Clay Jones Draws & Writes

Third Term Banana by Clay Jones

The nation is on notice Read on Substack

Donald Trump wants to become a dictator, and he’s saying the quiet parts out loud.

Trump is already turning this nation into an authoritarian state. He’s deporting people for protesting, he’s cutting funds to universities that have allowed protests, he’s claiming certain language and ideology is improper and illegal, he’s ignoring the courts, he’s cleansing government and history of DEI, he’s installed an oligarch to override Congress, and he’s even concerned that animals at the National Zoo might be too woke. Now, he’s openly talking about serving a third term.

Right after the election last November, Trump mused about serving a third term, saying he was only joking. Now, he’s openly talking about finding “methods” to serve a third term, and this time, he’s not joking.

There’s only one thing standing in the way of Trump serving a third term, and it’s this little thing I like to call the United States Constitution. The 22nd Amendment says, “No person shall be elected to the office of the President more than twice, and no person who has held the office of President, or acted as President, for more than two years of a term to which some other person was elected President shall be elected to the office of the President more than once.”

That seems pretty clear, right? But wait, Republicans and people sick of democracy and want to give fascism a chance say it’s not. They point to the word “elected” in the 22nd. They believe that as long as Trump can re-enter office without an election, then he’s in. Their theory is that JD Vance can become the Republican nominee in 2028, install Trump as his running mate, win the election (after destroying the nation with MAGA fascism the previous four years), resign the presidency, and Trump will become president for a third time.

So far, this nation has had only one president who was not elected as president or even Vice President. Who was that? I’ll give the answer in the notes.

But wait. The 12th Amendment says, “No person constitutionally ineligible to the office of President shall be eligible to that of Vice-President of the United States.”

Trump is NOT eligible to run for a third term. After his J6 insurrection, he shouldn’t have been eligible for a second. What’s scary is that nobody may try to stop him.

In France, Marine Le Pen is ineligible to hold political office after being convicted of embezzlement, but here in America, Donald Trump is talking about serving a third term even after a coup attempt. As Harry in Resident Alien would say, “This is some bullshit.”

The GOP has already caved into Trump. Corporate America has bent a knee to Trump, and now they’re throwing money at him. Universities are giving in to his demands. Even Chuck Schumer has adopted the philosophy that the best way to stop Trump is to give him everything he wants. We also know the voters are too stupid, too racist, and don’t care enough about this country to stop him.

You would think the courts are the firewall against Dictator Trump, but SCOTUS, with a 6-3 fucknut majority (with two open to bribes), has already ruled that Trump is immune to everything except syphilis and severe acne.

Nothing stopped Trump from violating the Emoluments Clause. Nothing stopped Trump from using the White House and Washington Monument during the 2020 convention. The Senate refused to convict him in both impeachments. The courts refused to prosecute him. Nothing is stopping him from grifting during his second term (sic). Nothing has stopped him from allowing DOGE to work as an unelected fourth branch. Nothing stopped him from being bribed by Elon for $277 million. So, excuse me if I’m a little nervous about him serving a third term. Do I have to repeat that the voters can’t be trusted anymore?

Trump says a lot of people want him to serve a third term, but none of those people are probably among the 56 percent polled to say Trump is doing a shitty job as president (sic). So maybe Trump, even under JD on the ticket, won’t be popular enough to win in 2028.

But wait.

Trump might believe he doesn’t have to win to serve a third term because, as we learned from history, he’ll just claim he won and make another coup attempt and then pardon everyone who participated in the coup.

So, excuse me for not trusting the safeguards in our republic and for being nervous. Do we have to wait for Trump to start his third term for us to become a banana republic, or are we already there?

Which president was never elected? Gerald Ford was never elected as president or vice president.

Creative note: I wasn’t sure if the quote on the sippy cup was genuine, so I Googled it.

I see this a lot on social media. Someone will post a quote they believe is genuine. I have a spider sense with fake shit on the internet. Usually, when I see something I suspect is fake on Facebook and people believe it, even liberals, I discover it’s a lie. People do this with quotes a lot, and most people don’t question it. Well, today I found a Hitler quote, but I wanted to make sure it was genuine.

I did a search, and it turned up in different forms, but that still doesn’t make it real. Proofer Laura looked it up, too. I decided to go with it because I found it on a university website, so I’m hoping they got shit together and fact-checked it for me.

Daily Cartoonist note: Last night, I saw a question posed to me four weeks ago at the Daily Cartoonist. A reader asked why he had to be a paid subscriber to comment here, and also said he would use it to post corrections to me. I would have replied there, but the comments were closed. I’m hoping he’ll see this here.

First, I don’t mind having corrections sent to me, but I don’t like them in the comments. Why not? Because it distracts from everything else. If you see a typo, please message it to me through whatever platform you prefer. You can email me at clayjonz@gmail.com. Trust me, people let me know when they see typos, and I make many.
If you want to challenge me on a fact or dispute anything, I’m cool with that being posted in the comments, as it can encourage discussions.

Second, only paid subscribers can comment because they’re paid subscribers. They gotta have something for their money. That reminds me that I need to make more exclusive content for the people who financially support me.

