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(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)
(Michael de Adder, The Contrarian)
(R.J. Matson, CQ/Roll Call)
(Adam Zyglis, The Buffalo News)
(Dave Whamond, caglecartoons.com, Canada)
(Theo Moudakis, Toronto Star, Canada)
(Arend van Dam, politicalcartoons.com, Netherlands)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Ivan Ehlers, @ivan_ehlers)
"... Concerned about control of Congress after 2026, Trump and members of his administration are pressuring state legislatures to redraw their congressional districts in order to favor Republicans. In Indiana, Republican state senators have resisted their pressure, along with death threats, to pass a map that would give Republicans two districts currently dominated by Democrats, giving Republicans the entire congressional delegation.
"Vice President J.D. Vance and Don Trump Jr. have jumped into the struggle, and today the lobbying arm of the right-wing Heritage Institute, Heritage Action, posted on social media that 'President Trump has made it clear to Indiana leaders: if the Indiana Senate fails to pass the map, all federal funding will be stripped from the state. Roads will not be paved. Guard bases will close. Major projects will stop. These are the stakes and every NO vote will be to blame.' Indiana Lieutenant Governor Micah Beckwith confirmed that '[t]he Trump admin[istration] was VERY clear about this.'
"Political observer John Collins commented: 'Nothing shows confidence like threatening your own party.' Another Hoosier seemed unconcerned with the threat that Trump would illegally withhold federal funding, posting: 'We know how to roll with potholes better than any other state,' with a laughing emoji.
"This evening, the Indiana senate rejected the new
gerrymandered congressional map by a vote of 31 to 19. The vote wasn’t
close: Twenty-one Republicans—that is, a majority of the Republican
senators—joined the 10 Democratic senators in voting no..." (our emphasis) -- Heather Cox Richardson, in her "Letters from an American" Substack. Not only does it not show confidence to threaten members of your own party (and this treatment from the Malignant Fascist and his goons is no longer unusual), it clearly backfired badly in Indiana. This is more evidence, if any were needed, of a cult leader in panic mode, as some of his cultists start heading for the exit doors and more and more voters see that he's a self-aggrandizing fraud who's never been interested in their well- being, a cowardly bully who uses threats of force to get his way.
The Malignant Fascist's callous disregard for Americans losing their health care --
Don't let a little premeditated misery and death for millions of Americans by the richest people ever to live get you down.
— 🗽LOLGOP🗽 (@thefarce.org) December 13, 2025 at 6:43 AM
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“Nightmare” is even in the headline www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
— Bill Grueskin (@bgrueskin.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 7:26 AM
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Time for them to be terrified. Release the Epstein - Trump files in their entirety --
No cherry-picking. No party filter. Just receipts. And a lot of powerful men are terrified right now. KASIE HUNT: “Do you have pictures of people engaged in sexual acts as part of this?” REP. SUBRAMANYAM: “Yes, there are people engaged in sexual acts.” @repsuhas.bsky.social
— Christopher Webb (@cwebbonline.com) December 13, 2025 at 9:11 AM
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Flying the unfriendly skies with ICE --
SCOOP: The Trump administration is providing the names of all travelers passing through U.S. airports to immigration officials in search of people with deportation orders, a substantial expansion of government efforts to draw on data to hunt down immigrants. www.nytimes.com/2025/12/12/u...
— Hamed Aleaziz (@haleaziz.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 4:26 PM
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New York Public Health standing up against RFK, Jr.'s CDC politicization --
Brutal but effective public health messaging from New York Public Health. The CDC is compromised. They’re no longer a reliable source of information. They push anti-vaxx & anti-science grift. Get your vaccines. Wear a respirator. Clean the air Get public health advice from experts, not RFK Jr
— Kelly (@broadwaybabyto.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 5:44 AM
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The treasonous MF and Russia Russia Russia, cybersecurity edition --
The context: this ties to a Trump decision dating to the first 72 hours of his administration to stand down all cybersecurity operations targeting Russia, creating an open gap for Russian influence operations.
— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 11:06 PM
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Some of Russia's "cards" are folding. Slava Ukraini! --
I absolutely love these Ukrainian sanctions 🔥 Overnight, Ukrainian drones struck the Slavneft-YANOS refinery in Yaroslavl. It is a major Russian facility that processes over 15 million tons of oil annually.
— SAINT JAVELIN (@saintjavelin.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 4:30 AM
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Cowboy Cankles, distribute this photo widely please! --
Yes its a real photo from today. He looks like a fucking idiot. Nobody will dare make fun of him though in the MSM. Yet…Mike Dukakis was humiliated in 1988 for wearing a helmet in a tank, despite the fact he served in the U.S. Army (in Korea), unlike Cadet Bone Spurs. Amazing.
— Spiro’s Ghost (@antitoxicpeople.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 7:47 PM
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Happy 100th Birthday, Dick Van Dyke --
Why does screen legend Dick Van Dyke support the fight for equality? It's simple: "Hate eats up your insides." Happy 100th birthday to #NOH8 supporter #DickVanDyke #NOH8Day #DVD100
— NOH8 Campaign (@noh8campaign.bsky.social) December 13, 2025 at 3:07 PM
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When, as expected, Republicans end Affordable Care Act ("Obamacare") tax credits at the end of this month, it won't just disastrously affect the roughly 24 million Americans enrolled in the ACA, it's going to be an "invisible tax" for everyone with health insurance. So why are MAGAt Republicans and their cult leader doing this (aside from their sociopathy)? Well, read on:
Top healthcare executive John Driscoll calls the looming expiration of enhanced Affordable Care Act subsidies “a tragedy in the making,” warning that millions of Americans are about to be hit with higher premiums, lost coverage, and rising medical debt as Washington gridlock hardens.
Driscoll, who is currently the chairman of UConn Health after a 25-year career in health care including a previous position as Walgreens Boots Alliance president, said the policy reversal amounts to “a self‑inflicted wound” that will push costs up for both low‑income families and the affluent professionals who thought they were insulated.
Driscoll cited CBO estimates that if Congress allows the subsidies to lapse, premiums will jump for roughly 24 million marketplace enrollees, and around 2 million people will lose coverage entirely in the near term.“You don’t solve higher health care costs with fewer people getting insured,” he told Fortune, arguing that the system will simply reprice risk and shift costs onto everyone else. “Whenever you reduce coverage at the bottom, everybody pays more in the middle.”Enhanced premium tax credits, introduced during the pandemic and extended through 2025, have helped double marketplace enrollment and kept average subsidized premiums under about $900 a year. When they expire, KFF News projects a roughly 114% increase in average premium payments for subsidized enrollees in 2026. Older adults and rural residents would be especially exposed, with KFF also warning that adults ages 50 to 64 could see average premium hikes of 75% or more.
Driscoll argued that the real story is a giant cost shift from government to households and employers, driven by simultaneous Medicaid cuts, work requirements, and subsidy rollbacks. When people lose coverage, he notes, they “don’t stop getting covered by the health care system.” Instead, they show up later and sicker, so hospitals and insurers respond by raising prices to anticipate uncompensated care.
When you consider that this is being done to “effectively subsidize a tax deduction for millionaires and billionaires, that’s going to shift health care costs to all of us when people lose coverage,” he added, referring to the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that extended President Donald Trump’s previous tax cuts and introduced new ones... (our emphasis)
The other heinous element in this is that the rotted out Republican Party cannot stand to have the Democratic Party get credit for helping Americans get affordable health insurance (or credit for any other positive improvement in their daily life, thanks to competent governance -- think Medicare, Social Security, minimum wage, etc.). But apparently the cultists are willing to commit political suicide in order to achieve a pyrrhic victory over the hated Democrats and the affordable health care named after a popular Democratic president.
