Liza, I understand how the woman in your first cartoon feels. But I have no intention of staying inside until this election is over. Your second drawing is just one of many reasons why I’m fired up about it.
My proposal. Guns don't kill people, bullets do. I propose a total ban on the production and sale of all ammunition. Ammunition is not protected in the Constitution. No bullets, no bodies. No chance of this happening of course. The manufacture of ammunition must be an enormous industry. Liza, your gun drawing is unfortunately accurate.
I’m glad you were there and commented directly on Trump’s extra horrific ‘rant.’
I happen to hear it read aloud in my car on the radio via Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack but NO commentary and that puzzled me.
It merited more said than was and your drawing ended my wondering what I had missed.
Gads. Cannot believe this is going on and on. Never thought I’d love to give this election a date-shove but 2 more months remaining seems like undeserved torture.
“Lots of times on maps, unknown areas were depicted with sea monsters or dragons and it was often written, ‘Here there be monsters’ or ‘Here there be dragons’ because they didn’t know at the time what was out there so the assumption was there was something terrible waiting for them.” Dr. Sean Snaith
What I thought of when I saw your first drawing. We need Mothra.
As to the second, it synced with my work today, talking about a major restructuring of the campus of our little town and how we need to have fire and police contributing to the site plan.
I think on my youth when the worst thing was some knucklehead decided to set the contents of a trash can on fire. It was the early 70s and yes, there was white flight. Didn't worry me but my classmate was sufficiently concerned for my safety and wanted to escort me to my destination and back.
Sad when you miss the good old days which were limited to petty property damage.
Maybe we should sell bullets individually. Be fun to work that counter. Require bullet permits that are predicated on background checks. Creativity might work--although I still fail to understand the Supremes posing as originalists, etc. and ignoring the thing about a well regulated militia. *sigh
Hey, someone or other has been hawking a T shirt saying "I was speaking" which I am wearing right now. The closed mics will Kamala a LOT of practice using the phrase.
My only completely speculative thought about Merchan is that given the nature of the offense he is going to give a light sentence, and no way no how is he going to give trump that boost.
Parents, too, are probably suffering intergenerational abuse and trauma issues. But they're adults, and should have confronted their problems before passing them along to their kids.
Liz, as always, your artwork going along with your writings is fantastic.
As for Trump. He rants and rambles every time he opens his mouth, or writes on his losing ‘truth social’ platform.
I think Dick Cheney supporting the Harris/Walz campaign is HUGE! He, his daughter, and Adam Kinzinger are about the last of the old party!
What sickens me about this school shooting is all the needless “thoughts and prayers” and uncalled for Snyder remarks these Republicans have had to say. The Republican representatives from that district have done nothing, all one of them said was he offered his “thoughts and prayers” for the families. The Republican governor, announcing his “thoughts for the families, and thus is not the time for political discussion.”
Just today, in another school up north there was another shooting. Another student killed.
In 2024 alone, so far this year there’s been over 375 mass shootings involving these high powered semiautomatic weapons.
My main questions are:
At what point does our elected officials say “this is enough?”
At what point do our ejected officials sit down with the opposite party and work out a strong, sensible, good strong gun law that hopefully will curb this violence?
How many of our children have to die before something is done?
And, by the way, this isn’t the immigrants crossing the border doing these crimes. Not even closing them. These mass shootings gave been going on for decades. They just hit worse after Trump did away with the ban on assault weapons being manufactured and sold to the public.
Speaking of rants, I wonder what you think of Coach Walz’s claim that “those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons.” Does the Coach mean that it’s right to cheer for Hamas—which just murdered six hostages, one of whom was an American citizen? Is Coach Walz aware that those loud voices are being raised in support of a bloodthirsty death cult that seeks the eradication of the Jewish state? You may close your eyes against the rising tide of antisemitism on the progressive Left, but it will resound in your ears—and how in God’s name do you tolerate it?
