Sunday, January 26, 2025

Sunday "Gish Gallop" Funnies

From Wikipedia: The Gish Gallop is a rhetorical technique in which a person in a debate attempts to overwhelm an opponent by presenting an excessive number of arguments, without regard for their accuracy or strength, with a rapidity that makes it impossible for the opponent to address them in the time available. Each point raised by the Gish Galloper takes considerably longer to refute than to assert. The technique wastes an opponent’s time and may cast doubt on the opponent’s debating ability for an audience unfamiliar with the technique, especially if no independent fact-checking is involved, or if the audience has limited knowledge of the topics.

So ... the old throw-everything-against-the-wall-and-see-what-sticks gambit.

It was a week. Monday:
Tuesday was Snow Day along the Gulf of MEXICO coast, so we forgot our executive order cares for a few hours (those of us, that is, who aren't worried about paying a bill or keeping a roof over our head or efforting to miss La Migra).

Tuesday was also National Coming Out Day.

Yeah, things are going to get worse (and no, Kamala wouldn't be any better. For one thing, there'd be no ceasefire at the moment. Blaming Jill Stein again is just your class privilege screeching).

You see, Trump thinks the US runs on oil and gas. But we all know it actually runs on coffee -- and not Dunkin' or Starbucks -- because 82% of the unroasted coffee beans used in Our Country are imported from Central and South America. FAFO.

By Wednesday I had begun compartmentalizing the gloating, the whining, and the associated legacy media coverage so that I could get through the winter storm Enzo cabin fever.
They're both criminals who pardon their friends and family. One's been convicted.
Speaking of Rupert Murdoch, Ben Jennings notes that he got his ass handed to him again, having settled with The Harry Formerly Known as Prince in a pre-trial agreement that cost him a public apology for illegal phone tapping and other outrages, as well as an undisclosed eight-figure settlement ...
Brilliant cartoonist, author, and playwright Jules Feiffer passed away last Thursday, a little over a week before his 96th birthday.

Growing up, I mostly got to see his cartoons when I came across a copy of the Sunday Chicago Sun-Times, which ran his work in their newsmagazine supplement. It wasn’t the paper we got at home, but if I spotted one a neighbor had put out for recycling, I would salvage the magazine and clip out Feiffer’s cartoon.

Eventually, I found his books ...
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Sunday, January 19, 2025

"Inaugurate This" Toons

Please read Edith Pritchett's full eulogy of TikTok before Trump Tha God raises them from the dead tomorrow or the next day. (I thought the legend was three days, but whatever.)

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Wednesday, January 15, 2025

Scenes from the Texas Legislature's Opening Shitstorm


Which you won't be able to see if you've quit TwiX. The day began cold and uh, shriveled.


Played two songs and dipped. Hey, he's old.

Nick Anderson gave us the cartoon preview, and Pastors for Children posted the early line.

Johnnie Mo had the gameday program, and Justin Miller at the Observer provided the lineup and profiles of the puppetmasters and slaveholders.

Snark did not run as strong as in years past due to the Xitter exodus, but there were some hot takes and solid analysis amidst the incessant bleating of the MAGA minions.


Oh yeah. The Speaker's race. Almost forgot.

I'll continue the ridicule of our Lone Star Fascists -- the Texas GOP, the Cook caucus, the bussed-in 'Ban Democrat Chairs' redshirts from the boondocks -- but a few words need to be said about the Texas Democrats, who despite the prowess awarded them by the afore-mentioned, are not nearly so mighty as anyone should believe.


Imagine that: Donks not voting for the lesser of two piles of dogshit.

Naturally/unfortunately/regrettably, the Democrat who ran for Speaker was one of those who voted for the greater evil.

Demonstrating once again that the phrase "progressive Democrat" has been rendered worthless. Back to the MAGA-on-"RINO" violence.

In the midst of so much hatred and intolerance from so many Christian conservatives, this was the best thing that happened yesterday:
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Sunday, January 12, 2025

"Let's Stop Calling It Democracy" Funnies

I thought we needed a (bipartisan? Since Teddy's there, multi-partisan? For George Washington's sake let's call it nonpartisan) laugh.

Let's just not call it democracy.
Brian McFadden:
I'm not going to tune out of the news like many people have wisely done since the election, and I'm sure I'll be drawing those shitheads a lot, but I can't do another four years of "GET A LOAD OF THIS BOZO!" every week. It obviously had no effect the last time I did it, so why subject myself to that again?

Brad's collation will always be there for you, Brian.
On the tenth anniversary of the Charlie Hebdo massacre, Clay Jones reminds that censoring cartoonists has a long and too often violent history.

And Mother Nature, aka climate change, emphasized her irritation again at homo sapiens and our reckless stewardship.
California Democrats do own this disaster, but the DEI firehose is MAGA douchebaggery. The toon fix was necessary.


Anita Bryant's anti-gay campaign called 'Save The Children' was the blueprint for every homophobic attack on queer people for nearly 50 years. She had several top 20 hits in the '60s, was seen regularly on TV as a spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission, and in death is recognized mostly for her bigotry.

JP Rowling might take that legacy under careful consideration.

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Sunday, January 05, 2025

Sunday 'CEOs with the Big Brains' Funnies


Lots of variations on the exploding-CyberTruck-at-Trump Vegas theme. This one, with the used car lot echoing the recent safety report (and covering several other trending topics), won.

News item:

You should also read Nick Anderson, Clay Jones, and Mike Peterson, for their toons and words.


Joe Biden will -- perhaps -- seek absolution from Pope Francis on his way out the White House door. I would only hope that it resembles the scene from Godfather Coda; not so much Michael Corleone's hypoglycemic episode as the mild condemnation from JP1.



