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Trump and the Swamp

Donald Trump promised to “drain the swamp” in Washington, implying that he would be bringing new faces into the administration that were not “politics as usual.” So far, Trump’s picks look like standard politicians Republican fare, straight from the swamp.

Swamp
I love the look of the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Swamp Thing? Not so much.

There have also been reports about Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, nixing choices that are close to New Jersey Governor, Chris Christie, who put Kushner’s father in jail back when Christie was a prosecutor.

I was thinking of the typical swamp cabinet candidate and I thought of the “Swamp Thing” – but when I looked, I realized that what I really had in mind was the “Creature from the Black Lagoon” which has a classic 1950’s B-movie look. The Swamp Thing just didn’t make the cut. That’s the Creature from the Black Lagoon in the photo at the right. And my cartoon is below.

I think the cartoonists will find their Trump-sea-legs soon. If not, we’re in for four (or eight) years of lousy Trump-Monster cartoons – that is, Trump as the monster, which has grown tiresome. One bright spot is Jared Kushner and Trump’s kids, who look like they will be cartoon characters on my palette in coming years. They are wonderful characters!

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Ceiling of Support – and Rembrandt

With election day two days away, as pools tighten up, it still looks like Donald Trump is bumping his head on a hard ceiling of support. I suppose this cartoon could be a post-mortem to run on Wednesday, after Hillary wins. I expect to get a blast of cartoons predicting the outcome for newspaper who need a quick option when the election results come in on Tuesday night; some cartoonists will surely draw different versions of different outcomes – I’m working on that now.

This cartoon is inspired by another cartoon I drew some years ago about the debt ceiling, with a Republican elephant. (I like pogo sticks.)

Debt ceilings, ceilings of support – those darn ceilings keep coming back to bite Republicans.

Here’s another oldie that I updated in anticipation of Hillary winning the election. I drew this one in 2012 about the “Republican Autopsy” after Mitt Romney’s defeat. I draw just like Rembrandt, huh?  Things don’t change much.

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Trump and the Khan Family

The Democratic National Convention seems to have all boiled down to one speaker, Khizr Khan, who’s son was killed in action in Iraq, and who’s speech wasn’t even scheduled in prime time. Trump wants to strike back at anyone who criticizes him, without regard to who is giving the criticism.  Tone-deaf Trump compares his own “sacrifice” as a businessman to the Kahn’s sacrifice.

And on the other side, it is interesting to see the GOP stalwarts stand up for a “gold star” family in this case, given how nasty they have been to Cindy Sheehan over the years.

Watch me draw this one in real time in the video below.

Wasn’t that great? Now watch me color it in Photoshop!

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Women Always Cry at Weddings

Donald Trump became the “presumptive Republican nominee” this week, to the surprise and dismay of many “establishment” Republicans. Every time the Donald talks about women he seems to dig a little deeper hold for himself.

I’ve been getting comments from readers about Trump’s flesh tones in my cartoons. People seem to think that I should make Trump much more orange. There seems to be a consensus among my readers that Trump wears protective goggles around his eyes as he gets a spray tan and that should be reflected in my flesh tones. I’ve decided to go along with the readers, who also complain that I don’t make Trump’s hair orange enough. Alright. OK. But I’m going to make the transition gradually, starting with this cartoon.

Want to see me draw this? Check out the YouTube video below.

See me color the cartoon in Photoshop in the next video. Twitch was failing when I was coloring, so I turned off the microphone and listened to the television, just like the good old days.

 

 

 

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Cruz and Kasich Team Up to Topple Trump

Cruz and Kasich have decided not to compete against each other so that they don’t split up the “stop-Trump” vote in the remaining states.

I think Trump gets a spray tan, and covers his eyes, making for little white areas around his eyes. I suppose he could have a farmers tan and wears sunglasses when he’s outside, but I lean towards the spray tan theory. I’ve gotten criticized by some readers who complain that I don’t draw Trump flesh tone orange enough. In fact, I’ve been using the same old flesh tone for Trump that I have been using for other characters in the cartoons. With this cartoon I made a change to Trump’s flesh tone.  Should I stick with it? Is he orange enough? Should I go back to flesh tone normalcy with Trump?

Check out the video below to watch me draw this cartoon in real time.

in the next video I color the cartoon in Photoshop.

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Defending the Convention Rules

I have to agree with Donald Trump’s criticism of the Republican party rules. It has been interesting to hear the establishment Republican defense, from Paul Ryan, Reince Priebus and other flacks; I think that all of these arguments could just as appropriately come from the mouth of lil Kim Jong Un.

Watch me drawing this one in the video below!

I color the cartoon in Photoshop in the video below …

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Trump Drag Race!

When Trump complains that the GOP convention rules ignore the will of the voters, the retort from establishment Republicans is to say “those have been the rules all along!” Perhaps it is more damning that the rules have been so undemocratic all along. (That, plus I got to draw Trump’s butt.)

See me draw and color this one in real time in Photoshop in the video below!

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The Party of Lincoln!

I imagine that the grandpa of the Republican Party, the Party of Lincoln, would respond to the current Republican primaries like this.

Watch me draw this one in real time in the video below. This one was a quickie.

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Trump Media Circus Clowns

Here’s a pro-Trump cartoon. This has been a bad week for Trump as he fumbled a question about abortion and his campaign manager was charged with assaulting a reporter.

I’m sympathetic to Trump in his fumble of the abortion question. The pro-lifers insist that abortion is murder, except that they don’t want to respond to the “murderers” with punishment, as though they are actual murderers. “Murder” is just a meaningless word for pro-lifers, chosen because it evokes a strong, emotional response. The abortion debate is like a religion, where arguments are honed over years of practice. Trump is new to the abortion debate, as a new politician, and hasn’t polished his responses to conform to the hypocrisy of the pro-life conservatives he is courting. I’m fine with him dialing his comments back after being advised of the equally ridiculous, acceptable response he should have given to woo his new, pro-life audience.

This cartoon also responds to the media kerfuffle over Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski’s alleged assault of reporter Michelle Fields, formerly of the conservative news site Breitbart News. I have to agree with Trump on this one. From the videotape, the incident looks like nothing more than an opportunity for Fields to cause some trouble for Trump – the media clowns have certainly run with it.

Want to see the real-time live-stream video of me drawing this cartoon? Check out the video below.

In the next video below, you can watch me coloring the cartoon in Photoshop.