Mann is a former Hollywood/Fortune 500 Wunderkind/Creative Director who was lucky enough to escape the ad biz with his integrity and sanity still intact. Well, mostly.
It's the Anti Trump Poster in the Old West Wanted Dead or Alive Style!
It's the Anti Trump Poster if the Old West Wanted him Dead (or Alive), featuring our modern-day #MAGA/mega criminal president. Soon to be seen on post office and police department walls throughout the land—and possibly around the globe!
Well, one can dream, right?
It's less than a month till we are rid of Donald Trump (at least, his foul presence in the people's house), and things are going about as I expected.
Between trying to stage a half-baked, half-assed coup to undo the election he got clobbered in (committing new crimes along the way, naturally) and fretting about the myriad of legal entanglements sure to tie him up in court for years to come, he needs to start thinking about a time in the not too distant future in which he might well be a wanted man.
(NOTE: Be sure to tell Donald that in this kind of "wanted," it's not because most of the public (and that subset of the larger public, women especially) like, admire or are attracted to him. It's NOT a good thing. Given that he's not very bright, and tends to hear what he wants to hear, it's important he understand the distinction here.)
With thoughts of such a blessed day, with Donald on the run from John Law—and while watching TOMBSTONE for the umpteenth time—inspiration suddenly gelled, and hence the artwork was born!
Truth to tell, I've been pondering some kind of Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster (Wanted Dead or Alive for Treason, etc.) art for some time now, but the impulse to do it hit hard as I was preparing the latest #MAGAfiles entry. Why in particular? Well, read the entry for December 21 to fully understand.
Here's a one word clue: coup.
Klik Image to Expand!
#DonTheCon(man) or #DonTheCon(vict)? Donald Trump Poster, Wanted for Treason and More!
My bet is that, if things get hot enough, ol' Donnybrook hightails it to a foreign shore where there's either no USA extradition treaty, amenable locals, or both.
In the meantime, he's just begun the expected pardoning spree, preamble to blanket pardons for his entire crime family, and possibly even himself. But because all things in this universe must eventually attain cosmic balance, he's executing scores of federal convicts in an unprecedented display of unnecessary cruelty (a Donald Trump speciality) to achieve cosmic harmony.
Well, either that or he's just a ginormous suppurating asshole.
Whether this particular state murder-for-pardon gambit works out or backfires remains to be seen. One must never forget the Trump Axiom, for which much historical precedent serves as proof of it's veracity: Everything Trump touches turns to shi*t!
BTW, every claim/assertion made in the Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster is buttressed by facts and strongly supported speculation.
Still, it's just for fun, and on a few minor things here and there, I could end up wrong. For instance, tax evasion, listed on the wanted poster, would seem to be a pretty likely crime in #DonTheCon's CV.
Why? It's pretty well understood that Donald has been receiving millions of rubles from Russia, and very probably washing them too, over a period of decades. This probably explains how his stunningly unprofitable enterprises somehow stay afloat, via an international banking institution known as the world's most friendly bank for criminals and one of dirty money's biggest laundromats. Deutsche Bank, in other words.
Speaking of which, in yet another "interesting coincidence," his long-time private bankers at the firm suddenly resigned today. One might think that it has something to do with the fact that after years worth of court battles, the bank was recently forced to hand over it's Trump-related records to authorities.
But maybe not. Time will tell. So if you take exception to some aspect of my Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster aka my Trump Treason Old West Wanted Poster, try not to blow a gasket, OK?
NOTE: There's some pretty funny, sly lil digs at ol' Donald in this art—if I do say so myself—so I strongly suggest you ZOOM IN in order to see 'em.
The Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster Perfect for Your Jail House Wall. Merch It?
Would you like to see this Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster on merch of various kinds, like a poster, mug, t-shirt or other kind of merch? This "Old West Poster" would be seen everywhere if Wyatt Earp were in charge.
If so, then PLEASE let me know! Leave word in the comment section below and tell me what kind of products you'd like to see.
I am dithering on whether to make this into a poster/wall art ASAP, and other kinds of merch are up in the air.
NOTE: Poster prints will have a signed/numbered option, as well as an option to buy matted and framed. Unless there is YUGE demand, the "limited edition" signed version will be 20-25 prints. Again, if you are interested, PLEASE let me know..
Here's the skinny: setting any piece of art up for actual POD (Print on Demand) production requires hours of work, and I'm not keen to go through all that in order to sell three tees of the damn design. It's just not worth the aggravation.
Finally, perhaps most importantly...
If you find my Anti Trump Poster/Donald Trump Poster amusing, then PLEASE SHARE IT with others!!! Every bit of exposure (and traffic) really helps. Such efforts ARE greatly appreciated!!! .
The #MAGAfiles. It's my little foray into documenting, in graphic form, the horrific improprieties of the #Trump Regime, here at the end of four years of inept despotism and would-be, tin pot, tin foil hat dictatorship. And specifically, the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the effects it will continue to have on us even after the #ManBaby is gone.
Not that I expect he's ever going to be gone. I fear he's going to be in our collective faces, one way or another, for at least several more years to come.