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

===============================

Eyebrow Raising

to say the least … 🤨 😠

Big Banks accept a Catastrophic 5.4º F. Temperature Rise, Hope to sell People more Air Conditioners

Juan Cole 04/01/2025

Ann Arbor (Informed Comment) – Corbin Hiar reports at the Scientific American that the big banks are now banking on a 5.4º F. (3º Celsius) rise in global temperatures above the pre-industrial average.

Morgan Stanley let the conclusion slip in a report on air conditioner sales, which it expects to double, what with the extra heat. Hiar says that especially after the election of Trump, the banks accept that that is just the way it is going to be.

The stupidity hurts my brain.

Freakin’ air conditioners?

I’d like to direct readers (and any bankers among them) to a free book on what science tells us about a 3º Celsius world. It is Klaus Wiegandt, ed., 3 Degrees More: The Impending Hot Season and How Nature Can Help Us Prevent It (Springer Nature, 2024). It is a pretty horrifying prospect.

Air conditioners run on electricity, and reliable electricity may be a problem if the average temperature of the earth’s surface skyrockets 5.4º F.

Remember, that is an average increase. In some places it may be 10º or 15º F. That’s not going to be a pretty picture in Phoenix, Az., Miami, Fl. or for that matter Orlando, Fresno, Ca. and a bunch of other cities that are already sweltering in the summer

I’ve lived a lot of my life in hot places. I was in Cairo once in the summer and there was an article in the Arabic newspaper al-Ahram [The Pyramids] about the heat in Aswan in Upper Egypt, where it was about 115º F. The article said that there was a big electricity outage because the insulation of the electrical wires melted.

There are lots of ways ambient heat can interfere with the transmission wires. It can melt the insulation, or it can overheat components, it can cause oxidation. And here’s the thing. Hot wire shows more electrical resistance, which reduces its efficiency.

Moreover, overheated wires or components can cause fires. California is a big tinderbox at certain times of year, with dry forests, which overheated electrical wires can set off. The smart thing to do will be to bury all the electrical wires, but that is an expense the power companies do not want to bear. Another possibility is that people will put up solar panels and use home batteries, and disconnect from the grid.

Hot river water causes nuclear plants to go offline because they can’t cool the rods. Heat and droughts reduce hydro-electric production. Just generating electricity for the air conditioners can be a challenge. Your best bet will be solar panels, an industry Trump is trying to crush, and the banks are happy to help because of their fossil fuel investments and their willingness to kowtow to Trump’s diktats.

Then there is the air conditioner itself. It isn’t magic. AC’s don’t function well at over 100º F. They may break down. They may not be able to displace the heat outside. Cooling down things by more than 26º F. is a challenge. So if it is 120º F. out, don’t count an getting lower than the 90s inside.

In fact, it has recently been discovered that a combination of 122º F. and 80 percent humidity will just kill you dead right there.

All this is not to mention the massive hurricanes that will repeatedly knock down the electricity poles. Already, Duke Energy filed with the state of Florida for $1.1 billion in compensation for all the grid repair work it had to do after the 2024 hurricane season. What if the costs rise so much that the state can’t bear them, and Duke Energy goes bankrupt? I mean, these are little dinky storms compared to the ones we’ll be having if temperatures rise another couple degrees Fahrenheit. Some scientists argue that the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale, which only goes up to 5, is increasingly inadequate, and that we are already seeing sixes. Can force 7 hurricanes be far off?

Duke’s press release says, “Given the severity of these three storms, the filing covers a range of costs, such as deploying hundreds of Duke Energy crews from the entire span of the company’s service territories and acquiring significant mutual assistance from across the country and even Canada; standing up staging sites, basecamps and temporary lodging, while also providing meals for thousands of lineworkers and field personnel; and repairing, rebuilding and replacing critical infrastructure, including poles, wires and transformers, that were damaged and/or destroyed by catastrophic storm surge and wind.”

I don’t think they’re going to be getting that help from Canada anymore. And this is just the beginning.

Hurricanes are caused by warm ocean water. The oceans off Florida are already getting up to 100º F. in the summer. That kind of temperature whips up a lot of wind. It is now clear in the data that the intensity of hurricanes is increasing because we are burning so much coal, fossil gas and petroleum.

Not only will the hurricanes be fiercer, damaging homes and businesses and knocking down those made of wood, but they will dump more and more water, causing massive flooding.

Stefan Rahmstorf writes, “our planet’s current coastlines are home to more than 130 cities larger than a million inhabitants, plus other infrastructure such as ports, airports, and some 200 nuclear power plants with seawater cooling (such as Sizewell B on the British North Sea coast). Even 1 m [3 feet] of sea rise would be a disaster.”

Those banks that see a 5.4º F. temperature increase as an opportunity to sell more consumer goods such as air conditioners are not reckoning with the likelihood of climate chaos and climate breakdown at that level, of a sort that will make maintaining current levels of civilization challenging. We’ll survive it. We’re unlikely to survive it in style.

