Donald Trump – The Course of True Love (fantasy art)

As Stormy Daniels continues her testimony in the Donald Trump hush money case, we examine the course of true love (slideshow at bottom):

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 01

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 02

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 03

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 04

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 05

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 06

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 07

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 08

 

Donald Trump – The Course of True Love 09

 

Donald Trump: Larger Than Life (fantasy art)

UPDATE 1

Donald Trump – Larger Than Life – A803

I used to post a lot of anti-Trump stuff during the period 2016-2021. After the 1/6 insurrection, and the various civil and criminal court cases Trump was facing, I posted much less about him. I was really hoping fate had dealt him the legendary “one-way ticket to Palookaville.” (See On The Waterfront, the 1954 film by Elia Kazan.)

Much to my horror, the current conventional wisdom is that Trump actually stands a chance of being re-elected! So I feel as though I need to suit up for the occasion. I have mixed feelings about getting back into anti-Trump mode. Politics is (at best) a quaternary concern of this blog. (Quaternary is what comes after tertiary. I looked it up.) The main focus of this blog is (or should be) “Personal Explorations in Ethics, Spirituality, & Art.” I admit I sometimes honour this in the breach.

This past year, I’ve gotten much more interested in art and much less interested in opinions. So it seems only natural that leading up to the 2024 election, I would express my anti-Trump sentiment through art — namely cartoons, drawings, courtroom sketches, mock photos, etc. which poke fun at the Donald and denizens of Trump World.

My typical disclaimer is that I’m a firm believer in peace and understanding. It should go without saying that nothing in these images is intended to provoke violence or hatred. On the off chance that you come away with a feeling that Donald Trump is not a good guy, I urge you to express that feeling peacefully by voting for Joe Biden this November.

I recently completed the Looking Up to Women project, which for me was a kind of milestone. It represents the sort of thing I would like to spend my time doing. I see it as having lasting value — if to no one else, then at least to me as a perpetual student of art and spirituality.

By contrast, my Trump parodies are bound to have a short shelf life, sure to be consigned to the dustbin of history once the would-be monarch fades into well-earned obscurity, except perhaps as a hideous folk legend, or a future civilization’s discovery of a bust of some ancient king despised by his subjects:

The bust of an evil king, discovered in an archeological dig by some future civilization

Soviet Propaganda Posters Parodied

An artist responds to current trends in politics, culture, assassination, and technology

I’ve been a man of few words lately. For the past year I’ve been much more interested in images, which have some advantages over opinions. While opinions are often clutched fiercely and yelled loudly, images can be more subtle and persuasive. Perhaps the highest types of images have no prosaic meaning, express no opinions, but simply reflect something deep about the nature of the universe.

Popular art is less lofty, but still retains the benefit of being open to interpretation. My parodies of propaganda posters (below) are really not limited to poking fun at Russia. One prose meaning to be gleaned is that authoritarianism and totalitarianism are not unknown in the Era of Trump. These tendencies are found in every society, and correspond to something dark in human nature.

Likewise, the tendency to manipulate people by gathering detailed information about them is not limited to, say, the old East German Stasi. Randy Newman may never have written a song about the Privacy Policies you find on corporate web sites, but “if you paid attention, you’d be worried too.” The unholy alliance between technology and snooping has been a theme of science fiction for at least 60 years. A classic 1963 episode of The Outer Limits titled “O.B.I.T.” comprises a dark, expressive televisual essay on the subject.

Nor is credulous techno-utopianism confined to emerging nations. There are segments of my own country, America, which are obsessed with tracking the latest releases of iPhones or nVidia graphics cards, as if these things would change the face of human civilization. But Materialism 2.0 is really not much different than 1.x.

New Year’s Prediction for 2025

I’m sidestepping 2024 and moving directly to 2025 (without passing go or collecting two hundred dollars). My prediction for 2025 is that if Donald Trump is re-elected, he’ll move White House operations to Mar-a-Lago. I think it would go something like this…

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

* * *

Thanksgiving laughs from Rifftrax and Faith (video)

Faith’s Take is a YouTube channel by Faith Duggan where she talks “about anything and everything that I find interesting!” (often film & video).