According to a Kaiser Family Foundation poll, half of Republicans and 76% of independents want the tax credits extended. (click to enlarge):
KFF's Larry Levitt tells us a basic difference between the Democrats' ACA extension bill and the Republicans' establishing "health savings accounts" is who would be better off under each:
“There are a small number of people who would be better off under the Senate Republican plan, and it would cost the taxpayers less,” Levitt said. “In general, the Senate Democratic plan, while it would cost the federal government more, would make coverage more affordable for a larger number of people.”
No surprise there. The Republican "plan" is essentially Potemkin village health insurance, a facade of health insurance geared for people who don't use much or who want to use health savings account money to (wait for it) invest in the stock market or in bonds. The Republican sabotage of the ACA would mean no affordable health care for millions and higher costs for everyone. But, they'll get their millionaire and billionaire tax cuts paid for!
(Cartoon: Jen Sorensen, The Nib)
Real estate deal maker Steve "Dim Philby" Witkoff, Russia's the Malignant Fascist's envoy for capitulation peace talks with Russia, will be meeting this weekend with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and European leaders who are pushing back against the MF's pro-Putin positions for ending the conflict. NBC News reports on the latest move:
"Witkoff has spearheaded talks with Ukraine and Russia since President Donald Trump took office in January, but multiple high-level meetings between the U.S. and the two warring nations have yet to produce results as disagreements remain over the content of a peace plan.
Trump, who has pushed for a deal to be in place by Christmas, has signaled that his patience is running thin.
European leaders have focused on how to support Ukraine in the event of a peace deal, with talks ongoing over security guarantees and funding. But long-time American allies in Europe have struggled to balance the mounting pressure from Washington with their reluctance to give in to Russia’s hard-line demands." (our emphasis)
Witkoff and his sidekick, MF son-in-law Jared Kushner, have clearly been co-opted by Russian thug Putin, who's offering lucrative business "deals" (e.g. bribes) for Russian resources in exchange for betraying Ukraine and its suffering people. They can be expected to take the Kremlin's side when pushed. Meanwhile, Russia has no sign of reducing demands or its daily and nightly bombardment of Ukrainian cities and infrastructure:
"The issue of ceding territory remains a major sticking point in negotiations, and Russian President Vladimir Putin last week reiterated his goal to take eastern Ukraine 'by force' unless his unwavering demands are met.
Zelenskyy said there was still no common understanding on the land issue and that Ukrainians should vote on any territorial concessions in a referendum.
Russia has continued its bombardment of Ukraine as talks continue. Ukraine's southern port city of Odesa and the surrounding region suffered major blackouts on Saturday after a large overnight Russian attack on the power grid across the country."
The MF is in a big hurry to get any kind of a deal in place, not to save lives as he's said, but to begin the process of lifting sanctions and opening business with the Russian empire that would benefit not only Putin and his oligarch coterie, but the MF and his own oligarch coterie in the U.S. We can envision Witkoff and Kushner pitching mineral extraction and land development deals before the ink is dried on any "peace" agreement. These are the last people on Earth that should be involved in negotiating what amounts to Ukraine's future, and our European allies know it.
Japanese vlogger Mei is back with a look at Fall in Shiga, a prefecture around Kyoto. Visits to multiple temples and shrines, punctuated by looks at local architecture, the natural beauty of the area, local cuisine, a library, and much more. An always peaceful, relaxing way to start a Saturday morning.
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(Ratt, caglecartoons.com)
(John Darkow, Columbia Missourian)
(Mike Luckovich, Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
(Paul Duginski, caglecartoons.com)
(Matt Davies, Newsday)
(Nick Anderson, Raw Story)
(John Deering, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)
(Clay Jones, claytoonz.com)
(Clay Bennett, Chattanooga Times Free Press)
(David Rowe, Financial Review, Australia)
(Walt Handelsman, The Times-Picayune, New Orleans)
(Adam Douglas Thompson, The New Yorker)
" ... Trump has instituted a strictly pay-for-play government whereby the people and companies with the most money and least morals are rewarded. Billionaire donors are indeed seeing their fortunes rise, but getting neat tips that possibly allow them to do a little light insider trading is not actually free market capitalism either.