You mean those begging for a ceasefire? Is that, because you think it’s purely antisemitism (which is anathema to me) or sincerity in wanting to save the innocent- including the very precious hostages?
Oh, please! the antisemitic hostility and hatred directed toward Israel and Jews in general, and America, by these rats is gross and glaring. What does the harassment of Jewish students on American college campuses have to do with a ceasefire in Gaza? What does the desecration of war memorials in America have to do with the Palestinian cause? How does the ripping down of hostage posters constitute concern for the plight of those hostages?
Here’s just one example of what the “anti-Zionist” protests are all about. I could cite many more such outrages, some much worse than this one.
You don’t have to I have a clear idea of what hatred they spew - and the ideological imbecility and viciousness in it. Religion is the root cause of most of the horror in this world because of the hatred it inspires and pounds into the heads of children who grow to be crippled by it and used as weapons in some ffg “holy war”..
I’m not defending any of that. I’m pretty sure it’s going to harm them infinitely more than they’re capable of harming us in their mindless way.
But protesting because no ceasefire has been approached with honorable intent? (As if there’s much honor in a bloody war, right?) no. I’m pro Israel but Netanyahu is despicable - largely because he will not cede power in his own interests. Not Israel’s.
Oh, please—again! If Netanyahu disappeared tomorrow in a puff of orange smoke, nothing would change. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but there's no hostage deal or ceasefire proposal on the table that any Israeli government would ever accept. Raving and ranting about the Ogre Bibi is therefore futile. He's not the problem. Hamas, Hezbollah, other Iranian proxies and the Islamic Republic itself constitute the problem.
I hope you can hear this: being opposed to the military policies of a state, a government, is not the same thing as antisemitism, even if the majority of people living in that state are Jewish, and committed to the survival of their state. (Just like it's not "anti-American" to criticize the American government, a charge leveled against many of us back during the protests against the Viet-Nam war.) The IDF and the Israeli leaders (looking at you, Netanyahu) have gone mad; now they're turning their attention to the West Bank. Still reading? Good. Per my posting elsewhere in this thread, many Jews all over the world, and especially in Israel, are suffering from untreated post-traumatic stress going directly back to the horrors of the Holocaust; their response has been to relentlessly pound the crap out of the Palestinians who - understandably, I would think - have been protesting Israeli occupation for the last 75 years. There's a way out of this without either side attempting to eradicate the other, but it would require much more sincere cooperation among the various players than is currently evident.
Ihn this case, it's exactly the same thing. "Anti-Zionism" is antisemitism, period. The behavior of these garbage human beings is proof positive of that. And shame on you for trying to make out that they're saintly peace activists. They're Jew haters and terrorist sympathizers.
Love both drawings. Both are powerful statements! The children coming out of the barrel of a gun is heartbreaking. Republicans want to ban abortions but won't do a thing to stop them from being killed in a mass shooting when the children grow up. People can't and shouldn't stay inside until the election is over. However, I worry that if/when Trump loses that there will be a call for violence once again. Like a tube of toothpaste - once the words are squeezed or spit out from Trump's mouth they can never be put back in. He is already foaming at the mouth to plant voter fraud and even that the upcoming debate will be rigged in Harris' favor. Cartoons are important and can literally and figuratively explain what is going on in the world. Thank you for yours!
Cartoons like the second one (kids coming out of gun barrel) are often more eloquent and impactful than words. Any person from any language community gets the meaning immediately.
Ouch. Oof. That second cartoon, with all the ghost children floating like smoke from the barrel of the gun... Get ready for your Pulitzer Prize on that one, Liza. Seriously, is that one going to get published? I agree with another poster who suggests the cover of the New Yorker.
I'm seeing two parallel threads where gun violence is concerned: one is the obscene availability of guns of all kinds, especially military-style rifles; the other is the issue of mental health. These two threads are pretty tightly woven together; they're not opposing views on this problem. We have to clamp way down on the availability of firearms, and we have to get MUCH more serious about addressing mental health problems, particularly with children and teenagers. A mentally ill person can't commit a mass shooting if there are no guns available, but they can (and will) find other ways to create murderous havoc (stabbing people with knives, ramming trucks into crowds, etc.)
