Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 12-12-2025
A Different Reality
I am not transgender. And, perhaps like some who read Scottie’s blog, there are times when I wonder why I am reading so much about transgender and non-binary issues, since they don’t really effect me. I’m simply me, an overweight white guy who has struggled with his orientation and confidence. Interestingly enough, I’m – as written – not Hispanic. I was born in the USA, so why should I care about some of the other posts Scottie shows on his blog about ICE/Immigration? I think you know where I am going with this.
On the first day of tRump’s occupation, he signed an executive order that the United States would no longer recognize anything but born male/born female as a gender to the applause of a disappointingly large number of people. With the literal stroke of a pen, a person’s identity was made to be unrecognized by their very own government.
And, just as he has chosen to remove men and women from our communities without the right of Habeas Corpus, one of the very principles our country was founded upon, who will be next to learn they are a non-person and suddenly unworthy of liberty? Will it be me, a struggling fat white guy who doesn’t conform to the cis ideal? Will it be when I become old and can no longer work? Will it be because I don’t agree with the Maga mantra? What will I have to fake to be still acceptable to the powers?
I’d like to paraphrase and steal another’s words here:
The Declaration of Independence identified “the pursuit of happiness” as one of our unalienable rights, along with life and liberty… Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and Alexander Hamilton (spoke about what) happiness meant in their lives, how they understood the pursuit of happiness as a quest for being good, not feeling good—the pursuit of lifelong virtue, not short-term pleasure. Among those virtues were the habits of industry, temperance, moderation, and sincerity, which the Founders viewed as part of a daily struggle for self-improvement, character development, and calm self-mastery. They believed that political self-government required personal self-government.
Now this is arguable, but I want to believe it. I want to believe and agree that the creation of this country was about more than the pursuit of power, but about the pursuit of happiness, of completion, of understanding and identity. I believe that the creation of this country was to be about self-determination and self-actualization, not conformity to some distorted and corrupted image of a diseased head of state.
It is for this reason that I embrace the rights and honor of those who are transgender, non-binary, or any who are seeking to understand that person in the mirror. In fact, I see it as a fundamental aspect of being an American that we accept those who are in the journey of self. Further, just as Jesus Christ is reported to exhort us to welcome the stranger – because it is only by befriending those different from whoever I am that I can hope to one day fully understand Randy.
I welcome respectful comments and even disagreements to this post. hugs.
When Fiction Becomes All Too Real
More news headlines to choose from. Getting caught up. Only 90 more to go before I can look at / open the new articles.
Wow. Could Trump be receiving the Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi? It is administered via IV in the hand, causes swelling in the brain requiring regular MRIs, and one of the main side effects is tiredness. Is the President taking secret Alzheimer’s drugs?
Leqembi is a new Alzheimer’s drug given by infusion & requiring regular MRI’s to monitor side effects. Trump’s father died from Alzheimer’s & Trump clearly has dementia. Leqembi explains the hand trauma & MRI’s that Trump has been receiving.
Samantha is an entitled little shit who did not follow the assignment and thus she failed! Not following: Citing sources The word requirement No clear ties to the article No clarity of writing She tried a gotcha, fucked around and found out! Good!
Florida Man Accused Of Trying To Run Over LGBTQ Jogging Group Claims So-Called “Gay Panic Defense”
The Hambys were reportedly supported by a local far-right Christian nationalist group. In the video below, Jeffrey Hamby rages that they are the victims because their daughter has been removed from their custody. According to one local outlet, their crusade against LGBTQ books cost the county $575,000 in legal fees. There’s much, much more to the story at both links above.
The hate, bigotry, cruelty, and spitefulness is the point. This is a useless gesture like replacing Biden’s portrait with a picture of an auto pen. These people have no other important duties than to be assholes it seems. The kind of people who you hate to have move into the neighborhood. Hugs
Last week Missouri’s Republican attorney general sicced ICE on organizers collecting signatures for the referendum.
tRump has long hated the Kennedys and their place in US society. He has always felt they were taking the place of US royalty / dynasty that he feels should rightfully be his families place / stature. Remember tRump told Queen Elisabeth that his family was equal to her as his family was US royalty and his kids were on equal footing with hers. Such a desperate cry for attention. Hugs
Park Service Ends Free Admission On MLK Day And Juneteenth, Adds Free Admission On Trump’s Birthday
Huh. Beware Of Republican Senators Touting “Invisible Reinsurance Pools”-
Seriously. I was looking at what’s on TV tonight, saw a story about Sen. Marshall and ACA, so I had to read that instead. It could be amusing; I didn’t watch the video and missed it on the news last night, but I read the story with it. Sen. Marshall is an M.D. Also nuts.