It is, however, pretty much what oligarchies look like. A country designed to make the richest even richer, but only if those rich people play ball with our strongman leader. A country where nearly everyone else is locked out of upward mobility. A country where international relationships are useful only insofar as they line the pockets of the superrich.
Perhaps that’s why the only real praise for this National Security Strategy has come from Russia. As Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov explained, the document is 'largely consistent' with Moscow’s vision and Russia considers it 'a positive step.'
Well, at least someone does." -- Lisa Needham, Public Notice on Substack, summing up the Malignant Fascist regime's "National Security Strategy," that's yet another reason why America is one of "the baddies" now, along with Russia, China, and all the other tinpot authoritarian regimes in the world. Please take time to read her whole article and share it.
Several media outlets are reporting a bizarre and troubling relationship with the mentally ill Malignant Fascist's youngest son, Barron, 19, and convicted sex trafficker Andrew Tate and his "team." From The New Republic's account of the New York Times report:
"Andrew Tate, the self-avowed misogynist and accused sex trafficker with a massive online following, has a powerful ally in the White House: Barron Trump.
The college-aged Trump has been building a steady bromance with the woman-beating influencer since at least 2024, the pair’s mutual friend Justin Waller told The New York Times [subscription required].
Tate and his brother Tristan are under criminal investigation in several countries related to their web cam business, facing accusations of sex abuse and human trafficking. The pair allegedly trafficked more than 30 women in Romania and Britain. Andrew Tate, who has amassed a following of millions of teenage boys and young men while calling himself the “king of toxic masculinity,” also stands accused of raping and beating a minor in Romania.
But those sordid details weren’t enough to keep the young Trump at bay. Waller, who proudly described himself to the Times as the “third [Tate] brother,” claimed that Barron had grown his relationship with Tate while nudging his father’s social media-based presidential campaigning efforts towards the podcasting manosphere.
As part of that, Waller was invited to a dinner Barron hosted at Mar-a-Lago in the spring of 2024. The two called “each other degenerate names,” discussed Trump’s potential running mates, and mutually agreed to join another guest’s podcast together, reported the Times." (our emphasis)
There's more of this report at the link, and it's worth reading.
The fact that young master Trump would be permitted to engage with Tate, Waller and their circle is perverted, but perhaps not surprising given the MF's own sordid history as a misogynist and sexual predator. While Melanie Melania Trump is often portrayed as being fiercely protective of her son, it appears that she let this budding relationship slip by. Again, perverted.
(photo: Tate and his friend via RT)
The Epstein files coverup / let the files flow! --
BREAKING: House Oversight Democrats just release a small batch of 95,000 photos received from the Epstein estate. Images include: Donald Trump, Steve Bannon, Woody Allen, Larry Summers, Bill Clinton, Bill Gates. Redactions have been made by the Committee.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 10:15 AM
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Garcia: "Some of the other photos that we did not put out today are incredibly disturbing"
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar.com) December 12, 2025 at 10:32 AM
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Ballsack buddies, Steve Bannon and Jeffrey Epstein
— The Steward Party (@stewards.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 11:20 AM
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A: Pam Bondi Q: Who was Florida’s Attorney General when Jeffrey Epstein was actively involved in pedophilia, child pornography and sexual assault, while operating from Palm Beach, Florida?
— LNuosce (@lnuosce.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 11:21 AM
I could have gone my entire life without seeing a Trump-branded condom, but here we are.
— Andy Carvin (@acarv.in) December 12, 2025 at 11:08 AM
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— Carl Quintanilla (@carlquintanilla.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 12:19 PM
How much fascist ethnic persecution will Americans tolerate? --
Trump's racist tirades toward Somalis are a test of how much fascist ethnic persecution the American people will tolerate, says @saletan.bsky.social. So public backlash and sinking polls (Trump at 38% on immigration!) are heartening. On the pod Will is so good today: newrepublic.com/article/2043...
