John F. Kennedy

Tuesday October 22, 2024

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday October 22, 2024

See the animated making-of version here!

Why Americans Tolerating Trump’s Incivility Is a Dangerous Gamble

January 24, 2017

Consider this: A group of children recently asked former President Donald Trump some simple questions on “Fox & Friends.” When asked by a 10-year-old boy from Tennessee to name his favourite president as a child, Trump at first awkwardly offered Ronald Reagan—who was elected when Trump was already 34. But instead of reflecting on Reagan’s legacy or discussing any childhood admiration, Trump veered off into his own trade policies, claiming credit for the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA). As the conversation rambled, he dropped bizarre musings about the Civil War, claiming it “doesn’t make sense we had a civil war,” and somehow linked this to his belief that conflicts like Ukraine or Israel’s war with Hamas would never have happened under his watch.

January 9, 2019

This strange exchange underscores a larger truth about Trump: He exhibits no genuine respect for the office he once held, nor any real grasp of the legacy of his presidential predecessors. If a former president cannot engage thoughtfully with a child’s question about presidential history, it’s no wonder his campaign today offers nothing but spectacle, insults, and grievance politics. Trump’s inability to answer a child’s question without bragging about his trade deals reflects the same indifference that has shaped his chaotic campaign strategy—one focused on division and personal survival rather than governance or public service.

As Election Day looms, Americans face a stark decision: whether to indulge Trump’s theatrics once more, or demand more from their leaders. Trump’s recent rallies look more like circus acts than political discourse. At a Pennsylvania rally, he speculated about Arnold Palmer’s anatomy, attacked Kamala Harris as a “terrible” vice president, and complained that “woke” military officers wouldn’t help him incarcerate his political opponents. His campaign offers no serious policy vision, only grievances and attacks—a test of just how far Americans are willing to go in tolerating this behaviour.

March 26, 2019

Disturbingly, many Americans seem comfortable waiting for some “October surprise”—a twist that will suddenly make sense of Trump’s chaotic campaign. As Bill Maher recently pointed out, this obsession with surprises has become a coping mechanism, allowing voters to avoid confronting the reality of Trump’s behaviour. But the truth is, Trump has shown exactly who he is. There is no new twist coming—just the same divisive rhetoric, insults, and contempt for democratic norms. Waiting for a dramatic shift is like re-watching a bad movie, hoping for a different ending.

What’s truly troubling is how numb Americans have become to the erosion of political standards. As Timothy O’Brien argues, the Republican Party under Trump has abandoned its former values—fiscal conservatism, respect for the Constitution, and civility—in favour of authoritarianism, conspiracies, and macho posturing. What would have been disqualifying behaviour just a decade ago—mocking military officers or delivering vulgar rants on stage—has become disturbingly routine. Americans appear fatigued, overwhelmed by years of scandals and outrage, struggling to muster accountability.

Opinion: Trump Goes All In on Fear and Loathing. Will Voters?

May 11, 2023

While Democrats focus on traditional campaigning—door-knocking, opening field offices, and organizing grassroots volunteers—Trump’s campaign relies on stunts and gimmicks, including the financial backing of billionaires like Elon Musk. Reports suggest that Musk’s PAC, tasked with running ground operations, may have mismanaged canvassing efforts. Meanwhile, Musk’s desperate offer of million-dollar prizes to voters raises both ethical and legal questions. This slapdash approach reflects the deeper truth about Trump: he values power not for public service, but for the protection it offers from legal consequences.

At the heart of Trump’s campaign lies a cynical formula: harness anger and grievance without offering solutions. This fuels division, but it offers no path forward. And yet, many Americans appear willing to tolerate his incivility, dishonesty, and chaos—a dangerous gamble that risks normalizing behaviour unworthy of the presidency. Trump’s political success is not rooted in ideas but in performance art, a show of insults and fear-mongering designed to inflame rather than inspire.

