Bill Clinton – mackaycartoons

Saturday October 15, 2016

October 14, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Saturday October 15, 2016

Donald Trump’s problem isn’t a conspiracy. It’s him.

This has been a bad week for Donald J. Trump. But what shouldn’t be lost is that it’s been a bad week because of Donald J. Trump.

That’s not how Trump sees it, of course. In his wild, conspiratorial speech yesterday, he blamed a “concerted, coordinated, and vicious attack” by the media and the Clinton campaign. He explained that his campaign represented an “existential threat” to “those who control the levers of power in Washington” and “the global special interests,” and it was their counterattack that was behind his current troubles. If he loses, he said, it will be because the system is “rigged.”

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The only person who doesn’t know what’s gone wrong for Trump’s campaign, it seems, is Donald Trump.

None of Trump’s errors were forced. None of his problems were out of his control. He wasn’t buffeted by bad economic news, or a staffer who said something dumb on television, or a change in geopolitics that undercut his campaign.

Instead, the last week has been driven by three characteristics that are purely Trump’s: his absence of impulse control, his overwhelming desire to be and to seem dominant, and his tendency to lash out counterproductively and personally when attacked. (Continued: Vox)

Friday July 29, 2016

July 28, 2016 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Friday July 29, 2016

Donald Trump Again Praises Putin’s Leadership, Saying It’s Better Than Obama’s

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Donald J. Trump called President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia “a better leader” than President Obama, offering the praise in an interview with “Fox and Friends” on Thursday, just a day after saying he hoped Russian intelligence services had successfully hacked Hillary Clinton’s email.

Live sketch of Clinton’s acceptance speech

Asked about comments he had made Wednesday at a news conference in Florida, where he said, “Putin has much better leadership qualities than Obama,” Mr. Trump reiterated his views in slightly starker terms.

“I said he’s a better leader than Obama,” Mr. Trump said. “I said he’s a better leader than Obama, because Obama’s not a leader, so he’s certainly doing a better job than Obama is, and that’s all.”

Mr. Trump also tried to walk back, in part, comments he made Wednesday about Russia hacking Mrs. Clinton’s emails — an extraordinary moment in which the Republican nominee basically urged Russia, an adversary, to conduct cyberespionage against a former secretary of state.

“Of course, I’m being sarcastic,” Mr. Trump said in the interview taped Wednesday that aired Thursday morning. “But you have 33,000 emails deleted, and the real problem is what was said in those emails from the Democratic National Committee. You take a look at what was said in those emails, it’s disgraceful. It’s disgraceful.”

Debate Night, Sept 26, 2016

Mr. Trump seemed to be conflating the roughly 30,000 emails on Mrs. Clinton’s private server during her time as secretary of state, which her lawyers deleted as personal, and the roughly 20,000 emails Democratic National Committee emails that had been hacked.

Mr. Trump’s comments Wednesday about Russian hacking set off a firestorm of criticism, and his efforts to recalibrate his remarks began just hours after he looked into a bank of television cameras and declared, “Russia, if you’re listening, I hope you’re able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.”

Mr. Trump posted on Twitter on Wednesday that he was simply urging Russia — if it had indeed hacked Mrs. Clinton — to hand her emails over to the proper authorities. “If Russia or any other country or person has Hillary Clinton’s 33,000 illegally deleted emails, perhaps they should share them with the F.B.I!” Mr. Trump wrote. (Source: New York Times)

Tuesday November 18, 2008

November 18, 2008 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday November 18, 2008

Bill’s Overseas Ties Entangle Hillary

Former President Bill Clinton’s globe-trotting business deals and fundraising for his foundation sometimes put his activities abroad at odds with Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and could cause complications if President-elect Barack Obama picks her to be secretary of state.

Bill Clinton’s fundraising for his presidential library and charitable activities also could pose additional headaches for his wife if he selects her for the job.

Since leaving the White House in early 2001, Bill Clinton has raised at least $353 million for the William J. Clinton Foundation, which finances his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark., as well as his global anti-AIDS initiative and other charitable efforts.