Senator Marshall’s five-part plan aims to cut healthcare costs as ACA subsidies near end
(video on the page; there is no share link for it.)
As Congress considers whether to extend ACA subsidies past the end of the year when they’re set to expire, Senator Roger Marshall offered a plan to lower the cost.
Now, the senator’s five part plan includes trying to stop ACA fraud by requiring ID, and also minimum monthly premium payments. Also, price transparency reform to allow people to shop for medical care.
Marshall also calls to support high risk patients by paying for what he called state run, invisible reinsurance pools.
Good Tidings Of Deeds & Surprises, From Jenny Lawson
Ow, my heart
Read this if you want to feel happy.
Jenny Lawson (thebloggess) Dec 09, 2025
Hello, friend!
I’m a little late on this because yesterday I opened up the James Garfield Miracle and so I’ve been giving out free stuffed animals to people who need them. It’s a weird, long story but basically an ancient taxidermied boar inspired a holiday giveaway for kids by strangers to strangers 16 years ago and we just kept doing it each year. It’s on the blog right now if you need help or want to help. Over 275 kids have been sent new plushies in the last 18 hours.
I’m giving out 150 myself and that’s funded by in part by you here in my substack and by the 2026 calendar I made with this years drawings so if you are reading here then you have already helped with this years James Garfield Miracle and I love you. I may not ever get to hug you all in person but I hope you can feel this:
I still have more stuffed animals to give out because people keep beating me to filling the wishlists and HOW AMAZING IS THAT?
There was even a person who once was a recipient as a child years ago and is now filling wishlists for others.
(Below was supposed to be another happy, sniffly image but my computer was apparently uncomfortable with my emotions and offered me this instead and it made me laugh so now you have to see it.)
Aaaanyway, I have to get back to it, but first, the drawing for this week is one I started long ago and just finished because somehow it feels really fitting.
“Together we rise, we soar, we touch the stars. We cannot quit. Together.”
I feel so lucky today.
I super crazy love you.
~ me
Political cartoons / memes / and news I want to share. 12-11-2025
Samantha is an entitled little shit who did not follow the assignment and thus she failed! Not following: Citing sources The word requirement No clear ties to the article No clarity of writing She tried a gotcha, fucked around and found out! Good!
“I need to check your bag to make sure you bought some seasonal items you didn’t need.”
“It is something that has been needed and desired at the White House for over 150 years”
Bullshit. No one’s ever talked about it. Besides, we already have the Library of Congress ballroom that far surpasses his tacky imitation.
The State Department has a fine ballroom. Click to enlarge:
Josh Day Next Day
Discussing the Diddy documentary; also giving statements about our use of cell phone tech, how we behave in public, and so forth. He did another great set, and is funny!
Entertainment News
From SBTB, some NSFW language within. Like, I don’t even know what having a dump-truck tushie means. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
“Heated Rivalry: The Unbearable Lightness of Having a Dump-Truck Ass“
by Candy
So right now I have a number of non-romance community friends coming up to me and saying stuff like:
“Oh hey sounds like some hockey fic finally made it onto TV, huh?”
“Yo Candy have you heard of the gay hockey romance TV show?”
“How excited are you about the gay hockey smut on TV?”
“Candy why is your entire Tumblr dashboard filled with naked asses?”
To which I say: excuse me, these are not just “naked asses.”
These are triple-platinum certified, AAA grade dumptrucks. Can dumptruck butts even be certified platinum, Sisqo hit notwithstanding?
Fuck you, they can now. These asses can do anything. These asses can fly you to the fucking moon. These asses were sculpted by the hand of God, after which God cut their own hand off because it had achieved perfection, so why sculpt anything else ever. Connor Storrie’s ass in particular is a mesmerizingly perfect hemisphere. He could never sneak into an enemy base because he is dummy thicc and the thunderclap of those asscheeks would absolutely alert the guards for miles around. Do you understand what I’m saying?
A | BN | K | ABBut the thing is, you need to watch the show — I can’t believe I’m saying this after what I’ve just said above — not for the asses, but because the actors are a delight to watch. It’s not that they’re beautiful, or at least, not only because of that.
It’s because they inhabit their characters to a degree that is frankly eerie.