— Greg Sargent (@gregsargent.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 8:15 AM
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WHILE YOU WERE SLEEPING A federal judge BLOCKED feds from RE-DETAINING Kilmar Abrego Garcia this morning at an immigration check-in. A quick thread storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
— Adam Klasfeld (@klasfeldreports.com) December 12, 2025 at 8:11 AM
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AI oligarchs trying to influence election for Trump/ Republicans --
1. The AI industry has kicked off a $100 million+ scheme to influence the 2026 midterm elections While they claim it's a "bipartisan" effort, it has all the markings of a campaign to benefit Trump and the GOP Let's review
— Judd Legum (@juddlegum.bsky.social) December 11, 2025 at 9:18 AM
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Trump did that! --
Foreign tourism is only a $155 billion industry in the U.S. I'm sure Disney, Las Vegas, and New York will not notice the lack of foreign tourists, or the million jobs the industry supports.
— Ambassador Greg Delawie (@gregdelawie.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 7:43 AM
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The annals of election theft: 25 years ago today --
25 years ago today, SCOTUS elected George W Bush president of the United States by blocking completion of a voting canvass in Florida. A subsequent canvass by the Associated Press showed that Bush's rival, Al Gore, had won the race in Florida—and thus the contest for the presidency—by 700 votes.
— Scott Horton (@robertscotthorton.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 12:36 AM
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Your next Epstein files distraction, war in Venezuela (Happy? Friday!) --
Donald Trump begins war with Venezuela youtu.be/w1dm7Aio7pw?...
— J-L Cauvin (@jlcauvin.bsky.social) December 10, 2025 at 5:56 PM
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The great Raul Malo, singer/ guitarist/ songwriter of The Mavericks as well as a solo artist, passed away on December 8, succumbing to cancer at the way- too- young age of 60. Malo co- wrote the two songs we're featuring today with Kostas Lazarides, "What A Crying Shame" (a live version at the BBC from 1994), and "Here Comes The Rain," where his 12-string Rickenbacker guitar and what's been described as his "velvety baritone" are on display. Great memories from him through the years. What a crying shame. R.I.P.
A new AP-NORC poll finds that the public is noticing higher prices for a range of items, forcing them to cut back on dolls and pencils basic goods and Christmas gifts. It's a threat to the lying Malignant Fascist for the mid-term elections, as he continues to claim that the economy is going great (for him and his cronies). From the Associated Press:
"The vast majority of U.S. adults say they’ve noticed higher than usual prices for groceries, electricity and holiday gifts in recent months, according to the survey from The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research.
Roughly half of Americans say it’s harder than usual to afford the things they want to give as holiday gifts and similar numbers are delaying big purchases or cutting back on nonessential purchases more than they would normally.
It’s a sobering assessment for the Republican president, who returned to the White House in large part by promising to lower prices, only to find that inflation remains a threat to his popularity just as it did for Democrat Joe Biden’s presidency. The poll’s findings look very similar to an AP-NORC poll from December 2022, when Biden was president and the country was grappling with higher rates of inflation. Trump’s series of tariffs have added to inflationary pressures and generated anxiety about the stability of the U.S. economy, keeping prices at levels that many Americans find frustrating." (our emphasis)
According to the poll, a whopping 68% of the public says the economy is "poor." The MF's rating of the economy as "A +++++" in a recent interview comes across as both out of touch and deceitful. If you're a billionaire grifting off of crypto, collecting bribes from domestic and foreign parties, and selling trinkets with your name emblazoned on them to rubes, then the economy looks good. For the rest of us, nah.
"Can we get some acetylene torches over here to cut that beam off?" (Click to enlarge)
The Malignant Fascist has had a very bad day:
Trump strikes out again on Letitia James indictment
A grand jury declined for a second time in a week to re-indict New York Attorney General Letitia James on Thursday in another major blow to the Justice Department’s efforts to prosecute the president’s political opponents.