She made this hilarious highlights reel showcasing the best of Rifftrax Thanksgiving offerings:

Trump Glares at a Statue of Trump

Making a statue of Donald Trump is a tall order! We called on Henry Moore and Fernando Botero for inspiration. And who better to photograph the scene than Leni Riefenstahl? But Trump wasn’t satisfied…

Surely a monument to authoritarianism!

R.I.P. Fernando Botero (1932-2023)

* * *

Donald Trump Back in the News

A speech in Waco, a new TV interview, an old defense in the Stormy Daniels saga, and some scathing parody pics of the former president

He’s baaaaack! Donald Trump recently returned from Waco, Texas, where his campaign speech was laden with the gentle remonstrance and appeals to sense and sensibility which have so endeared him to the American people.

Donald Trump in the style of Charles Addams, by Michael Howard and Stable Diffusion

Breaking: Speaker McCarthy Flubs Acceptance Speech

McCarthy’s “Freudian slip” with music track and snarky comments (video)

During a long session in which fisticuffs nearly broke out, Kevin McCarthy was finally elected Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives after 15 votes. It happened late Friday night/early Saturday morning, when Never Kevin stalwart Matt Gaetz agreed to vote “present” — in exchange for what, God only knows.

The New York Times reports that former President Trump called holdouts who refused to back McCarthy in the 14th vote. An apocryphal version of events has Marjorie Taylor Greene crying out: “It’s His Voice on the radio, y’all!”

Marjorie Taylor Greene – artist’s rendering

McCarthy, reaching the apex of his acceptance speech, proceeded to flub a long, thinly-connected passage about George Washington crossing the Delaware. He received a standing ovation from fellow House members, whose expectations were perhaps understandably low:

While it’s true that most applauded, a few weary souls were led off mumbling to themselves, trying to work it out on their fingers. If we row in a different cadence, or maybe we don’t let everybody in the boat, then can we overcome some of the obstacles? Is there a size limit? Do we have to wear blindfolds? Are the objects edible? Are they known for their work in the theater?

As in the famous Charles Ives composition, these questions remained unanswered.

Michael Howard

The views expressed are my own, and do not represent any other person or organization.

* * *

Remembering Boris Johnson at Christmas

At Christmastime everyone needs a big, big dog to sit by the fire, wait by the door, or look mournful at the dinner table till someone throws it a cranberry. In The Bishop’s Wife, a 1947 holiday classic, the Brougham family had Queenie — a lovable (but brandyless) St. Bernard dog:

Christmas is also a time for remembering those no longer with us. They may have caused us pain, they may have pooped on the rug (literally or metaphorically), but still they were part of the family. So when we think of Christmas mirth, of banquets and balls, it is incumbent upon us to remember one whose name is synonymous with banquets (if not balls): Boris Johnson.

See Trump Declassify Documents – Photoshop Pics

I made some Photoshops showing Donald Trump declassifying documents using the Magic Mirror method from Romper Room.

This vindicates his claim that he can declassify documents by mental telepathy. For his efforts above and beyond the call of duty (or sanity), he receives a Romper Room School diploma. Click on each image to enlarge to 1280×720:

Donald Trump declassifies documents using the Romper Room Magic Mirror method

Donald Trump: Declassified by mental telepathy!

See Donald Trump go to the head of the class (his distinct lack of class notwithstanding)

Romper Room Doobie Songs and Legalization

Was Romper Room a plot by the Democrats to groom children for future marijuana legalization? A crackpot theory that just might appeal to Trumpistas and FOX News viewers.

DRAFT Everybody knows the old proverb “Be careful what you wish for…” It’s been a pipe dream of liberals for time out of mind that pot would be legalized, as it now has been in nearly 20 states. As a liberal myself, I can’t help but wonder where we’re bound. (Nod to Tom Paxton.) In retrospect, it might have been better to quietly ease both penalties and enforcement rather than going full legal.