The former president has raised money overseas beyond the Chinese Internet company’s contributions: from the Saudi royal family, the king of Morocco, a foundation linked to the United Arab Emirates and the governments of Kuwait and Qatar, The New York Times reported last year.

His foundation reaped millions of dollars from Canadian mining tycoon Frank Giustra, and Clinton accompanied Giustra on a 2005 trip to Kazakhstan, whose human-rights record Hillary Clinton had criticized, the newspaper reported. The pair met with Kazakhstan’s president, and within days Giustra’s company landed preliminary agreements giving it rights to buy into uranium projects controlled by a Kazakhstan state-owned enterprise. Clinton said he had nothing to do with the deal. (Source: Yahoo News)

Tuesday January 29, 2008

January 29, 2008 by Graeme MacKay

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, Editorial Cartoonist, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday January 29, 2008

Bill Clinton the Albatross

The message from South Carolina Democrats last Saturday could not have been clearer: Bill Clinton is on the verge of ruining his wife’s campaign.

Or even if she survives the primary, she has already been weakened for November and the general election, especially if the Republicans nominate John McCain.

If you think that verdict is too harsh, Clinton got just over 25 percent of the vote. Yes, Barack Obama had the advantage of a huge African-American vote, but her showing was still dismal.

The former two-term president was all over the Palmetto State, blistering Obama and the press for their treatment of his wife.

With the Clintons, when they are wrong, it is always someone else’s fault, never theirs.

Bill Clinton is making George H.W. Bush and other former presidents look good. The elder Bush campaigned for his son, but positively and not ripping Al Gore or John Kerry. Other former presidents of both parties have been restrained and largely remained on the sidelines. But not Bill Clinton.

A group of 23 knowledgeable Democrats gathered last Saturday. The group was divided in support for Clinton, Obama, and John Edwards. Only one person was not highly critical of Bill Clinton’s performance; some were rather vociferous about it. (Source: US News and World Report)

January 6, 2008

January 6, 2008 by Graeme MacKay

It’s my first drawing of Barack Obama. Up to the point previous to the results of last week’s Iowa primary, I observed the 2008 U.S. Presidential election campaign with only luke warm interest. Despite the fact that the White House administration will be an entirely new one in just over 12 months, I simply couldn’t invest much time paying attention to the rather lengthy slate of candidates for each of the 2 political parties without yawning.

All of a sudden, out of the blue, just as the holiday decorations are packed away, we’re into Primary season, with the promise of a bunch of pretty exciting duels over the course of the next 8 weeks. A lot of attention has been paid to the come-from-no-where win by Mike Huckabee in the Iowa Republican race. But I doubt his momentum will last and I expect a hodgepodge of wins among John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Guliani between now and several Primaries from now that’ll only turn glazing eyes towards a far more interesting race among the candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. As my cartoon suggests the race so far for Democrats has evolved for the time being as a race between the experience of Hillary Clinton to the promise of change with Barack Obama. It’s a choice between dynastic rule by families in the U.S., or change. Change means just one thing, whereas Hillary’s experience qualifier has a big negative connotation with reminders of Bubba running the country with pizza boxes strewn about the oval office. This goes beyond the tired old question of whether or not America is ready for a woman President, or even an African American one. If Democrats and voters can get over those outdated hang-ups they’ll at least save themselves from electing some boring guy like John Edwards as President.

At this point I see 4 candidates going anywhere once the Primary process is over – Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for the Democrats, and Mitt Romney and Rudy Guliani for the Republicans. If I was a betting man, I’d wager a final race between Obama and Romney. (Why? Hillary is yesterday’s man, Edwards is dull, McCain is too old, Guiliani is too liberal, Huckabee is too religious — Romney is the bridge between evangelical Christians and moderates, and Obama is simply not Jesse Jackson.)

FEEDBACK

Hopefully this outstanding cartoon will appear in the Star and other Canadian papers as well. It should be in the leading US papers; certainly in New Hampshire ones.
It will be intriguing to see if a happier Hilbill duo emerges next week. While change is desperately needed ,one can only hope it is possible in that corporate/special interest controlled culture that the US seems to be.
Early days.Almost a year to go !!

– Richard Ring
January 7, 2008