While I'm at it - yes, ranting - please note how futile and wrongheaded it is to wonder, as the news media so often do, about the "motives" of a mass shooter. They go looking for evidence of the shooter being influenced by radical terror groups, as though a normal, mentally-stable person would be cruising along through social media feeds, and suddenly be captured by some radical posting, turning instantly into some kind of violent zombie. The people who respond to the terrorist-oriented postings likely already have a huge backlog of anger and resentments, often (usually) going back to some kind of traumatic abuse as a kid; they've had a repository of rage for years, and are seeking revenge. As with two of the most recent school shootings, there was ample evidence of a kid being from an unstable, abusive background; in these last two cases, the kid was literally begging for help with self-identified mental health problems.
One last thing: I don't know how many of the people who speak of "thoughts and prayers" are proposing thoughts and prayers as a solution; I think at least some of them are expressing sadness and grief. In the same way, expressing anger and outrage among like-minded folks in a social media feed can be pretty impotent; go and lobby your elected representatives, instead, and be relentless: pester them all day, every day. And, of course, vote for politicians who promise, without equivocation, to work on gun legislation.
Back to where I started: one cartoon or image like Liza's "smoking gun" can do a LOT to raise consciousness on an issue like this. Thanks again, Liza.
Liza, I understand how the woman in your first cartoon feels. But I have no intention of staying inside until this election is over. Your second drawing is just one of many reasons why I’m fired up about it.
Me too!
Definitely
So much 'good' news on a Friday afternoon! Thank you Liza!
My proposal. Guns don't kill people, bullets do. I propose a total ban on the production and sale of all ammunition. Ammunition is not protected in the Constitution. No bullets, no bodies. No chance of this happening of course. The manufacture of ammunition must be an enormous industry. Liza, your gun drawing is unfortunately accurate.
Liza, your second cartoon broke my heart. So much emotion and truth. Thank you.
Such a powerful second drawing, Liza. Thank you.
Thank you Liza!
I’m glad you were there and commented directly on Trump’s extra horrific ‘rant.’
I happen to hear it read aloud in my car on the radio via Heather Cox Richardson’s Substack but NO commentary and that puzzled me.
It merited more said than was and your drawing ended my wondering what I had missed.
Gads. Cannot believe this is going on and on. Never thought I’d love to give this election a date-shove but 2 more months remaining seems like undeserved torture.
“Lots of times on maps, unknown areas were depicted with sea monsters or dragons and it was often written, ‘Here there be monsters’ or ‘Here there be dragons’ because they didn’t know at the time what was out there so the assumption was there was something terrible waiting for them.” Dr. Sean Snaith
What I thought of when I saw your first drawing. We need Mothra.
As to the second, it synced with my work today, talking about a major restructuring of the campus of our little town and how we need to have fire and police contributing to the site plan.
I think on my youth when the worst thing was some knucklehead decided to set the contents of a trash can on fire. It was the early 70s and yes, there was white flight. Didn't worry me but my classmate was sufficiently concerned for my safety and wanted to escort me to my destination and back.
Sad when you miss the good old days which were limited to petty property damage.
Maybe we should sell bullets individually. Be fun to work that counter. Require bullet permits that are predicated on background checks. Creativity might work--although I still fail to understand the Supremes posing as originalists, etc. and ignoring the thing about a well regulated militia. *sigh
Hey, someone or other has been hawking a T shirt saying "I was speaking" which I am wearing right now. The closed mics will Kamala a LOT of practice using the phrase.
My only completely speculative thought about Merchan is that given the nature of the offense he is going to give a light sentence, and no way no how is he going to give trump that boost.