And the billionaires who think that they can sell us gasoline and coal and gas for another century and just protect their families with big mansions in the mountains or on islands are fooling themselves. The mansions will slide down the side of the mountain in a massive downpour, and the seas will swallow up the ones on islands with storm surges.

Amazing and True!

Just in case you are confused

April Fools!

(Not mine; Clay Jones’s.)

April Fools 2025 by Clay Jones

Bazinga! Read on Substack

I didn’t intend for this to be a deep, thought-provoking cartoon when I started it, with the intention of it being drawn just for kicks and to take advantage of the fake holiday. I rarely ever do April Fools cartoons, and I’m sure this theme has been done in the past by other cartoonists.

But when I think about it, there is some depth to this cartoon as it highlights some of the many horrifying absurdities of Donald Trump. Every time I do cartoons like this, a reader will always tell me I forgot something. Well, duh. There’s only so much space in a cartoon. But let’s cover the issues in the cartoon.

Democracy over fascism: Trump’s talking about a third term. Nuff said?

Hiring weirdos: Pete Hegseth, Marco Rubio, Pam Bondi, Kash Patel, RFK Jr, Linda McMahon, Kristi Noem, JD Vance, Tulsi Gabbard, Stephen Baby Goebbels Miller, etc, etc. These are all goons and lunatics, most of whom are not qualified for their positions. Case in point, the Signal group chat controversy where nobody has been fired yet. Trump’s asking around if he should fire Mike Waltz, his National Security Advisor, who added the journalist, Jeffrey Goldberg, to the chat. But I think too much time has passed for that. Trump could have come off as a tough guy who takes national security seriously if he had fired Waltz last Wednesday, not a week later, after asking for everyone’s opinion, from Sean Hannity to the janitor who empties his waste basket.

Who is Trump asking whether he should fire Walzt or not? Everyone in his vicinity was on the chat.

Obeying court orders: So far, at least two court orders have been violated by the Trump administration (sic). They won’t be the last.

Eat a salad: This is one where I encourage him to continue to eat hamberders and KFC. Trump is 78, and a single Trump meal from McDonald’s is around 2,000 calories. I’m not the healthiest eater in the world, but after a few days of meat, I need a salad…and I kinda hate salads. Boring. I look forward to my meals when traveling, but I know I’ll have to squeeze a salad or two in during a trip, especially in Chicago. And it doesn’t matter what I eat at McDonald’s (which can be a treat when in the right mood), I feel horrible after.

RFK Jr described Trump’s diet as “poison” and said the only options on the campaign plane were KFC and Big Macs. Corey Lewandowsky said his typical McDonald’s order was two Big Macs, two Filet O Fishes, and a large chocolate shake, but we’ve seen several photos with fries included.

His former chef said Trump would always say, “No garbage with it” when ordering a burned steak with ketchup. The “garbage” was garnish and vegetables. Ironically, it’s the chef who has passed away.

People are not all made the same. How people like Keith Richards and Ozzy Osbourne are still alive is a mystery of science. Maybe Trump is made like one of those people where he can live longer than Betty White on a diet of Adderal and hot dogs. I don’t wish death or any physical harm on anyone, not even Trump, but I won’t mind if he skips the salads.

My question here is, did he eat that entire bucket by himself? My hands are greasy just looking at the photo.

Nazis: Trump supports Nazis. He deports Muslims while pardoning Nazis. He claims good people march with Nazis who “Jews will not replace us” and “blood and soil.” Nazis vote for Trump. Trump hired a Nazi, who gave Sieg Heils at one of his inauguration events, to find “waste” and “fraud” in the government.

I’m almost guaranteed to be yelled at by a MAGAt each time I mention Nazis in Trump and Elon cartoons. A lot of the people screaming at me are repeat screamers. They’ll say, “Nazis were socialists because that word’s in the name.” And yes, Elon did give TWO Nazi salutes. Sorry, MAGAts.

Golf: Not only won’t he stop cheating at golf, but he won’t stop bilking us for his golf trips. His golf outings aren’t just expensive for taxpayers, but a lot of that money, over $26 million so far in Trump 2.0, goes to Trump’s resorts.

Threatening allies: He insults Canada’s sovereignty when he threatens to make our northern neighbors a third state. He talks out of ignorance when he threatens to take the Panama Canal. Now, he and his goons are talking about taking Greenland by force, as if it was taken from us. Trump talks about Greenland the way Hitler talked about Czechoslovakia.

Ogling Cats: Who wants to hear Grandpa talk sexually about women dressed as cats? That’ll make you leave the room. Trump described the time he saw the play, saying, “I walked in, I saw all these bodies, and then I noticed those bodies were gorgeous. They had silk tights on, and they were all ballerinas and women from Broadway.” Did he also notice they were made up as cats? Does this make Trump a furry? I didn’t think Trump could get creepier. He literally wants to grab them by the pussy.

Grifting: Every president absolves himself of his businesses, except Trump. Jimmy Carter sold his peanut farm, but Trump keeps grifting. He’s still selling merchandise and can even be bribed through his cryptocurrency. Also, re-read the paragraph on his golf grift.

Oligarchs: Elon, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, and many others are oligarchs. This is not a good thing for a democracy.