Here at the top of the page I will post the latest #MAGAfiles graphic. While I'd love to update this projekt every day, the reality is that it's simply not going to happen. I don't have the time. That being said, I will try to update it frequently, so please check back in.
NOTE: Data for the #MAGAfiles is compiled from the Covid Tracking Project and various other sites and news sources.
The Latest #MAGAFiles Post
Pandemic? What Pandemic?
The Covid-19 numbers continue to mount inexorably, up 15,000 deaths in seven days. Daily death toll averages 3,000, which means we are experiencing a 9/11 every day now, on average.
To say this is heartbreaking and horrifying doesn't even begin to do justice to this national tragedy, to say nothing of the rest of the world. The United States represents about 4% of the world population, but suffers approx. 20% of the fatalities. What does that tell you? I know what it tells me...
It's only further reinforcement of these #MAGAfiles, and the main, over-arching point. To wit: Donald Trump and his criminal crew are directly responsible for the severity of the Coronavirus/Covid-19 disaster. Period.
Which makes them murderers, doesn't it?
Meanwhile, In Stable Genius Land...
Donald Trump and the #TrumpTrain continues careening off the rails. We've had not one word of even fake concern from the #SuperspreaderInChief in many weeks. It's clear he gives not even the smallest of small shits (not that he really ever did) about the devastation being wrought by Covid-19 across the land. The pandemic is not even a "to do" item on his planner.
(Not that the idiot has a planner, or would follow it if he did)
And condolences to a smarting nation? None. Nada. Nil. Fuggedaboudit. Who got time fo' dat?
What is on his tiny, broken, erratic excuse for a mind—because he's afraid and desperate—is running the biggest con of 'em all. That being, staying in the White House as POTUS when he clearly and unequivocally lost the election!
And why not? All of his other scams have—after a fashion—succeeded.
What does one expect from a sociopath so out of touch with reality, his focus is now entirely on subverting the will of the American people and negating an election—perhaps the single most transparent and responsibly run in history—in which he lost handily?
The "big deal" Covid Response Team, ostensibly "led" by Mike Pence, barely functions at all. It's not clear at all that it's doing anything of even minimal merit at this point. And we just heard that Pence will be "out of town" for the foreseeable future...
Tis the Season for Treason....
Which leads us to the latest outrage, and absolute clear evidence of conspiracy, sedition and even outright treason. Real treason. Not that phony-baloney bullshit Trumplicans like to throw about (since the advent of #Trumpism, everybody who doesn't heave to the party line is by definition a "traitor").
No this ain't no joke. It's the real deal.
The following videos from the great Keith Olbermann broke before most of the mainstream media picked up the story of what I'm calling the Friday Night Coup Do.
Besides Trump, present at the seditious session were Rudy Giuliani, pro-Qanon conspiracy lawyer and all around total nutbag Sidney Powell, long-time pol and Chief of Staff Mark Meadows (who damn well oughta know better), the White House Council and, apparently, a few others. One of whom was the ousted right-wing founder and former CEO of Overstock.com, Patrick Byrne. WTF? And for all I know, the My Pillow guy was there too.
Anyway, so it goes in the tragicomic end stage of the Trump Regime...
#MAGAfiles Musings
Anybody who knows me knows I hate Donald Trump. I stipulate to this, and freely admit that my opinion of him colors my evaluation of him. However, I'm a very objective person, so while I know A) my hatred of Trump would make it harder for me to acknowledge any good he does, B) the simple fact is, he's no good and has done little, if any, good whatsoever.
I mean, this is a guy who has the DOJ, which usually argues for the government and existing law, siding with the plaintiffs before the Supreme Court in an attempt to overturn and undo Obama Care—during a freakin' pandemic!
The 45th President of the United States is pursuing a policy which he knows will injure millions of Americans at a time when, due to his devil-may-care style of "governing" (emphasis on "devil", and definitely not on governing), millions are already in extremis and hurting.
Seriously, need I say more?
(And I could. Pages and pages more. But who has the time/inclination?)
#MAGAfiles: December 15, 2020
New records shattered! The USA surpasses over 300,000 dead for the first time, and averages 2.5 to 3 thousand deaths per day.
Fortunately, the first Pfizer vaccines started going into the arms of front-line workers and those critically in need, even as Trump and his cronies intended to jump the line and inoculate the entire White House staff. Unfortunately, we also learned that Trump—once again proving his wisdom and acumen—did not order enough vaccine to treat even half the country!
How interesting and ironic it is that a group of people who have spent the better part of a year calling the Coronavirus pandemic "a hoax," "fake news" and even worse yet, some kind of Big Lie brought against the President by foreign actors (China), liberals and democrats, or both—and spitting in the eye of science and public health—now want shots.
Suddenly learning shame (or more likely, recoiling from more bad publicity in a year full of it), the White House reversed course on it's "us first" plan, though in typical fashion it did not do so definitively, leaving itself plenty of wiggle room to do so in a very dodgy public statement. The smart bet is that the innoculations are now being conducted in secrecy.