I think he was concerned about any action being construed as election interference (like Comely, that ham bastard, decided to do)
the question is—interference in which direction? But he also doesn’t want the Extremes to add that kind of claim to their immunity decision, either.
Very glad parents are finally being charged along with the kids.
Take their possessions (house, assets) too
Parents, too, are probably suffering intergenerational abuse and trauma issues. But they're adults, and should have confronted their problems before passing them along to their kids.
Liza - such a good piece. The second cartoon should be on the cover of the NYer
Hear, hear. That image speaks in a way words cannot. Pulitzer prize stuff.
Liz, as always, your artwork going along with your writings is fantastic.
As for Trump. He rants and rambles every time he opens his mouth, or writes on his losing ‘truth social’ platform.
I think Dick Cheney supporting the Harris/Walz campaign is HUGE! He, his daughter, and Adam Kinzinger are about the last of the old party!
What sickens me about this school shooting is all the needless “thoughts and prayers” and uncalled for Snyder remarks these Republicans have had to say. The Republican representatives from that district have done nothing, all one of them said was he offered his “thoughts and prayers” for the families. The Republican governor, announcing his “thoughts for the families, and thus is not the time for political discussion.”
Just today, in another school up north there was another shooting. Another student killed.
In 2024 alone, so far this year there’s been over 375 mass shootings involving these high powered semiautomatic weapons.
My main questions are:
At what point does our elected officials say “this is enough?”
At what point do our ejected officials sit down with the opposite party and work out a strong, sensible, good strong gun law that hopefully will curb this violence?
How many of our children have to die before something is done?
And, by the way, this isn’t the immigrants crossing the border doing these crimes. Not even closing them. These mass shootings gave been going on for decades. They just hit worse after Trump did away with the ban on assault weapons being manufactured and sold to the public.
Speaking of rants, I wonder what you think of Coach Walz’s claim that “those folks who are speaking out loudly in Michigan are speaking out for all the right reasons.” Does the Coach mean that it’s right to cheer for Hamas—which just murdered six hostages, one of whom was an American citizen? Is Coach Walz aware that those loud voices are being raised in support of a bloodthirsty death cult that seeks the eradication of the Jewish state? You may close your eyes against the rising tide of antisemitism on the progressive Left, but it will resound in your ears—and how in God’s name do you tolerate it?
You mean those begging for a ceasefire? Is that, because you think it’s purely antisemitism (which is anathema to me) or sincerity in wanting to save the innocent- including the very precious hostages?
Oh, please! the antisemitic hostility and hatred directed toward Israel and Jews in general, and America, by these rats is gross and glaring. What does the harassment of Jewish students on American college campuses have to do with a ceasefire in Gaza? What does the desecration of war memorials in America have to do with the Palestinian cause? How does the ripping down of hostage posters constitute concern for the plight of those hostages?
Here’s just one example of what the “anti-Zionist” protests are all about. I could cite many more such outrages, some much worse than this one.
https://unwokeindianaag.substack.com/p/for-country-and-glory
You don’t have to I have a clear idea of what hatred they spew - and the ideological imbecility and viciousness in it. Religion is the root cause of most of the horror in this world because of the hatred it inspires and pounds into the heads of children who grow to be crippled by it and used as weapons in some ffg “holy war”..
I’m not defending any of that. I’m pretty sure it’s going to harm them infinitely more than they’re capable of harming us in their mindless way.
But protesting because no ceasefire has been approached with honorable intent? (As if there’s much honor in a bloody war, right?) no. I’m pro Israel but Netanyahu is despicable - largely because he will not cede power in his own interests. Not Israel’s.
I
Oh, please—again! If Netanyahu disappeared tomorrow in a puff of orange smoke, nothing would change. Perhaps you haven't noticed, but there's no hostage deal or ceasefire proposal on the table that any Israeli government would ever accept. Raving and ranting about the Ogre Bibi is therefore futile. He's not the problem. Hamas, Hezbollah, other Iranian proxies and the Islamic Republic itself constitute the problem.