DOGE being transparent: Despite the claims, DOGE is NOT transparent, which should concern us all.

Lies: Trump told over 35,000 lies during his first term (sic). Can he top that in his second? Don’t underestimate him.

Groping: If Trump isn’t groping now, it’s only because he’s in the limelight. At least 26 women have accused Trump of rape, kissing, groping, walking into teenage dressing rooms, and even looking under skirts. He’s a real-life Quagmire. Giggity. He has cheated on all three of his wives. He often compliments a woman’s looks when he speaks of them, as thought that’s all they’re worth. And we just learned you can’t leave him alone with your cat.

Tariffs: More tariffs are planned for all of our trading partners, starting tomorrow, which Trump is calling “Liberation Day.” Let’s hope that’s an April Fools joke because tariffs are dumb.

Now, I’ve created a challenge for myself, which is to re-do this cartoon for April Fools 2026 but with new issues.

Readers, tell me what I missed.

Creative notes: I started this cartoon yesterday, Sunday. I always want to deliver a holiday cartoon at least two days before a holiday, but since most editors weren’t in the office yesterday, they wouldn’t have received this until today, the day before the holiday. So I went ahead and did my deportation cartoon yesterday (and finished it very late in the day), then finished up this cartoon late last night. I spent my entire Sunday working except during dinner when I watched a couple of episodes of 30 Rock, which I’ve been trying to finish for a few years.

Drawn in 30 Seconds: (snip-go see)

Good Commentary Here

This was linked in a substack I was reading, I found it worthy of sharing, and also of the author getting the clicks on their own page.

(Also Not April Fools. I’m gettin’ to it! Probably.)

It’s Time for a Republican Sickout

If you can’t find the strength to take a stand, at least lie down.

Ali Davis March 31, 2025

Hello, Congressional Republicans who still care about the republic! I know you’re out there because I kept hearing how differently Trump’s cabinet confirmations would have gone if only the votes have been secret.

We have reached a crisis point. We have reached so many crisis points. We reached like three new crisis points between me starting and finishing this article.

We have flipped our foreign policy so radically that we are now the villain of the world. All decision on that end seems to have been handed over to Putin and a bunch of preening technofascists. Our economy is crashing toward a depression and the only trick the Trump Administration pony has is more insane tariffs. High-level cabinet members endangered the lives of our servicemembers by discussing classified information on the already-hacked Signal app, and that doesn’t even cover gloating over civilian deaths, adding a journalist to the group text, and further damaging our relationship with Europe. The Trump administration is trying to start wars with freaking Denmark and Canada. DENMARK AND CANADA, for chrissakes.

And the most insane thing is that this is an abridged list. There are paragraphs and paragraphs of human rights horrors that I have skipped.

This is it. You are a part of an authoritarian government, a twisted and vile parody of what we once had. Elon Musk is stripping it for parts and awarding himself lucrative contracts while Donald Trump threatens Republican judges and lobs all of our state secrets straight to Putin.

The window for stopping this is small and vanishing. The most patriotic thing you could do is stand up and impeach Donald Trump, but, whether it’s due to a fear of Trump or fear of his zealots, you’re not doing that. The second most patriotic thing you could do is resign and leave your seat open to a flip by the Democrats. But you don’t seem to be doing that either. So here it is: The third most patriotic thing you can do, your last option for saving your beloved country from falling completely into authoritarianism: Get sick.

Get terribly sick and refuse to discuss your personal health information during this challenging time. Or get just a little bit sick and keep insisting that you’ll be as right as rain in a week or two. Have a family emergency. Or just take some dearly needed personal time.

Just drop out for a while. Hole up at home or get out of the country if you need to and let some trusted Democrats know that they’ll have the majority for a while and the time and leeway to move. (BE SURE YOU KNOW WHO IS ON THE SIGNAL CHAT.)

But what if someone is blackmailing me?

No offense, but this is bigger than you. Putin wants to break the United States. And he wants to break the United States so that he can roll over Western Europe. Do you really want to go to your grave knowing that you held onto your secret at the expense of Permanent Global Fascism? For that matter, do you really think complying now will stop them from burning you with it when you become inconvenient later?

Let’s be honest: A lot of us are already kind of assuming that you’re being blackmailed. And the fact that you’ve abandonedyour principles when the stakes are so high is making people think that the thing you’re being blackmailed over is much worse than what it probably really is. If Matt Gaetz can brazen it out, what on earth must you be hiding?

The good news is that there is nothing better for blowing your blackmail material straight out of the news cycle than a fiery Presidential impeachment that the nation can’t stop watching. There’s no better time to get out from under someone’s thumb.

But if the Democrats are smart, they’ll remove Johnson and prosecute Vance for the Signal debacle. That means a Democratic President will be in. I’ll lose some of my own power. What about that?

More real talk: Donald Trump has screwed the Republican party’s chances for decades at a minimum. You are now the party that let the Nazis in. You are the party that closed the national parks and tried to put Grandma out on the street. You are the party that kneecapped scientific research right when it looked like there might be a cure for pancreatic cancer. You are the party that crashed the stock market, the party that made us hated by the world, the party that let Musk and Putin take the reins. You are the party that just came out as pro-measles and made room for polio. The Republican Party is going the way of the Know-Nothings. You’re going to have to scrap it and start over.