As the Associated Press article said: "The number of dead rivals the population of St. Louis or Pittsburgh. It is equivalent to repeating a tragedy on the scale of Hurricane Katrina every day for 5 1/2 months. It is more than five times the number of Americans killed in the Vietnam War. It is equal to a 9/11 attack every day for more than 100 days."
Jennifer Nuzzo of Johns Hopkins, in the same article, said: "To think now we can just absorb in our country 3,000 deaths a day as though it were just business as usual, it just represents a moral failing."
Without saying in so many words, she is making the same point as these #MAGAfiles. The failing is not ours, it is the nation's so-called "leadership."
Donald Trump and his administration, through it's stunning incompetence, disregard for science and sensible public health practices, willful stupidity and actively malicious behavior (including incessant lying, misrepresentation and deception), is responsible for tens of thousands of deaths—and most likely, in the end, many hundreds of thousands!
#MAGAfiles: December 9, 2020
For the first time ever, the #TrumpVirus kills more than 3000 Americans in a single day. As Jonathan Reiner, Professor of Medicine and Surgery at George Washington University said on December 3: “By this time next week, we are going to be talking about 3,000 deaths a day – that’s 9/11 every single day.” Six days later, on Dec 9, he was right.
#MAGAfiles: December 3, 2020
New single day American records! 2,885 deaths and 100,667 hospital admissions. 276,375 total deaths and 14,216,980 total infections in the USA.
#MAGAfiles Metrics
I mean, we can argue about whether some of his less controversial executive orders were "good" or not, but in the main, he has done nothing of significance to help Joe Sixpack, and plenty to do the opposite. In fact, most of the ones which weren't empty gestures were largely good for big business and bad for the American people; for instance, rolling back environmental protection regs to allow American companies to dump toxic waste in public waters. In fact, the Trump administration has sabotaged environmental protection across the board, undoing, reversing and eliminating over 100 important and consequential laws.
And legislation? Tell me how the YUGE tax break for billionaires helped the average American. Oh yeah. Trickle down. Uh huh. That.
We can argue about his role in vaccine production and Operation Warp Speed—as if any President wouldn't have jumped on such a program—but I think it's safe to say most experts consider his role minimal.
The fact is, Trump had little to nothing to do with getting these vaccines into development, production and distribution, as much as we wishes to take credit for them. Market forces, if nothing else, and cutting edge science (which, generally speaking, he sabotages and defunds) brought about the remarkably rapid development of Coronavirus vaccines.
New biotech made it all possible; the Trump administration had little to do with it. And then, when the vaccines were on the horizon, he couldn't even do a little basic math and order enough vaccine for the whole of the population! In fact, "the great negotiator" managed to let other countries scoop up what could and probably should have been the US supply through sheer stupidity!
Well, what does #ManBaby care? He got the absolute best, most cutting-edge treatment possible, and only cares about his class—you know, the folks willing to pay $200,000/year to be near #DiaperDon.
Which, MAGAts, Trumpers and other cult members—if I need to point this out—DOES NOT mean you!
#MAGAfiles: November 2020 Summary
As of November 2020: 272,270 total deaths and 13,920,038 have been infected. This is an increase of +35,791 in deaths and +13,920,038 infected over October.
#MAGAfiles Morons
I know that Trump and Trumpers want to give the #OrangeMenace credit for the vaccines (even as they vow not to take them), but like the economy he managed to wreck, he tries to take credit for the smarts and hard work of others.
This is nothing new. It's what he's done throughout his whole life.
Seriously, as Jake Tapper of CNN (another coldly objective observer) said of the first Trump-Biden debate—an opinion which could and should properly be applied to the administration across the board—it was "a hot mess, inside a dumpster fire, inside a train wreck."
In my (admittedly caustic) view, the only good thing about being on the #TrumpTrain (long since derailed, set alight and exploding) would be that A) you're dead, so therefore out of your own misery and ours, and B) you won't expose others to Covid-19, because the virus has been purged from your corpse by fire. So yeah, there's that.
Quite seriously, and sad to say, we are now losing thousands of Americans every single day to a disease which never had to be this bad. It never had to be half near this this bad! And it's all on Trump, directly or indirectly.
As of right now, we are on the fast track for 300,000 dead by Christmas and 400,000 dead by the time Biden-Harris take office in January. By the time the pandemic is "under control" (whatever that means), many experts say we're looking half a million dead.
That's more than the total of US casualties in WWII! But hey, we'll have done in one year through incompetence, negligence and stupidity what it took Germany and Japan to do in four. So that must be "winning"—right?
#MAGAfiles: November 29, 2020
USA totals: 256,377 dead and 13,383,373 sick.
#MAGAfiles Measure
Trump's response to Covid-19 has been so willfully indifferent, woefully insufficient and brazenly malicious, future generations of Americans (if there are future generations of Americans) will consider #Trump and his administration to be the standard by which political incompetence and abject viciousness in America is forever judged.