Like: the way Connor Storrie holds his body as Ilya Rozanov in every scene. Man doesn’t stand like an American, though he very much is. (Storrie is a Texan. A Texan.) And what does “doesn’t stand like an American” even mean? Look, I can’t fuckin’ explain it, OK, but white American dudes tend to hold themselves A Way, and he doesn’t do it. It’s like porn (which this show delivers on, by the way). I just know it when I see it.
That’s not even going into Storrie’s near-impeccable Russian (which he apparently acquired over three weeks), or the things he’s able to do with his eyes, or the curl of an upper lip, or a flick of his eyebrow.
What, you think there wouldn’t be gifs? Come on now.
And then there’s Hudson Williams as Shane Hollander. Shane, the lawful good muppet to Ilya’s chaos gremlin freak. Williams nails every microexpression, especially in the scenes in which he’s texting Ilya: vulnerability, frustration, reluctant amusement, endearment—they all flicker across his face. He’s stiff and awkward, which you might initially mistake for bad acting, except no, that’s Shane: Shane is an awkward motherfucker! Shane Hollander has zero grace until you strap skates on him, or until he’s confronted by Ilya Rozanov’s dick.
Sure, sure, my friends say. Watch it for the acting. That’s what you say. That’s not what you’re reblogging on Tumblr, you thirsty bitch.
I mean, yeah. I’m mostly posting gifsets of dumptruck butts because I need everyone I know to watch this show, and while I honestly find this image of Ilya giving Shane the once-over when they first meet theee actual hottest thing, who the fuck cares about that who hasn’t seen the show already?
It’s pretty hot
That’s not going to grab people’s attention. Oh, look at this attractive white dude giving someone the ole bedroom eyes. Boh-ring. NEXT.
Ilya Rozanov, naked and glistening with water, jorkin’ it in the locker room showers while maintaining hideously uncomfortable eye contact with Shane? That’s an attention-grabber. And I’ve sold three different people into watching this show because of it.
Speaking for all of us…
So anyway, I’ve had to talk to several friends about this show, and about why I, a person who has worked hard all their life to achieve the perfect body (potato-shaped) care about sports romance, and I’ve come up with this Heated Rivalry explainer of sorts. Maybe you’ll find this helpful as you navigate conversations with other people in your life who are like, hey, I hear you like smut! What do you think of that smutty hockey show? Or, like, if you haven’t checked out either the book or the show, and somehow have avoided learning anything about either of them, maybe this will finally push you over the edge? In fact, I hope it does. Consider this me kicking you down a well lined with bare chests and fake team logos of dubious quality and screaming This! Is! Heated Rivalry!
What the hell is Heated Rivalry?
It’s not a fic, it’s a hockey romance novel by Rachel Reid. The two main characters are Ilya Rozanov, Russian hockey wunderkind, and Shane Hollander, Canadian hockey wunderkind. (And yeah, Shane bears a physical resemblance to Sid Crosby, and Ilya being Russian and playing for a rival team immediately raises the spectre of Alexander Ovechkin, but as far as I know, this isn’t scrubbed Sid/Ovi fic, even if, uh, the inspiration seems pretty clear.)
Shane and Ilya meet rookie year, find each other infuriating yet irresistible, rapidly hook up, and then continue to hook up over many, many years, only to slowly, excruciatingly, fall in love. It’s somehow both slow-burn and bangs immediately. You know U-Haul lesbians? These guys are the exact opposite. (Move-away gays? I’ll have to workshop that more.)
Anyway. The book is mostly sex scenes by volume, and not a single one is repetitive or wasted, because it’s how the character and relationship development happen.
It’s now a TV show, adapted by Jacob Tierney. That’s the same guy who brought you Letterkenny and Shoresy, neither of which I’ve watched, but which I’ve been aware of for years now because people whose tastes I trust have watched them and loved them and told me I should watch them. Sorry, guys, it took the power of gay hockey idiots to drag me into the Tierney-verse. I’m here now, and I love it!
The thing you need to know about this show is: it leans in. It fully commits to the bit. Look, I know I keep talking about how this show is worth watching above and beyond the sex and the beefcake, but the fact of the matter is, you can’t extricate the show from the sex and the beefcake, because it’s a show. About hockey players. Who fall in love because they fuck. A lot. Over many years. So yes, I’m going to talk about the sex.
OK! (snip-I can’t copy-paste their whole post; go read it, it’s great!)
Scottie's Playtime 