And that’s if we ever have real elections again.

The only hope of you, personally, ever coming back into power is if Trump gets impeached and you become a zealous reformer. Toss out everyone who helped Trump, Musk, Thiel and Putin, support real jail time, and legislate us back out of Citizens United. Throw the bastards out and keep on throwing or you are surely getting tossed out yourself.

You can start right now, of course. That would be ideal. But you can also start after you take a little break to let the Democrats get the ball rolling.

Can’t I just keep my head down and appease Trump until things are magically better?

No. If you have read this far instead of screaming about George Soros and fake Venezuelan gang members, you are a Republican who thoughtcrimes against Trump. He and his barrel of vipers who the nonbelievers are. You won’t make it.

Fascists always need a villain to rail against. They always have a list. It is not a question of whether you are on the list, it’s a question of how far down you are. Right now, it’s foreign students and random brown people with innocent tattoos, but Trump is going to crave new meat and fresh news stories soon. You know that he needs to ritually humiliate and cast out a Republican every so often to reassert his dominance. You’re higher up the list than you think.

And if we hit the era of No Real Elections, which is more likely every day, there is no way you are keeping your elected position. Only perfect toadying cult members will make it through, and there is no way you can tap dance fast enough to make up for the past.

Besides: Is “enthusiastic supporter of the fascist regime” the way you want your grandchildren to remember you?

If you aren’t moved by the idea of saving the democratic republic we’ve all grown fond of, think about the fact that your only path to staying in your elected office is to get Trump out of his, and your chance to do that is slipping away.

It’s time to come down with a severe but undefined and conveniently curable medical issue. Play hooky. Go AWOL. Bunk out. Chuck a sickie. But do it quickly.

If you can’t bring yourself to impeach Donald Trump, you need to get the hell out of the way so someone else can. (snip)

Rep. Crockett at Work For We The People

(There are others; it’s a thing to look at. But Republicans have actually made a Democrat-a black, woman elected Democratic US House Member-the news of the weekend. No wonder Wednesday has to be a big news day for Trump!) (Also, blue language within!)

Why Are White MAGA Weenuses So Scared Of Jasmine Crockett? Here’s Why. by Evan Hurst

Bless their mediocre little hearts. Read on Substack

And now we’ll talk about Jasmine Crockett.

screengrab, Jasmine Crockett doing Kendrick Lamar before Donald Trump’s Hitler address to Congress

This week, let’s talk about one of the heroes of the anti-Trump opposition, one of the leaders who’s actually showing up and showing people how it’s done, and terrifying the fuck out of Donald Trump and his white MAGA Nazi fascists in the process.

I’m of course talking about Jasmine Crockett, Democratic congresswoman from Texas, specifically Dallas. Have you noticed she’s the subject of right-wing manufactured outrage every week now, for some new terribly egregious offense she has committed against their delicate sensibilities?

We wonder why they don’t like her. Trying to put our finger on it.

Is it because she’s a powerful, brilliant Black woman who isn’t remotely intimidated by these white racist fascist MAGA motherfuckers, who also happens to be smarter than each and every one of them?

Well, yes, but it’s even more than that!

Why are they so mad at Jasmine Crockett?

This week, Attorney General Nazi Barbie Pam Bondi has been all over the TV, with all the gravitas of Michele in Romy & Michele’s High School Reunion declaring that she invented Post-Its, that Crockett better “tread very carefully” with calling for peaceful protests against Elon Musk and Tesla. OR ELSE.

Bondi has claimed that people are using “weapons of mass destruction” against Teslas, and she is just pretty sure that Jasmine Crockett is a prime instigator of all this #TeslaTakedown business. “You have this Congresswoman Crockett who is calling for attacks on Elon Musk on her birthday. ‘Let’s take him out on my birthday,’ she says. Yet she turns and says ‘Oh, I’m not calling for violence,’” she complained to serious journalist Maria Bartiromo on the Fox Business Network, where business is discussed. “Well she is an elected public official, and so she needs to tread very carefully because nothing will happen to Elon Musk, and we’re going to fight to protect all of the Tesla owners throughout this country.”

Okeydoke. Has Crockett been calling for violence against Musk, or Tesla dealerships? Of course not. Would she be mad if we laughed at a Cybertruck driving by and made jokes amongst ourselves about what a loser probably is driving it? Probably not. But no violence.

Also, any idiot knows, or can figure out — maybe even Pam Bondi! — that the Tesla protests are called #TeslaTakedown and that they’re entirely peaceful. You either have to be extremely stupid or a lying scumbag — or both, like maybe even Pam Bondi! — to believe differently.

As my former Wonkette colleague Liz Dye details ably at the Public Notice newsletter this week, Bartiromo was just one stop on Bondi’s tour of ridiculous media appearances this week trying to scare Crockett. She was on “Hannity” this week, bellyaching that Crockett must “apologize immediately, not only to all Texans, but to our country, to the American shareholders of Tesla, because she is promoting violence.” (Apparently some shit happened at a Tesla dealership in Austin. It had nothing to do with Jasmine Crockett.)