In what lucid moments he has remaining, he'd do well to emulate another devout Christian whose presidency was considered a failure. His regret about not making more money bodes poorly for him.
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Wednesday, January 01, 2025

Twenty Twenty-Five Toons


("Meddy New Yeah" Funnies from last Sunday here.)

Off to a bad start.

Still hoping for the best but preparing for the worst.

MAGA might have a hangover as we approach the inauguration.

A New Year's resolution I will effort to keep is not to argue with any bots.


I did get my shit together a couple of times last year, but then I couldn't lift it.
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Sunday, December 29, 2024

Meddy New Yeah Funnies


Perhaps one last Christmas present to unwrap.

Maybe skip the resolutions this year.
Likely in the minority as usual but I'm more concerned about AI -- today -- than I am about Trump and his MAGA minions. Their self-destruct sequence may have just been activated (though I wish to mark that if Trump manages to save TikTok, Team Donkey will have lost a generation of voters for another 25 years ... should our species last that long). There will be no negotiations when our artificial intelligence overlords decide humans are an existential threat to themselves and they need to save the planet by wiping us out.
Then again ... it's possible I am giving it (them? What would be a bot's preferred pronouns?) too much credit. It's not called 'artificial' for nothing.

I don’t know if you have to be a writer/editor to find it obvious, but AI prose is so stilted and derivative that it obviously was not written by an English-speaking human.

If you took the worst bodice-ripper or the most absurd porn novel and then dumbed it down about four grade levels, you’d be matching the “writing” that now appears on websites whose owners would rather plug in a machine than hire a copywriter. And that includes some very prominent, profitable sites that could afford literate text.
"Shamash! Crude Strikes", this collection of Chat GPT toons at Juan Cole's shop makes me think of Houston (and one possible dystopian future).

As far as listicles and compendiums go at this time of the year, I'm not wild about them, especially when they gratify personal egos for clicks. There's always an exception, and WhoWhatWhy has collated Ted Rall's best of 2024, and he's the best there is. You might also read Ted's summary of our political state of affairs as the Democrats conclude their worst cycle in 40 years.

Speaking of Joe Biden and his defunct party...
Not skipping over any mockery here. No sir.

"Beef jerky time" "Ya, from Sveden"

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Wednesday, December 25, 2024

Tinsel Toons


F'n Kuffner and his everbrown Mel Torme post *snort* How about some non-nerd music.
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Merry Christmas & Happy Hanukkah, ya filthy animals


As with last week, two toon posts; light-hearted fare follows after the reality-based here. The Christian and Jewish holidays fall on the same day this year, which seems cruelly appropriate.


I saw far too many "Grinch gets arrested" reports from across our Beautiful Country not to believe the effort wasn't coordinated copaganda between corporate media and LEO.

My Festivus Grievance aired: Jerry Seinfeld is a Zionist ass.
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Sunday, December 22, 2024

Sunday "Primary President Musk!" Funnies

The idea that threatening to primary Congressional Republicans who won't fall in line six weeks after their election to a two-year term is a bit more comical than usual for memory-impaired MAGAts. That it seems to be mostly working *cough*Tom Massie*cough*Chip Roy*cough* is more than the usual problematic for Congressional dysfunction over said two years. Fun.
Are these people even capable of cognitive dissonance? I suppose we'll find out the hard way.
Is it possible our corporate media played a part in failing the nation's teachable moment? If you've been reading Bradblog for the past several months -- and discounted the whining about not giving Joe Biden enough credit for 'success' -- then you already know the answer.

The Wall Street Journal -- not the most honest of news purveyors as we know -- spills some tea that some of us poured out five years ago. I believe riding a snail soft-pedals his dementia, the outsourced-to-sycophants nature of his presidency, and his vast corruption and ethical lapses.
I'm not among those who declare Uncle Joe he's-movin'-kinda-slow America's worst president. But after Nixon, Reagan, W Bush, and Hoover ... he's definitely in the top five.

Related: geriatric neoliberal Democrats have acted repeatedly to exclude younger progressives. Nancy Pelosi, 84, in Luxembourg recovering from hip replacement surgery after falling, whipped votes for a 74 year-old with esophageal cancer from her hospital bed to defeat AOC for a caucus leadership position. "Working Tirelessly for a Ceasefire" Sandy just found out what it's like when the boot you've been licking for four years kicks you in the teeth. *Update: Gerontocracy is quite obviously not the exclusive domain of Democrats. Fingernail-clinging control of the House is probably the reason Kay Granger wasn't reported missing for the past six months.

Team Donkey, to a somewhat greater extent than Team Pachy, is simply not a political party that welcomes young people. Zoomers, etc. please read the room and take the fewest steps to the exit. DSA, I'm lookin' at you.

Political discourse in the US has become difficult if not impossible because right-wing views are so completely untethered from reality. [...] And one of the biggest examples is the widespread belief that immigration is harmful, despite near-universal agreement among economists that immigration is not just helpful but crucial for the US economy.
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Sunday, December 15, 2024

'Broligarchs of the Year' Funnies


"First of all, this conversation never happened."
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"Target-Rich Environment" Toons


There'll be more holiday cartoons and a few of the usual mocking of the Blues and Reds in the second edition of the Sunday Funnies later today. As #SocialistSunday dawns let's be reminded that we need fight no wars anywhere except the class war everywhere.

We'll begin slowly for those, especially in the corporate media, who still don't seem to be grasping the reality, with Ted Rall.

No. War. But. The. Class. War.


Lighter fare queued.
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