wasn’t one of Trump’s campaign messages, “Make America wealthy again?” It was along with, “Make America hate again.”

At the cabinet meeting, Trump said, “You know, somebody said, ‘Oh, the shelves are going to be open. Well, maybe the children will have two dolls instead of 30 dolls, you know, and maybe the two dolls will cost a couple of bucks more than they would normally.”

Yeah! Screw those spoiled brats! If nothing else, instead of buying them so many dolls, make them get a job and pay rent and board. You can ship them off to Arkansas, where Governor Sarah Huckabee Hound Sanders has greatly loosened child labor laws.

When you go to McDonald’s and they’re screaming for the Happy Meal toy, make that brat pay for that Happy Meal.

In 1995, my life was a living hell every time we went to McDonald’s because my kid was always screaming for the Black Power Ranger, and we got Pink Power Ranger every. fucking. time, and my son would lose his shit. I should have melted them like I did to poor Fonzie.

I still have nightmares about Pink Power Ranger.

Trump also said, “They (China) have ships that are loaded up with stuff, much of which — not all of it — but much of which we don’t need.” This….THIS coming from the asshole selling us Trump straws. This grifter probably wants us to stop buying so much shit from China and buy more of his shit…from China.

Trump is out of touch because he thinks the tariffs will only hike prices for useless shit. But people need to eat too, and some are taking out loans to buy groceries. The other option is to make your kid eat his GI Joe.

Stephen Miller said, “If you had a choice between a doll from China that might have, say, lead paint in it, that is not as well-constructed as a doll made in America that has a higher environmental and regulatory standard and that is made to a higher degree of quality, and those two products are both on Amazon,” Miller said, “then, yes, you probably would be willing to pay more for a better-made American product.”

Lead paint? Someone tell Baby Goebbels that imports sold in America are often subject to the same regulatory standards as domestic products. Also, during Trump’s first term, his Environmental Protection Agency tried to roll back safety standards that would expose children to…wait for it….lead paint.

If you really want to freak your kid out, buy them a Stephen Miller doll. The brat will be begging for a Pink Power Ranger after that.

A Stephen Miller doll would be like a Goebbels version of Chucky.

Creative note: Proofer Laura wrote, “This is unspeakably gross.” I told her she should be ashamed of herself for looking at it… after I sent it to her.

Music note: I listened to Bleach by Nirvana.

Drawn in 30 seconds: (snip-go see!)

Reading Alert! 📚

Family

Marlon Wayans Says He Went From “Denial to Complete Acceptance” of His Trans Son Kai

In a revealing podcast interview, the comedian said the process “took me a week.”

By Abby Monteil

Marlon Wayans is opening up about his 24-year-old trans son Kai, and the importance of parenting with “complete acceptance.”

The comedian appeared alongside his brother Damon Wayans on the April 30 episode of the IMO with Michelle Obama and Craig Robinson podcast. While discussing parenting advice, Marlon said that Kai’s transition “taught me what real, unconditional love was.”

“When they went through the transition, I actually went through the transition,” he said. “I went from denial to complete acceptance, and it took me a week to get there.”

Wayans joked that although he believes “only God can judge… If that’s a mistake and we get to heaven and God don’t let my child in, I’m going to shave a beard and sneak them in through the back.”

“I’m going to love my baby… I’m a father, and I’m always going to defend them,” he continued. “I’m always going to protect them. I’m always going to respect them. And there’s nothing anybody could ever tell me.”

The White Chicks star added that when it comes to the public’s reaction to him supporting Kai, he could care less about losing fans in the process.

“I lost people that are small-minded, small-hearted, and self-loathing,” he said. “So, goodbye… For every one I lose, I gain 150 more.”

This isn’t the first time that Wayans has used his platform to support Kai and other trans youth. Back in February, the actor defended his son after Soulja Boy called him a transphobic slur while publicly feuding with Wayans.

“You know you can get cancelled for transphobic slander like this,” he tweeted at the time. “Fortunately for you that you don’t have a career. Apparently, You BEEN cancelled for the last 17 years. Crank that was 2007. We waiting.”

Wayans previously opened up about supporting Kai during a September 2024 appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show, explaining that after his son came out, “I went through the five stages of grief to get to the beautiful, magical place called acceptance.”

“I learned that my family, my brothers, my sisters, have prepared me to be a rock in our family,” he said. “[Kai is] the same child they was before, they’ve just got a beard now. Okay. Same baby.”

4 Dead in OH; When The Sense Of The Congress Was Nuclear Freeze; and More in Peace & Justice History for 5/4

May 4, 1961
A group of Freedom Riders left Washington, DC for New Orleans in a first challenge to racial segregation on interstate buses and in bus terminals; it was organized by the Congress of Racial Equality (CORE). 
The Freedom Riders dining at a lunch counter in Montgomery before traveling to Jackson, Mississippi and New Orleans, Louisiana.
Read more about the freedom riders  
50 Years After Their Mug Shots, Portraits of Mississippi’s Freedom Riders 
May 4, 1970
Ohio National Guard troops opened fire on anti-war protesters
at Kent State University, killing four students and wounding nine others,
one permanently disabled.


The previous day, President Nixon had announced a widening of the Vietnam War with bombing in neighboring Cambodia.

There were major campus protests around the country with students occupying university buildings to organize and to discuss the war and other issues.
Read more about that day at Kent State with pictures 
May 4, 1983
A “sense of the Congress” resolution, intended to urge a halt to all testing of nuclear weapons, was approved by the U.S. House of Representatives (287-149). The support for a nuclear freeze, ending all American and Soviet nuclear weapons testing, was widespread. In ballot resolutions in 25 states, the freeze had passed in all but one, losing in Arizona by just two points.

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymay.htm#may4