At the end of the “Hannity” clip, Bondi also faked outrage over Crockett supposedly inciting violence against beloved senator Ted Cruz when she said that for Democrats to win races in Texas, “this dude has to be knocked over the head, like hard, right? Like there is no niceties with him. Like at all. Like you go clean off on him.” In context, any fucking moron — even Pam Bondi maybe! — could tell that she was talking in the context of political races, about being willing to punch your opponents hard.

MAGA, whose leader Donald Trump has throughout his political career incited violence against racial minorities, journalists, the US Capitol and more, can spare us the fucking whiny-ass histrionics.

Of course, as Liz Dye notes, Jasmine Crockett has said repeatedly that she’s not advocating violence, like this past weekend on MSNBC, when she told Alex Witt, “Tesla’s tanking right now, and I’m okay with that,” but added that “Just in case the slow people listening try to clip this later, I just want to say that I have never promoted violence whatsoever.” She also said maybe people who have problems with political violence shouldn’t have pardoned 1,500 MAGA terrorists for their actions to help Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election on January 6. She was just saying!

And she said more! It’s a great interview, enjoy it if you haven’t seen it: https://youtu.be/WdyO7DKGCbw

Let’s see, what else are they mad at Jasmine Crockett about? Oh just everything.

She called Texas’s Greg Abbott “Governor Hot Wheels” at the Human Rights Campaign gala. Maybe she shouldn’t have said that. She says she wasn’t talking about his disability, but rather his “planes, trains, and automobiles he used to transfer migrants into communities led by Black mayors, deliberately stoking tension and fear among the most vulnerable.” Of course, Greg Abbott is a sadistic monster, and we’re not going to spend a lot of time worrying about the feelings of people who are obsessed with hurting trans kids and filling the Rio Grande with murder buoys to slice up migrant human beings.

Of course, you know who really makes fun of disabled people?

Again, miss us with your fake outrage and your crocodile tears, MAGA.

OK, why are they REALLY so mad at Jasmine Crockett?

Because on top of being a Black woman who doesn’t respect them, and on top of being a Black woman who is smarter than them, she has their fuckin’ number, and she knows it, and they know it.

This week in an interview with The 19th, Crockett mocked the stupid, prurient Republican MAGA Nazi obsession with transgender kids playing sports, saying that according to Republicans, “That is the biggest issue that we’ve had. Since when? Since when? Find the little trans child that is ruining your life. I mean, I’m just like, what are we doing? Like, what are we doing?”

That’s one example.

Let’s talk about how Crockett explains the white Republican obsession with eliminating DEI. In a congressional hearing before the election, she said, “This election is the best example of why y’all are so afraid of [DEI] because then you can’t have a simple-minded, under-qualified white man. […] You’ve got to pay attention to the qualified Black woman that is on the other side.”

On February 3 on CNN, Crockett discussed the white supremacist in the White House and the rampant coddling of mediocre white nationalist MAGA boys: https://youtu.be/s5a3fAXHsRA

“I am tired of the white tears. Listen, if you are competent, you are not concerned. […] I had to work 10 times as hard as they did just to get into the seat. When you look and you compare me to Marjorie Taylor Greene or me to Lauren Boebert, there is no comparison. And that is the life that we have always lived.”

“So, the only people that are crying are the mediocre white boys that have been beaten out by people that historically have had to work so much harder.”

Yep, that’s why they hate her right there.

If you are competent, you are not concerned.

You see, Jasmine Crockett understands something about this white conservative MAGA obsession with DEI that MAGA buffoons and Nazis are desperate to avoid confronting. Every time you see a white Trump-supporting man babbling about bringing back “merit,” the fantasy he’s openly masturbating to is that if only all the DEI programs go away, if only affirmative action goes away, if only they can get back to “merit” and that one MLK Jr. quote they like about “not the color of your skin but the content of your character,” THEN order will be restored and white conservative Christian men will start to naturally float to the top again, where they belong.

Jasmine Crockett knows that fantasy is some fuckin’ bullshit.

She knows that DEI doesn’t put women, LGBTQ+ people and racial minorities in jobs they’re not qualified for, but rather that it makes it less likely that extremely mediocre white Christian conservative men will get positions they’re totally not cut out for, positions they have not earned, positions they’re far too stupid to fill.

Fuck, look at Pete Hegseth and Mike Waltz and the rest of the Signal-Gate dumbfucks and tell us about all the brilliant talent America’s been missing out on.

DEI is all about merit. It’s all about — for instance — making sure dumbfuck good old boy frat boys and date rapists from SEC schools who aren’t qualified to pick up Jasmine Crockett’s dry-cleaning don’t get all the high-powered jobs, when far more capable people are willing, available, and more deserving.

Jasmine Crockett knows that good DEI policies help expose the secret that white conservative men never really were impressive people in the first place. They never got where they are because they were creative or clever or had something to offer that nobody else had. They stole it, and then let themselves believe they earned it, that their talent and their bootstraps got them there.