Thankfully, it didn't ever reach the Hitlerian/Nazi outright authoritarian model (which it very likely would have in a second term), but between the white nationalists, the gun-toting MAGA Militias, the neo-Nazis, the Boogaloo Boys, the unrepentant South-Will-Rise-Again pro-Confederacy goons and their KKK brothers, you can sorta see it from here...
To this point, each of the #MAGAfiles graphics has featured a central graphic—The Donald Trump Covid-19 Legacy element. Within it, I list a range of crimes which I believe #CadetBonespurs is probably guilty of. I say "probably," because I'm no lawyer and there's a certain amount of overlap in the terms. But I think the point is made.
If it's not clear, what I'm saying is that I believe President Donald J. Trump willingly chose to do as little as possible for the American people, thereby violating his oath, his sacred duty and the covenant every POTUS has with the public. While no President, no matter how concerned and competent, could have saved every one of us, Trump's toxic combination of inaction and incompetence has cost us tens of thousands of lives and will undoubtedly be in the hundreds of thousands by the time it's all said and done.
I believe he's personally responsible for a significant percentage of American deaths. So call it negligent homicide, manslaughter, mass murder... whatever. IMHO, he and his enablers need to be held to account, prosecuted and convicted.
My fantasy is that Donnybrook ends up celled with Bernie Madoff. One great con man deserves another, right?
Covid deaths aside, there's no telling what, if anything, Trump could be charged with, given that we don't know how tough state and federal prosecutors are going to be. It's unclear, for instance, how aggressively Biden's DOJ is going to go after the #TrumpCrimeFamily and it's associates.
Also, Trump is clearly planning on either A) pardoning himself, or B) resigning before January 20th and having Pence parson him. It's dubious whether the former would work, but everyone agrees the latter would probably stick. One way or another, he's going to try to get himself pardoned, and if successful, this would mean NO FEDERAL PROSECUTIONS could be launched against him.
I somehow think the Founding Fathers never meant the pardon power to be a presidential "get out of jail free" card.
Anyway, I wish I'd started the #MAGAfiles sooner, but it is what it is. I encourage you to weigh in, and please, share, share, SHARE!
I've hated Donald J. Trump for years, and Kollection Trump should prove it (for anyone who has a doubt).
I disliked him and thought he was a conman and a crook from long before that fateful day he descended from the gold plated on-high of Trump Tower, to the roar (OK, mildly excited cheers) of a paid crowd in order to tell us Mexicans are rapists and criminals, we're going to have a 2000 mile long Great Wall to keep them out (that they're going to pay for) and only he—the Great Donald—could save us from a bleak future, and Make America Great Again.
But it wasn't until he was actually running for president that I grew to truly loathe him, and with every passing day, those antipathic feelings only grew. And even now, as the End is Near, with every insane, incendiary, insulting tweet and abject lie, these feelings only grow all the more.
Sorry, Don.
Kollection Trump: Donald Trump Covid-19 Legacy–The MAGA Files
A long time ago... like four years ago (gah!)... I thought I could and should do some public interest graphics on the life and career of the "stable genius"—none other than our brand spanking* new POTUS, Donald J. Trump. I called it the "Trump Files"—or T Files for short.
I began the project and it quickly got out of hand. I mean, way, way, way out of hand. What I thought would be half a dozen or so infographics quickly metastasized into dozens, and then continued to grow in scope and complexity.
With every rock I turned over, I found more scandalous material that I felt should be added to the series for context. Between the research and writing alone, what I had thought would be a day or so project started to stretch into days...
And rapidly became exhausting. It was just too much. Then, as if often the case, some paying projects came along and that was pretty much was the end of that.
Sigh.
What I should have done is follow my own advice, the very thing I used to tell my staffers when a big project seemed overwhelming; break it down into smaller chunks. Eat the elephant one bite at a time. But, I confess, sometimes you get so close to something you can't see out of the hole you've dug for yourself. Anyway...
Cut to 2020, nearly 2021.
*With a rolled up magazine applied across vast, flabby white butt cheeks, of course.
The Worst President in Ever is about to exit the main stage of history, and I find myself long past overtaken by time and events. Even if I had the time now (I don't) to revive that long abandoned T Files project...
Well, the words "Who cares?" come to mind!
But even as Trump goes (carping and whining, of course), he is guaranteed to remain front and center in our collective consciousness and our reality because A) he is, by nature, one of those "gifts" that keep on giving, B) he is bound to be in the news for some time to come because, most experts believe, he has a nearly endless array of legal entanglements awaiting him, and C) the Covid-19 pandemic will still be maiming and killing us long after he's gone. And, to my mind, he's personally responsible for about 80% of it.
No, Trump didn't create the Coronavirus problem—it was going to plague (pun intended) any President, regardless of name or party affiliation—but thru his willful ignorance, utter incompetence, sociopathic maliciousness and syphilitic madness, he has made it 1000% worse than it had to be.
I am and have been freakin' outraged by Trump's baleful actions, carelessness, laziness and reckless prevarications. I should have done something long since. But I think it's really important to remind each and every one of us what he hath wrought.
