Trump's War on Knowledge received additional funding and weaponry from Congress, and the bombing campaign intensified. Elmo briefly went rogue as an alt-right QAnon MAGA stooge but was rescued and deprogrammed. The Sesame Street gang pissed off -- and gearing up to fight back, I hope -- as opposed to another picture of them mourning Big Bird's head on a platter suits my mood.
Yeah, we're all getting flooded out, and nobody in charge is gonna save us.
Maybe we'll have better choices next year. A Quinnipiac poll from this past week reveals that 49% of Americans 'would consider' (loaded question) voting for a third party. No, not that one.
Reality distortion? Fascist fatigue? Or a brief moment of clarity?
Colbert lost me years ago with his neoliberal evolution, but CBS taking a hard right turn and calling it business, not personal just doesn't wash.
Sometimes the toons just can't be funny given the state of current events. This isn't one of those weeks. The wheels certainly came off for Trump and his cabinet of sycophants, but the gas tank also exploded and the airbags blew up in their faces. And as awful as it has been for Central Texas campers, migrant families, and the Americans who love them, the cartoonists cracked wise at the expense of our hapless, corrupt officials in all the ways they richly deserved.
If you’re brought to tears by images of waterlogged stuffies and want to know who is to blame for the deadly Hill Country floods, Gov. Greg Abbott doesn’t want to hear it. “That's the word choice of losers," Abbott said when asked by a reporter who was responsible for the devastation. As our governor tells it, the July 4th flood was less a preventable tragedy and more a fumbled play under the Friday night lights. “Know this, every football team makes mistakes,” he said. “The losing teams are the ones that try to point out who's to blame.’” So dry those eyes and rub some dirt on it. Coach Abbott is here to focus on results -- just don’t expect him to review the game tape.
The forces of evil in a Bozo nightmare
Ban all the music with a phony gas chamber
'Cause one's got a weasel and the other's got a flag
One's on the pole, shove the other in the bag
With the rerun shows and the cocaine nose job
The daytime crap with the folksinger slop
He hung himself with a guitar string
A slab of turkey neck and it's hangin' from a pigeon wing
Gotta get right if you can't relate
Trade the cash for the beef, for the body, for the hate
And my time is a piece of wax fallin' on a termite
That's chokin' on the splinters
Soy un perdedor
I'm a loser baby so why don't you kill me?
(Get crazy with the Cheeze Whiz)
🚨 While Texas families called FEMA to report missing children, Kristi Noem remained in Washington for five days, posting on Instagram, attending ceremonies, and delaying contract approvals, leaving thousands of calls unanswered during the state’s deadliest floods, according to… pic.twitter.com/9Nonbt6Tq0
— The Intellectualist (@highbrow_nobrow) July 12, 2025
Kristi the Gnome has proven incapable of doing her job. Clay Jones does a masterful takedown of her shortcomings, but beyond the hilarity of her vacuous incapability is the fact that Texans calling for help in the wake of the flood couldn’t find any.
The City of Angels is under siege from an ICE storm. Bradmanaged several related toons and even worked Lalo Alcaraz in, but somehow overlooked the travesty in his own barrio.
Who would Jesus deport? Worse question: Who would deport Jesus? Why, Christian conservative Republicans, of course. Zionists would just bomb the concentration camp where He had fled.
King T has decreed that no one shall speak of his former best friend and pedophile, but unlike the files that have *allegedly* gone missing from AG Bondi's desk, that topic isn't going to be censored.
Ken Paxton is getting a D-I-V-O-R-C-E. It's bitter. Not their split; the reaction from MAGA toward state Senator Angela, whom they deem a saboteur of his US Senate bid against John Cornhen. Try to imagine being so radicalized that you think K-Pax becoming USAG would be bad because it makes Corn Dog's path to re-election easier.
Long time Paxton mistress Laura Olson updates her Instagram bio to: " You can't always get what you want. But I can." Shortly after the announcement of his wife's divorce filing.https://t.co/lHegxup78epic.twitter.com/cUedvTUFBC
And the Texas Lege reconvenes in short order to take up a few pressing concerns, like a bathroom bill, redistricting urban Democrats further out of power, and (maybe) outlawing cannabis gummies. Ban Patrick is undoubtedly stressed out about having to kneel to the Fumbling QB.