The only people crying are the mediocre white boys.

Yep, that’s why they hate her. (snip)

Peace & Justice History for 3/31

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march31

Extras from Chop Wood, Carry Water

Extra! Extra! 3/30 🤩 by Jessica Craven

All the good news that’s fit to print. Read on Substack

Screenshot of a post from Threads. Typo not my fault!

Hi, all, and happy Sunday!

Another difficult week is behind us. And while awful, awful things continued to happen, a huge number of really encouraging things did as well. Here’s a list of many of them. Please feel free to add more in the comments—I’m certain I left some important things out.

Remember, we can’t keep fighting without maintaining morale, so make sure you share this list with everyone you know who needs a lift. Remind them that action taken—even in the face of hopelessness—lifts our spirits; it also leads to wins like the ones below. We don’t wait to feel optimistic to act. We act, then feel optimism surge back into us as our actions create change.

I think after reading this list you’ll agree

Enjoy. See you tomorrow when we get back to work.

Read This 📖

The West Ada School District made national headlines recently when administrators ordered a school teacher to remove signs containing welcoming messages from her classroom. Read about what happened next—you’ll feel better about humanity.

Celebrate This! 🎉

A federal judge blocked Elon Musk’s DOGE from accessing people’s private data at the Education Department, the Treasury Department, and the Office of Personnel Management.

The Social Security Administration abruptly backed off planned cuts to phone services for disabled and some elderly Americans applying for benefits amid an uproar from advocates.

A D.C. federal judge rejected the Trump administration’s request to lift his previous order preventing the use of the Alien Enemies Act to deport hundreds to a Salvadoran labor prison without due process. The block remains in place.

More than 175 years after their reservation in Illinois was illegally sold at auction, the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation is now in line to get their land back.

New Hampshire Republicans staged a hasty retreat on their plans to shutter the New Hampshire State Library after a wave of outrage and anger from constituents.

The Healey-Driscoll Administration has implemented two standing orders allowing approximately 500,000 eligible Massachusetts residents to obtain free over-the-counter birth control pills and prenatal vitamins.

A Republican bill to allow guns on college campuses (known as campus carry] FAILED in the Florida Senate. Two Republican colleagues were absent from the meeting, and another voted no with Democrats.

The American Association of University Professors and the American Federation of Teachers are suing the Trump administration on behalf of their members for “unlawfully cutting off $400 million in federal funding” to “force Columbia University to surrender its academic independence.”

Education advocacy groups and unions filed two lawsuits challenging President Donald Trump’s executive order to dismantle the Department of Education.

A federal judge ruled that a Columbia University student who took part in campus protests against Israel’s military offensive in Gaza cannot be detained as she fights orders for her deportation.

FLIP! In South Carolina Peter Smith, Jr. won a special election for Dorchester County Council District 1 in a solid Trump district BLUE!

FLIP! Democrats won TWO special elections in Pennsylvania—one they were expected to win and one, a State Senate seat, in a R+23 district! WOW!

To help protect shrinking coastal wetlands, a new conservation effort is preserving two salt marshes in Nova Scotia.

The village of Pinecrest in Florida has launched an effort to convert food scraps into nutrient-rich compost that will be delivered to the Miccosukee Tribe in the Everglades which, for starters, plans to use it in a community garden.

In an exciting new announcement, the New Zealand Electricity Authority predicted that their electricity grid will be 100% renewable by 2040.

California added more than 26,000 EV chargers in the last six months.

The UK announced plans to plant 20 million trees, creating 2,500 hectares of new woodland area.

Yellowstone’s iconic bison herds have merged into a single entity after 100 years of wandering the park.

A federal judge temporarily blocked Texas A&M University System from enforcing a ban on drag shows being held at its special event venues.

The most innovative companies in corporate responsibility—like Cisco, Land O’Lakes, Delta, Toyota, and even the board game Catan—are finding ways to make new advances in business for good. Very encouraging!

Renewable energy capacity around the world surged last year — particularly in the U.S. and China. New data shows that renewables, such as wind, solar, geothermal, and hydroelectric power sources are growing at far faster rates than traditional power sources such as coal and natural gas.

The Supreme Court upheld Biden-era federal regulations on “ghost guns.” Huge.

James Boasberg, the judge Trump and Republicans are trying to impeach, was assigned to the Signal-gate case.

Trump got ridiculed for demanding that a portrait of him hung in the Colorado statehouse be taken down because he thought it was unflattering.

Protests and boycotts are working. Tesla’s sales are plummeting world-wide. Also? Target has lost 5 million customers, while COSTCO has gained 7 million. Keep up the pressure.

The government watchdog group American Oversight is suing Pete Hegseth and several other top Trump officials, claiming their use of Signal’s disappearing messages function is a clear breach of the Federal Records Act.

A new Navigator poll finds that views of Trump’s tariff plan are becoming increasingly negative, with tariffs being a top driver for those disapproving of Trump’s economic handling.

In related polling news, ratings of Trump’s overall job approval and handling of the economy are now both underwater, with a majority of Americans disapproving of his economic handling for the first time.