Hence, the MAGA Files are born. My plan, such as it is, is to update the graphic every few days, so that those paying attention can follow the "progress" of this horrifying disease which, I hope and pray, will forever and henceforth be known as Trump's Disease.
A more fitting tribute to his memory I could not have conjured up myself.
Kollection Trump: The T-Shirts & Merch
Back in 2015, I thought it was a sure bet that I'd make a fortune with my caustic and brutally humorous anti Trump t-shirts and such. I mean, for every idiot who loves #MangoMussolini, there's two who hate him.
Unfortunately, what I learned the hard way is that while people love to buy tees to tell the world who they are and what they love, they aren't so keen to own or wear duds that are the opposite.
I also think that, in the extremely bifurcated polity of modern day Amerika, it takes real guts to wear anti Trump gear, because there's a genuine and real fear that some lunatic Trumper will go off at sight of anything calling into question the infallible greatness of The Donald.
In any event, I did sell a fair amount of shirts, but hardly enough to write home about—or retire on. I also made some vids along the way to promote said shirts. The above is the latest and what is assuredly the last.
It's a pretty cool vid, though. You should watch it.
I supposed I could be wrong, but I doubt that the limited demand for anti Trump gear is going to increase as he fades into (what we hope) will be relative obscurity.
Some of the shirts shown were nuked by Teepublic almost as fast as they went up. You can learn more about that saga over here.
Kollection Trump: The "Lil Donald Trump" Illustrations
The above digital illustration/graphic and the below Donald Trump "cartoons" were created for my good friend K.S. Knight, for his article which he published first on Medium and then on his own site.
Each cartoon addresses a Trumpian myth. We felt this was necessary, because even at the point the article was written, approx. 2 years into the disastrous, calamitous, felonious President Donald J. Trump 24/7 shit show, there were people who continued to believe he is Smart, Slick, a Genius, Modest and a Winner—despite the overwhelming and steadily mounting evidence to the contrary.
Donald Trump – Smart
Donald Trump – Slick
Donald Trump – Genius
Donald Trump – Modest
Donald Trump – Winner
Klik on the above for bigger images.
Kollection Trump: Enter the Trumpenfuhrer
Another piece created for K.S. Knight, author of TRUMP IN HELL.
Many folks live under the assumption that "it can't happen here." They are very often the same people who don't know that Adolf Hitler, while initially made famous by a failed coup (the Beer Hall Putsch), came to power by way of the vote. Yes, he was elected into high office, and from there, seized total power and destroyed the nascent democracy the Germans built after WWI.
On a related note—and this is something everybody should understand and take to heart—everything the Nazis did was legal.Everything. Yes, it was all legal. Under Nazi law, that is. And there is the rub.
Hitler to Trump transformation. Digital retouching (i.e. "Photoshop" wizardry), animated. Trump would like nothing more than to become a modern day Fuhrer.
The Hitler-Trump comparisons are apt, for a wide variety of reasons. The "rule of law" is only as good as the men administering it.
Which brings us back around to Trump, of course. The man who has said on more than one occasion that he plans to be President For Life, just like his buddy Vlad.
He has demonstrated, through repeated demonstrations of his ignorance, indifference and impulsiveness, that he would make a particularly erratic and terrifying dictator.
Donald Trump is the man who puts the dick (albeit a tiny one) in dictator.
Kollection Trump: Art for K.S. Knight
This section contains various pieces of cover/header art for K.S. Knight's articles, as well as promos for his first Amazon book, called QANON & TRUMP EXPOSED (QTE).
Like so much of Knight's work, QTE was way ahead of it's time, and so therefore languishes on Amazon, ignored and only reviewed by a few idiot MAGAts and Qult members. But Knight showed that Qanon was an incredibly stupid scam even back in 2017, long before the mainstream (or even alternative) media got interested.
One of the great Q-related ironies here is that Donnybrook clearly has no idea who or what Q is. It's obvious if you've watched his behavior once Qanon signs began showing up at TrumpWorld rallies.
He's even been asked a few times about Qanon by reporters, and from the slightly befuddled look on his face to the awkward ad-libbing he does to attempt to cover up his ignorance (which in itself proves he really is clueless on the subject, since he doesn't even have a good "cover story" at the ready), there's no doubt he has no idea about his supposed role as Our Savior From the Deep State.
The ManBaby, American Hero
Yeah, that's right. Our resident high-functioning White House moron is actually, in the deeply deluded eyes of Qanon adherents, a nonpareil genius playing 9th dimensional chess against the evil baby-raping cannibal vampire cabal secretly running the USA.
Oh yeah.
You know, that exclusive blood-soaked flesh-ripping club which includes among it's many members not just each and every liberal and Democrat across the land (presumably, the rank and file too), but such famous figures as Tom Hanks and his wife, the entire Obama family, Oprah Winfrey, and presumably, Jill and Joe Biden as well.
This deranged conspiracy theory/belief says far more about Trump's followers than it does about The Donald.
What I'm not clear how many of the Biden grandkids are either A) lucky enough to have survived the ravenous depredations of their elders, or B) are being groomed as the next generation of vampires.