In this two-party system, a third party should begin by running as a second party. Seventy percent of the 76,902 elections held in the United States are uncontested, meaning that the number of candidates on the ballot is less than or equal to the number of seats up for election. Whether it's for state senate, city council or county coroner, unchallenged incumbents always win.
Seventy-eight percent of law enforcement elections have one candidate on the ballot.
So if reform/progress is still possible via elections -- a tenuous prospect on its best day -- people who care about that need to shift into high gear. You know, as with the climate crisis, building independent media, and a handful of other things.
The unspeakable tragedy of the Central Texas flooding unfolds an ongoing horror visited on the girls of Camp Mystic, the holiday RV community, the rescuers performing recovery, and the friends, families, and their grieving support network this morning.
A Kerrville campground manager reported that 36 occupied RVs and 11 tiny homes were swept away in minutes during the deadly Texas flooding, leaving people screaming for help. pic.twitter.com/roUOUhkL19
The blame game is fully engaged; I'll avoid editorializing on that for this post. Some of the toons gathered over the past week just aren't very humorous. Like this one from Clay Jones, for example.
I wasn't really vibing the freedom or liberty or independence from tyranny on Friday before the rains came. The 'No Kings 2.0' protest in H-Town was ... well, read all about it.
No one told Diana Nizza that #Houston's #July4th protest against the Trump administration was canceled when its organizers did not get a permit in time. She was one of dozens who showed up outside of City Hall with banners and megaphones anyway https://t.co/opaNw4jvf7
From the article: "As a Democrat in Texas, I'm accustomed to my candidate losing. I'm a very good loser ..." Ted Rall, once again, speaking for me.
July 4th will see the second “No Kings” protests across the U.S. against Trump and his haughty style of governance. Once again, the soft American Left forgets the lessons of the 1960s and indulges in a performative series of demonstrations with no chance of striking fear in the hearts of the ruling class. Effective protest movements are sustained, happening frequently -- even daily -- while inconveniencing and terrorizing the rich and powerful with the fear that nonviolence might give way to real disruption. Gathering every few weeks, on a Saturday or national holiday when businesses and government offices are closed, while promising to remain peaceful, is a sad misdirection of organization and energy that ought instead to be directed into building a real Left opposition.
C'mon, Ted; the "Left", as defined by the corporate media and MAGA, seems to do a fine job of mobilizing against the actual left every time it rises.
Yeah, something the home of the brave something. So I hope you were careful if you shot off your fireworks. Somebody -- your smartphone, your smart teevee -- is always listening, you know.
And crocodiles. Jeff and Lauren have departed Venice for their honeymoon, but let's all do whatever we can to not let them detach from reality and enjoy it.
"It was dark as a motherfucker, but I could still see So she finished the job without lagging Got the nigga on tape like Jimmy Swaggart And it's... (just as we had planned)" All Over A Ho by Mz. Kilo *Menace To Society* https://t.co/JyQdhZ76L9
— 🪷🐝Use to Be a Blue Blooded Dem-😥🤬 (@blewis823) July 1, 2025
I used to think Bernie would have won in 2016. Eventually I realized he probably wouldn't, because the Democratic establishment would be so furious he'd won their primary that they would have deliberately tanked their own nominee in the general election. https://t.co/Mqq0cy5AjH
— Nathan J Robinson (@NathanJRobinson) June 27, 2025
There's some (gallows) humor to be found here!
"Gallows" in this case refers not only to the Constitution, the federal courts, the rule of law, etc. but also to the Democratic Party. Brad's on vacation again -- he did manage some toons today, usual 'Orange Man bad' stuff -- but I'm here to remind you that just a few weeks ago he declared how important it was that Trump be impeached again. Read the comments there.