I hope you can hear this: being opposed to the military policies of a state, a government, is not the same thing as antisemitism, even if the majority of people living in that state are Jewish, and committed to the survival of their state. (Just like it's not "anti-American" to criticize the American government, a charge leveled against many of us back during the protests against the Viet-Nam war.) The IDF and the Israeli leaders (looking at you, Netanyahu) have gone mad; now they're turning their attention to the West Bank. Still reading? Good. Per my posting elsewhere in this thread, many Jews all over the world, and especially in Israel, are suffering from untreated post-traumatic stress going directly back to the horrors of the Holocaust; their response has been to relentlessly pound the crap out of the Palestinians who - understandably, I would think - have been protesting Israeli occupation for the last 75 years. There's a way out of this without either side attempting to eradicate the other, but it would require much more sincere cooperation among the various players than is currently evident.
Ihn this case, it's exactly the same thing. "Anti-Zionism" is antisemitism, period. The behavior of these garbage human beings is proof positive of that. And shame on you for trying to make out that they're saintly peace activists. They're Jew haters and terrorist sympathizers.
https://unwokeindianaag.substack.com/p/genocide-is-in-the-streets
Love both drawings. Both are powerful statements! The children coming out of the barrel of a gun is heartbreaking. Republicans want to ban abortions but won't do a thing to stop them from being killed in a mass shooting when the children grow up. People can't and shouldn't stay inside until the election is over. However, I worry that if/when Trump loses that there will be a call for violence once again. Like a tube of toothpaste - once the words are squeezed or spit out from Trump's mouth they can never be put back in. He is already foaming at the mouth to plant voter fraud and even that the upcoming debate will be rigged in Harris' favor. Cartoons are important and can literally and figuratively explain what is going on in the world. Thank you for yours!
Cartoons like the second one (kids coming out of gun barrel) are often more eloquent and impactful than words. Any person from any language community gets the meaning immediately.
Ouch. Oof. That second cartoon, with all the ghost children floating like smoke from the barrel of the gun... Get ready for your Pulitzer Prize on that one, Liza. Seriously, is that one going to get published? I agree with another poster who suggests the cover of the New Yorker.
I'm seeing two parallel threads where gun violence is concerned: one is the obscene availability of guns of all kinds, especially military-style rifles; the other is the issue of mental health. These two threads are pretty tightly woven together; they're not opposing views on this problem. We have to clamp way down on the availability of firearms, and we have to get MUCH more serious about addressing mental health problems, particularly with children and teenagers. A mentally ill person can't commit a mass shooting if there are no guns available, but they can (and will) find other ways to create murderous havoc (stabbing people with knives, ramming trucks into crowds, etc.)
While I'm at it - yes, ranting - please note how futile and wrongheaded it is to wonder, as the news media so often do, about the "motives" of a mass shooter. They go looking for evidence of the shooter being influenced by radical terror groups, as though a normal, mentally-stable person would be cruising along through social media feeds, and suddenly be captured by some radical posting, turning instantly into some kind of violent zombie. The people who respond to the terrorist-oriented postings likely already have a huge backlog of anger and resentments, often (usually) going back to some kind of traumatic abuse as a kid; they've had a repository of rage for years, and are seeking revenge. As with two of the most recent school shootings, there was ample evidence of a kid being from an unstable, abusive background; in these last two cases, the kid was literally begging for help with self-identified mental health problems.
One last thing: I don't know how many of the people who speak of "thoughts and prayers" are proposing thoughts and prayers as a solution; I think at least some of them are expressing sadness and grief. In the same way, expressing anger and outrage among like-minded folks in a social media feed can be pretty impotent; go and lobby your elected representatives, instead, and be relentless: pester them all day, every day. And, of course, vote for politicians who promise, without equivocation, to work on gun legislation.
Back to where I started: one cartoon or image like Liza's "smoking gun" can do a LOT to raise consciousness on an issue like this. Thanks again, Liza.