As they say on the interwebs: SMFH.
Kollection Trump: The Donald vs. The Dyke Feud
It seems like a gazillion years ago, but there was a time when Donald F'n Trump was just an ignorant, self-promoting, obnoxious, evil shit who was mainly a danger to himself.
No more.
Sigh.
Simpler times.
Though I was making the transition from mainstream marketing to entertainment advertising at the time, I rarely paid any attention to pop culture and never watched THE APPRENTICE (other than bits and pieces of it here and there).
However, for some reason I knew about Donnybrook.
Perhaps this was due to his infamous and epic business failures.
What Dad and I Thought
Following Donald's fabled Atlantic City fiascos, I think word even reached West Coast business banking circles, within which my father was a dues-paying member, that Donald J. Trump was a flake and and a fool and a very, very bad risk indeed. Basically, to hear my father tell it, Trump got blackballed by Amerika's banking institutions.
Dad didn't need his favorite after dinner "light reading"—The Wall Street Journal, don't ya know—to tell him Trump was a nincompoop. Business and the economy was one of the few topics my father and I could have discussions about, so The Donald had been a subject of conversation on several occasions.
We both came to feel that Trump was not just a terrible businessman (hardly a worse sin being imaginable to Dad) but a revolting human being as well. To our mutual horror but total lack of surprise, we watched him become a household name and even something of a star.
The Bitch-fest Begins
And then, somewhere along the way (1993), the Trumpster got into what turned out to be a long-running spat with Rosie O'Donnell.
It literally went on for years, and even continues to this day. Check out the complete timeline of "Donald vs. The Dyke" hate for all the gory details.
Because the Trump/O'Donnell spat became such a high-profile, public "thing" it actually penetrated into my reality enough that I took notice. I dunno why, exactly. Probably because, like OJ or the Menendez Brothers, it was a big story in general, but due to local interest, an even bigger one in the L.A. media market. I remember that back in the day, everybody was talking about it.
That it was a big, steaming, stinking hot mess there was no doubt. But as they say in the news biz, "If it bleeds, it leads." And while there was no actual bloodshed in the Trump vs. O'Donnell fracas (except maybe on the set of The View), it had plenty of invective and barbs, and for the TV crowd, that was good enough.
The spat really flared up again in 2006 and 2007, which is why my piece got done. It started off as a lark and ended up as one of the first satirical cultural-reference pieces I ever did. God knows more of what would end up being called Kollection Trump soon followed. I still think it's pretty cool. You?
Anyway, this last entry in Kollection Trump was the first thing I ever did where The Donald had any presence whatsoever in my work. It was made it onto a limited run of t shirts which, if any still exist all these decades later, are collectors items, for sure.
If my anti Trump street cred needed to be established, I'm pretty sure this piece from long ago does it.
UPDATE Dec 7, 2020: The points I make in the following article just got reinforcement from—guess what? Yep, you guessed it—from Twitter itself! Read on to see what I mean...
And In Particular, Douchey Ones!
So I guess you can say it finally happened—Twitter censorship hit yours truly. I finally got spanked by the little bird.
And I say "finally" because while I've had the MannArtt account for many years, it's only recently that I started doing much with it. However, it's become increasingly clear in recent years that all the big social media platforms have lost their collective minds.
I suppose this is appropriate in the Age of Trump, wherein at least 1/2 the American population has lost it's mind by supporting a #WhinyLittleBitch and the Grand Old Perverts' (GOP) politics of bullying and grievance (in other words: we're going to push you around and, win or lose, whine about how unfair things are afterwards).
So while the spanking itself was over quickly and the hurt only lingered on for about a day or so, I couldn't help but wonder... WTF?!?!?
I mean, seriously Twitter? What kind of stupid operation are you running over there? Calling Jack Dorsey! I've seen far more "abusive" tweets from sweet lil ol' grandmothers.
It allows Donald Trump and other public figures to verbally attack and insult anyone and everyone. As for #OrangeMenace, he regularly spews hate and incites violence, as do many of his cretinous followers. And apparently, that's all OK. It's all fine. It's good. No need for Twitter censorship there.
Hell, to state what is probably obvious to anyone paying attention to the social media world, this "fine" tweepy platform has been nothing but a profile in abject cowardice for most of the Trump administration.
#PresidentCheeto has tweeted out countless lies on the platform for years now—including some real humdingers—and yet the platform has only recently begun to not so much "fact check" him as flag his duplicitous and deluded communiques as being disputed.
Talk about far too little, far too late!
It appears that Twitter censorship, much like American justice writ large, has two levels; one for us plebes and one for the rich and powerful types. And boy are they different!
As for controlling what is said and protecting those who need to hear unvarnished truth, what I've said of Twitter could be said about the other social media platforms as well, not to mention the dread MSM (mainstream media) which has, in effect, coddled The Great Gasbag's incessant lying for most of his presidency.
I remember being in shock when they first started calling his lies... well, LIES! It only took 3+ years. Good job, guys.