Here are the 128 House Dems who voted to table (kill) the Rep. Al Green D-TX impeachment resolution against President Trump over the Iran attacks. https://t.co/0kC3oqnq3jpic.twitter.com/8T71pzNcn1
Michelle is doing her best, but this is a lost cause, in Texas and beyond. To be clear, the aggressive pushback against Zohran Mamdani suggests that perhaps the myriad problems of rich wyt pipo need extra emphasis from Democrats. And a skosh more Zionism.
I know we’re all watching the end of the world, wars and genocide but one positive silver lining is Italians protesting billionaire Jeff Bezos’ 42 million dollar wedding in Venice so much, the asshole—whose wedding will have US marines as security🙄—had to change the venue. 🤌🏼 pic.twitter.com/IfmRC08Fre
Bill Moyers, the one-time press secretary for President Lyndon Johnson who went on to have a long and distinguished journalism career, has died at age 91. Much of Moyers' work focused on strengthening U.S. democracy and limiting the corrupting influence of money in politics. He… pic.twitter.com/RbTPFBwE68
— Jason Call 🇵🇸 🇨🇩🇸🇩 CM ButchWare 4 CA Gov’26 (@CallForCongress) June 14, 2025
Back in the Aughts, when I was a Democrat, I participated happily in marches and protests like yesterday's. I went to Crawford and Camp Casey. In 2011 I marched in downtown Houston during the Occupy uprising. (I spoke with corporate media at both events but my remarks were left out of their reports.) I felt empowered and enthused by doing so. There was no social media at that time so we bloggers made the news happen, swelling our heads with our perceived influence.
We sincerely felt like we had the power to change the world. History reminds us we had little sway. Yesterday's events were cathartic for participants and most observers, but after twenty years of evidence, these actions not only don't move the needle but actually create an atmosphere for worsening the problems for which we demand redress.
George W. Bush bombed Iraq and got re-elected. Annise Parker had the cops sweep Occupy out of the Houston park because the Bayou City Art Festival was looming on the calendar. Texas Progressive Chode Kuffner is still posting how much he likes her. This is your latest clue that voting for Ds or Rs isn't solving anything. So if you got out in the heat and exercised your 1A rights yesterday, enjoy the feels, but if you saw Ukraine flags or signs like this one ...
The world could be ending and liberals would be complaining that the meteors had the audacity to ruin their brunch. pic.twitter.com/NRXIngHu1N
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) June 15, 2025
... be clear about what happens next.
Trump directs ICE to expand deportations in Democratic-run cities, undeterred by protests https://t.co/o6k12djSXM
That seemed like a big deal at the time, didn't it. Over the past seven days, several brand new shitshows blew up. With limited commentary from me and marginally in chronological order...
#Israel prevents humanitarian aid from entering #Gaza, entering international waters to do so.
The seizure of the Madleen ship is a war crime carried out in international waters, preventing aid from reaching the starving civilian population of Gaza.@MintPressNewspic.twitter.com/JMayC38Vfd
Poor IDF - probably destroyed their massive stockpile of Western-funded Huggies diapers, stolen Palestinian female garments for their tik tok videos, & what little remained of their self respect internationally. pic.twitter.com/4zoogPhNRz
When Padilla interrupted Noemduring her press conference to try to ask a question, the DHS secretary had just said that her agents were in Los Angeles "to liberate this city from the socialist and the burdensome leadership that this governor and this mayor have placed on this country."
BREAKING: Trump pauses immigration arrests at farms, hotels, and restaurants. Proof that mass protests work. pic.twitter.com/BDWBnlhnO1
— Power to the People ☭🕊 (@ProudSocialist) June 14, 2025
Oh no Brian Wilson and Sly Stone in one week ~ my world is in mourning 🙏🙏so sad ❤️❤️xx pic.twitter.com/NXPfKzy7Ml
It’s such bullshit that we lost both Brian Wilson and Sly Stone in the same week. Why do we always have to lose people we like? Why can’t it be a politician or something
— That radical social work chick (@sandinistaoliva) June 11, 2025
In Minnesota, a person posing as a police officer shot two Democratic state lawmakers and their spouses in what Gov. Walz called an “act of targeted political violence.”
Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed early Saturday morning in their home. The gunman also… pic.twitter.com/yr8nDGblow