Downing Street Cat Resigns

EXCLUSIVE! Larry the Cat’s long, detailed resignation letter in full

After an extended period in which the Tories propped up Boris Johnson, there’s been a sudden outbreak of the eleventh hour conscience bug (apparently highly communicable), culminating in a mad rush to get on board with Operation Spay Big Dog. But what of the cat?

Donald Trump and the Bad Hombre Open

The Bad Hombre Open, a  tennis tournament sponsored by Donald Trump, presumably with other people’s money

Another year has come and gone, and with the summer solstice arrives another edition of the Donald Trump Bad Hombre Open, held at Trump’s mountain retreat in Guadalajara, Mexico — just another connection between the Trump family and rackets.

Will Mass Shootings Ever End?

The latest mass shootings in Buffalo and Uvalde are a horrific reality. They’re also like some Twlight Zone episode where the protagonist keeps reliving the same nightmare in which only the dramatis personae change with each iteration. (See “Shadow Play,” s02e26.)

This is what’s known as a time loop, other notable examples being the movie Groundhog Day, and the Star Trek TNG episode “Cause and Effect.” In both of the latter, the solution is for characters to tie a metaphorical string around their fingers reminding them what they did wrong, or what works and doesn’t work for breaking the destructive cycle. As they head into each new cycle, they ideally have a little more knowledge and insight. (This is also broadly true of the process of reincarnation.)

The short answer, then, to the question “Will mass shootings ever end?” is: No, not until we take careful note of what we’re doing wrong, what doesn’t work, and actually change something for the better. This is easier said than done, because some of the needed changes are institutional and societal. Institutions and society tend to change at glacial pace even when the consequences of failure to act are immediate and palpable. This leads to a bizarre disconnect in which it seems like our society is hard-wired to produce mass shootings as a by-product of intractable social, political, and spiritual problems which are perpetuated by institutional gridlock.

Boris Johnson thanks Sue Gray

Straight from the Ministry of Euphemism, and drier than a sherry excreted by Wilfrid Hyde-White, Sue Gray’s non-report  about not-parties at No10 has finally dropped. No names are mentioned, so it’s left to the reader’s imagination who did what, and to whom.

Gray stresses that due partly to constraints placed upon her, and to her own internal deliberations, she can’t actually tell us much that is not of a general, non-specific nature, and that her non-report is not meaningful. (The latter fulfils the formal requirement of any ministerial report by stating the bleeding obvious.)

To students of the English language, her non-report is perhaps most striking for what it does not say. UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson was understandably grateful:

Couched as it is in generalities, and relying on the nebulous term ‘gatherings’, her report nevertheless notes that ‘The excessive consumption of alcohol is not appropriate in a professional workplace at any time’ and ‘Pastoral care and support will be provided to all staff involved’. Translated from the bureaucratese to the vernacular, this apparently means ‘Fizzy-good make feel nice’:

Bereft of detail, still, the Sue Gray non-report implies that the Tories are in need of major rehab, not just a quick Alka-Seltzer behind the cricket pitch.

Michael Howard

The views expressed are my own, and do not represent any other person or organization.

The Boris Johnson Funnies – Collect them all!

* * *

Boris Johnson – Breaking Partygate News

The Boris Johnson #Partygate scandal has now entered the cascade phase, living up to Dame Angela Eagle’s once comical remark that it might be faster to investigate the days there weren’t parties at 10 Downing:

Perhaps it would be easier if Sue Grey were to investigate the days when there weren’t parties in Downing St #PartyGate #ResignJohnson pic.twitter.com/rpRazOKWvB

— Angela Eagle DBE (@angelaeagle) January 11, 2022

At Eton, Johnson was apparently out carousing when they covered Watergate, and didn’t realise the cover-up is always worse than the crime. But the penny has finally dropped for many junior ministers and aides. Today brought a sudden, mad Tory rush to confess and look contrite before being caught bang to rights by emerging evidence. The unspoken horror is that some brave copper will leak CCTV footage which resembles a scene from Caligula.