The Joke That Is American Mainstream "Journalism"
MAGAts and Trumpers have complained endlessly that the mainstream media echosphere (which includes the big social media networks) has been unfair to Donald Trump, while I would argue the exact opposite—and quite honestly, I think the proof is self-evident.
If anything, the supposed "foes" of Trump have handled him and his administration with kid gloves.
It wasn't too long ago that I was ready to leap through the TV to personally bitch slap Wolf Blitzer and Anderson Cooper for listening in silence as one Trump quisling after another spewed absolute tripe and vile deceit on our airwaves (yes, OUR airwaves) and these towering champions of journalistic integrity let them do it, with nary a head tilt.
This goes to several larger issues in American journalism (certainly at the national level). The first of these is that deference to "authority" seems to supersede the entire point of the exercise. I mean, if journos either can't or won't hold pols honest in the moment, interviews shouldn't ever happen. Giving a lier a platform in which to do it, with few or no limits, seems to me to be the exact opposite of what it's supposed to be all about.
In it's studied neutrality—both sides are equal, all views have merit—the American MSM has gone to the opposite corner from yellow journalism, to a place where lies, distortions and outright falsehood are as valid as truth.
The second of these issues, closely related to the first, is access. For TV news people, in particular, it's all about "getting the interview." For the networks themselves, it's all about ratings. For big "gets," like Donald Trump, it's all about spreading the message (lies) as far as possible without hindrance. And in order to keep the big guests happy and continue their access, the big networks and name journos let them do it.
With apologies to Bob Woodward, and the very few "old school" reporters who don't suffer fools gladly, who tell the freakin' truth regardless of what may happen to access in the future.
I personally blame the MSM for the rise and ascent of Donald Trump, because instead of exposing him for the fraud and charlatan he was—with a long and well documented history to draw from—it chose to focus on his outrageous and offensive utterances. Not only did this make for great ratings, it allowed Amerika's lazy journos to completely slack off.
It certainly served Trump very well. Somewhere along the way, he actually figured out that if he slings enough bullshit fast and loud enough, he pushes reporters to cover his words while, more often than not, completely missing his underhanded, shady, self-serving deeds.
Oh, and I say "somewhere along the way," because at some point it hit home for Trump that what was a natural and uncontrolled proclivity—incessant jabber and world-salad bullshit spew—was the single most effective means of throwing serious and earnest reporters off subjects they wanted to pursue and onto nonsense which would both, A) waste their time and B) shield him from scrutiny.
He also figured out that the more outrageous he was, the more incensed and apoplectic "the libs" became, and the more TrumpCult adored him!
The man who once wanted to buy an NFL team and instead settled for the USFL New Jersey Generals—which, like every venture of his own, he soon ran into the ground—learned one lesson that's as true in politics as it is on the football field; there's no defence like a good offence.
Studied moral relativism allows TV journos to give both sides equal time and equal credibility. To use an extreme example, it was as if a death camp survivor and a Nazi prison guard were treated as having equally valid positions—even as the guard accuses the survivor of the being the perpetrator and he the victim.
And research? Fah! Who needs it. Sources? Who needs 'em. Nothing is as interesting or as eyeball-grabbing as the 24/7, all-consuming dumpster fire known as Donald J. Trump.
I personally think American journalism is more or less intellectually and morally bankrupt. It's fitting in a way, since "old form" journalism, as corrupted as it is today, is effectively dead in an industry which, for all intents and purposes, is in it's death throes anyway.
You Ain't POTUS And You Can't Tweet Like One!
So Trump and some of his quisling followers and deranged supporters can flout the rules with apparent abandon and without concern about Twitter censorship. But be some citizen-schmuck who dares to use tough talk and criticize these oh-so-sensitive, delicate lil snow flakes we've unfortunately elected to public office and...
WHAM!
The hammer comes down.
In like... well, almost in real time! It happened that fast.
Wow!
Here's what happened yesterday: I fired off a harsh but in no way threatening tweet to Arizona's miserably incompetent and malicious governor, Doug Ducey (i.e. Douchey).
He had been happily chirping about a night on the town with his lady love while tens of thousands in his state were going without food, facing down eviction, finding themselves on the streets and suffering mightily amid yet another Covid-19 wave—the worst so far, nationwide.
The outrageousness and obnoxiousness of it really pissed me off!
So, I fired off the tweet. You can see it below.
And not more than 30 seconds later...
BLAMMO!
Account locked!!!
Twitter Censorship—We're All About Free Speech, So Long As We Like What You Say
The platform that loves to position itself as a bastion of unprecedented, unimpeded free speech is clearly full of, to use a Bidenism, "malarky."
As you can see from the above, my tweet was flagged for violating the rules against "abuse and harassment." To which I would say...
If this tweet constitutes "abuse and harassment," you must think cuss words constitute a major felony.
I suppose Twitter isn't technically wrong. Calling Ducey "another bootlicking #Trump POS" could be construed as abusive—assuming one is as thin-skinned as an "overly sensitive" five year old. I'm quite sure the man has been called far worse many, many times—even on Twitter!