The repeated failures amounted to a stunning rebuke of prosecutors’ bid to resurrect a criminal case President Donald Trump pressured them to bring, and hinted at a growing public leeriness of the administration’s retribution campaign.
A grand jury rejection is an unusual circumstance in any case, but is especially stinging for a Justice Department that has been steadfast in its determination to seek revenge against Trump foes like James and former FBI Director James Comey. On separate occasions, citizens have heard the government’s evidence against James and have come away underwhelmed, unwilling to rubber-stamp what prosecutors have attempted to portray as a clear-cut criminal case.
A judge threw out the original indictments against James and Comey in November, ruling that the prosecutor who presented to the grand jury, Lindsey Halligan, was illegally appointed U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia...
The revenge and retribution tour is on its last breath.
Indiana rejects Trump's redistricting pressure, again
President Donald Trump’s furious effort to force Indiana Republicans to adopt a new congressional map designed to eliminate the state’s only two House seats held by Democrats failed on Thursday after enough Republican state senators voted against it. The final vote was 19-31.
Trump’s failure in Indiana is a huge loss for his bid to rig the House by forcing GOP-run states to engage in unprecedented mid-cycle gerrymandering to eliminate as many Democratic-held seats as possible ahead of the 2026 midterms. Democrats have fought Republicans to a draw after California matched Texas by redrawing the lines of five House seats and likely blocked a Missouri map that eliminated one Democratic seat.
No state had faced as much pressure to enact a new mid-cycle congressional map to erase seats currently held by Democrats than Indiana. Trump pressured lawmakers with promises of backing primary challenges if they bucked him. Vice President JD Vance made multiple trips to the state capitol to cajole GOP lawmakers. The increasing pressure also led to a spat of serious violent threats against the GOP lawmakers who did not support redistricting.
The pressure from the White House and the violent threats escalated after the Indiana Senate adjourned the first special session on redistricting called by Gov. Mike Braun, a Republican, in November. At the time, Senate President Pro Tem Rodric Bray, a Republican, declared that his party did not have the votes to pass the map....
We won't repeat the threats the Malignant Fascist and his fascist supporters made to fellow Republicans. They're of a kind with the MF's threats and slurs against others who stand in his way.
Trump's union-busting temporarily foiled
Several Republicans joined their Democratic colleagues in voting Thursday to block President Donald Trump from stripping federal workers of their union rights, a rare bipartisan rebuke of the White House by the Republican-controlled House.
The measure, put forth by Reps. Jared Golden (D-Maine) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), would undo an executive order Trump signed earlier this year nullifying collective bargaining agreements covering up to 1 million workers. It passed, 231 to 195, with 20 Republicans in support.
The legislation is unlikely to go anywhere in the GOP-controlled Senate, but its success in the House shows some moderate Republicans don’t support Trump’s unprecedented union-busting at federal agencies...
The MAGAt Republican party/ cult is cracking up. One special election after another where Democrats have won / greatly overperformed might be affecting some of the saner members of the coalition of clowns that it's in their self- preservation interests to occasionally buck the MF.
They can run, but they can't hide from the coming blue wave.
BONUS:
Trump threatened Indiana Republicans that if they didn't do what he wanted, he'd block all federal funds to their state but they ignored his threats and told him to pound sand. Take notes, college presidents.
— Kevin M. Kruse (@kevinmkruse.bsky.social) December 12, 2025 at 10:02 AM
(Photo: "Grrrr... Trump mad!" /David Becker, Reuters)
(click on images to enlarge)
(Ruben Bolling, gocomics.com)
(Jack Ohman, Tribune Content Agency)
(R.J. Matson, CQ/Roll Call)
(Jimmy Margulies, King Features)
(Bill Day, caglecartoons.com)
(Rick McKee, caglecartoons.com)
(Bill Bramhall, New York Daily News)
(Dave Granlund, politicalcartoons.com)
(David Horsey, The Seattle Times)
(Dave Brown, The Independent, UK)
(Peter Steiner, @plsteiner)