There are Indivisible groups now in Dublin, Ireland, and Ottawa Canada! WOW!

Airline travel between Canada and the US is “collapsing” amid Trump’s tariff war, with flight bookings between the two countries down by over 70%, newly released data suggests.

Three high profile law firms, Keker, Van Nest & Peters, Jenner and Block, and Wilmer Hale, are finally standing up to Trump.

A federal judge said he will order the Trump administration to preserve records of a text message chat in which senior national security officials discussed sensitive details of plans for a U.S. military strike against Yemen’s Houthis.

The federal judiciary has established a task force to consider how to protect judges targeted by Trump after they issued rulings against the administration. It is operating under “the direction of the Judicial Conference, a policymaking body led by Chief Justice Roberts.”

Republicans withdrew the nomination of GOP Rep. Elise Stefanik to serve as US Ambassador to the United Nations because they’re afraid of losing her seat—and maybe even seats in Florida!

Senator Susan Collins has joined Democrats in the Senate to challenge Trump’s cuts to congressional spending.

California State Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas (D-Hollister) and 57 Democratic Assemblymembers announced that they would stop communications from official state accounts on X.

A local official in New York rejected Texas’ effort to enforce a $100,000 judgment against a New York doctor accused of sending abortion pills to the state.

The Vancouver Auto Show broke attendance records after banning Tesla.

U.S. officials went door-to-door in Greenland to find anyone who wanted to be visited by the Vances. They found no one.

A federal judge ordered a Colorado school district to return 19 banned books to libraries.

Local library patrons, with help from the ACLU, are suing officials in South Carolina’s most populous county for systematically purging literature by and about LGBTQ people from its public library collection.

From December to now, consumer confidence in Trump’s ability to bring down energy costs dropped by 9 points.

Residents of Paris voted to pedestrianize 500 more streets in the city as part of the local government’s efforts to reduce the use of cars and improve air quality.

A federal judge granted a preliminary injunction blocking efforts to shut down the CFPB.

Florida Congressional candidate Gay Valimont went on Fox News to talk outside of the bubble about why Republican voters should support her.

Indiana Rep. Victoria Spartz held three Town Halls and was roundly booed and jeered in all of them.

There were four Republican-backed extreme constitutional amendments on the ballot in Louisiana yesterday. The voters REJECTED them all (in a state Trump won by 22 points in November).

Beto O’Rourke teamed up with Tim Walz to have a town hall meeting in the Houston, Texas area.

Watch This! 👀

Here’s footage of the Tesla Takedown I—and many of you!—attended in Old Town Pasadena. It was a blast, with 500-600 people there, and there were hundreds and hundreds of other ones all across the country! Amazing!

(Snip-I cannot get a link for the 44 second video, so just click up beneath the title, then scroll to the end on the page. It’s nice, and not at all long.)

Peace & Justice History for 3/30

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistorymarch.htm#march30

Satanic Mass In Kansas

Yeah, this happened and has been happening here. I’m not Satanist, but we all have the same rights, including all who showed up, as long as there is no violence and no one takes away anyone else’s rights to freedom of speech and assembly. Many here know I’m a Christian believer, so of course when one side says “We’re here so that God can be in control, not Satan,” I smile, since God handled that with Satan centuries ago (so it is written. I’m not proselytizing, or even testifying, though my point is either people believe or they don’t; if they do, they know or should know that God doesn’t need human protection. Anyway.) I don’t know how far out from Kansas this story has gone, but Friday was the day, and here is the local story as of 10 PM Friday. Enjoy. There is a video on the page I can’t embed, but Kate Devine is a fine reporter on camera. There is also a text story below.

Satanic leader arrested during Black Mass protest at Kansas Statehouse

Mar 28, 2025 Updated 3 hrs ago Kate Devine

TOPEKA, Kan. (KAKE) — The leader of a Satanic group was arrested Friday after entering the Kansas Statehouse and performing a ritual, despite warnings from law enforcement.

Michael Stewart, president of the Kansas Satanic Grotto, attempted to enter the building during the group’s Black Mass event outside the Statehouse. Authorities allowed him inside as a private citizen but told him he could not hold a demonstration.

Once inside the rotunda, Stewart raised his arms in dedication to Satan, prompting a confrontation with Christian protesters. Capitol Police intervened and took him into custody.

“Our governor, Laura Kelly, after forcing us out of the building, said basically if we come back in, we are going to get arrested,” Stewart said. “So we feel like this is a violation of our First Amendment rights.”

Outside, Christian protesters held prayers and recited hymns in opposition to the event.

“We heard that Satanists were here to claim Kansas, and we said no way,” said Susan Jones, a Christian protester from Baxter Springs. “God is in control here, not Satan.”

The event, which had been planned for weeks, was originally approved to take place inside the Statehouse but was later restricted to the outside grounds. A petition opposing the event gathered nearly 100,000 signatures.

Christian groups say they gathered to pray and stand in opposition, while Satanic organizers argue their right to religious expression was violated.

It is unclear if Stewart will face charges. (end)