Ducey is a well-known Republican politician who has, like most of them, sold what there was of his soul for the "rich rewards" of servile obsequiousness to Donald Trump, the man most scholars and historians already characterize as the worst president of all time.
Ducey's dereliction of duty, willful ignorance and moronic decision-making have cost thousands of Arizonans their lives, and will certainly cost many thousands more before the Covid-19 pandemic is done and dusted.
So I'm sorry, but I think what I wrote is actually a charitable characterization of the man, given his latest appallinging insensitive and aloof move. Alas, the Twitter Censorship Gods (i.e. Geeks?) see it differently.
OK then. You win, Twitter.
Still, given what goes on on the platform every day—insults and invective being slung by users at each other—my tweet is positively mild by comparison. Further, it represents a heartfelt opinion and assessment of Gov. Doug Ducey and his legacy. Boo hoo. And it was a one-off—my first and only tweet to the man locals call Douchey.
So, harassment? Hardly. Abuse? Yeah, maybe, a bit. But Douchey is a big boy. Pols get taken to task all the time. Is Twitter in the business of saving the Governor's precious widdle feelings? More to the point, should it even be intervening in the case of public figures—in particular, elected officials?
Ducey NEEDS to hear how voters feel about him, whether he likes their choice of words or not. But apparently, Twitter will no longer allow anyone to say anything tough to a public figure.
Outside of protecting the delicate feelings of these uber-tough-guy delicate-lil-snowflakes, how is this in any way good for freedom of speech and holding public officials accountable?
So, I filed an appeal (for all the good it did me). Note that at all these big social platforms, you never actually interact with a human being. It's not clear whether you're even dealing with one behind the scenes. In this age of AI, you may not be. There is no transparency in the process, no dialog, nobody to talk to.
And all decisions are final.
Twitter Censorship Squad: Protecting Delicate GOP Snowflakes at all Costs!
Is there a "Twitter Censorship Squad" empowered by Jack Dorsey to protect the delicate sensitivities of stupid, venal, tone-deaf GOP politicians?
Does Twitter have a bunch of guys who squat on the accounts of Republican officials just waiting for the inevitable hate tweets? Maybe so, because it happened that fast.
It's probably more likely that one of the words I chose tripped some insidious algorithm, but one has to wonder. I mean, I used the word "die" in there—though not in any way, shape or form threateningly.
Something or somebody, somewhere at Twitter (and by the same token, at Facebook, YouTube, etc.) is INCREDIBLY STUPID! It's either the algo or the zit faced geeks they're hiring to be hall monitors—or maybe a bit of both.
I've seen similar shit on YouTube and Facebook. Use a perfectly legitimate word the algo doesn't like and you're dead. For example, if you were to use the word "nazi" in a video, the YouTube algo just assumes that YOU are pro-Nazi or even an actual Hitlerite, regardless of context (and your video will be demonitized and submarined "appropriately").
It's like the way TeePublic banned my Confascerate Flag tshirt designs. Context doesn't matter. Use a banned word or an image they don't like and that's it; censorship kicks in!
Anyway, after 12 hours my account was restored.
Thank You Sir, May I Have Another?
And I confess, I must thank Twitter for this object lesson in stupidity. First, in the stupidity of corporate giants/social media platforms. Second, in the stupidity of investing anything beyond bare minimum energy in social media platforms.
Combined with recent bad experiences on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram—the hypocrisy, the lack of transparency, the arbitrariness, the total disregard for the time and effort one has put into building out a presence (not to mention making the platform in question money)—this Twitter mini-debacle is an excellent reminder that social media success, if one can even attain it, is fool's gold.
Because it can be automated, I will probably continue to post status updates to social media. I may even weigh in, if I'm bored. But I will not expend much more time and energy there. Why invest in a "partner" who can (and clearly will) treat you like the proverbial red-headed stepchild?
Your (Bad) Social Media Experiences
If you've had similar senseless, stupid, aggravating experiences with any of the social media giants—Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, even Google+ (RIP), or others—please feel free to vent below.
Misery loves company.
UPDATE
It's always great when you get confirmation of your beliefs. And no, I'm not talkin' about marginal "evidence" that simply reinforces one's own confirmation biases. At least in this case, I'm talkin' about evidence you can point to and compare by.
No, I'm talkin', in this case, confirmation by way of fairly irrefutable proof kindly delivered (how nice) by freakin' Twitter itself! Here ya go...
Don Winslow called Florida Governor Ron DeSantis "a piece of shit." This is considerably harsher than what I called Arizona Governor Doug Ducey, yet his tweet wasn't nuked, nor, by all appearances was his account shut down, or any other sanction applied.
Huh. How about that?
How is this not "abuse and harassment" when my tweet was?
Might the difference have something to do with the fact that Winslow is a well-known author and Trump critic, with a large Twitter following, who has made something of a name for himself by doing hard-hitting, tough, no-nonsense infovids, along the lines of Meidas Touch and the Lincoln Project?
Whatever the case, I think it proves my case pretty definitively. And it also proves that on Twitter, as in US society, there are two different standards of treatment by authority figures, depending on how well known and influential you are.