News: Bill Maher On Likelihood Of October Surprise Knocking Trump Out Of Election: “Better Odds Of Another ‘Joker’ Musical”

May 5, 2020

The real danger lies not just in Trump’s rhetoric but in what it represents: a lowering of the standards Americans expect from their leaders. As Arnold Palmer’s daughter once noted, her father had no patience for public dishonesty or rudeness—qualities Trump has elevated into virtues. This election is about more than policy differences; it is a referendum on what Americans will accept in their leaders.

There is no “October surprise” that will absolve Americans of their responsibility. The choice before them is clear: continue down a path of spectacle, fear, and incivility, or reject it in favour of accountability, decency, and truth. The outcome of this election will define not only the future of American democracy but the standards to which all future leaders will be held.

Posted to my new *experimental*  SUBSTACK page. It’s at the early experimental stage (at the time of it’s posting,) and presented in the form of notes as I figure out how to integrate it into my daily routine. Find out what’s swirling in my head as I come up with my ideas.  It’s free and will continue to be, as will this carefully curated WordPress website which I’ve maintained obediently since 2012… until the traditional structure that has sustained me a livelihood collapses on top of me as it has for so many of my peers. Please take a look, and if you want to continue following/subscribe to my work, please subscribe, and thank you!

Donald Trump’s inability to answer even a child’s simple question about his favourite president reflects a deeper problem: his lack of respect for the office he once held and his reliance on performance over substance. How can we be sure that this individual has ventured beyond the shallow depths provided by his speechwriters to engage with the broader context of Presidential and American history? Oh, but that’s his appeal, isn’t it, talking on the same level of the average Joe, broad mindedness entails book smarts, and trivialities best left to pointy headed liberal elites. Leave that soaring Presidentese language to the voice overs of PBS documentaries. As his rallies devolve into vulgar spectacles and personal attacks, Trump’s campaign offers no vision for governance, only grievance and division. While Americans seem resigned to waiting for an “October surprise,” as Bill Maher reminded viewers on his weekend show, the real danger lies in normalizing behaviour that would have been disqualifying in the past. This election presents a critical choice: whether to indulge Trump’s incivility once more or demand accountability, decency, and truth in leadership.

I’ve gotten into the habit of making use of the technology made available when drawing digitally. I’ve been doing these for a few months. Apps make it faster to create and way more easy to add sound effects and music while showing the process I follow when drawing a cartoon. It adds another level to satire that I think takes editorial cartooning to a new level and makes it more interesting, entertaining, and exciting. I probably went overboard with the voiceovers in this clip, but it’s all experimentation, and you are my willing audience…

 

Tuesday June 2, 2020

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Tuesday June 2, 2020

God Bless, and please help, our friend America

It was Justin Trudeau’s late father who, in 1969, coined the best description ever of what it’s like living next door to the United States. “Living next to you is in some ways like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered is the beast, if I can call it that, one is affected by every twitch and grunt,” he said in a speech.

April 29, 2020

Pierre Trudeau probably couldn’t have envisioned what is happening in America right now. Already weak and dazed thanks to poor stewardship, the elephant has become very sick over the past week. It is, in fact, convulsing. Its future is far from certain. 

It’s hard to watch. Even those of us who don’t care for many aspects of America — particularly Donald Trump’s America — feel sorrow and some trepidation.

The immediate crisis is the result of yet another unarmed black man being killed by white police. This time it started in Minneapolis. This time the black man, whose name was George Floyd, died after a cop knelt on his neck for just under nine minutes, while other officers stood by and watched. Floyd’s crime, apparently, was resisting arrest and acting belligerent, quite possibly under the influence. The cop who knelt on Floyd’s neck was charged with third-degree murder and manslaughter. And he was fired. Three other officers have been dismissed but have not yet been charged. 

May 5, 2020

The charged former officer has previously been involved in the fatal shooting of another suspect, and was the subject of 17 complaints during his two-decade police career.

The killing, caught on multiple videos, quickly went monstrously viral. And then all hell broke loose, and continues to do so, as recently as last night. Some demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at police in Philadelphia, Pa., others set fires near the White House and faced tear gas and rubber bullets in Austin, Texas, Atlanta, Ga., and other cities. So far, deaths have been recorded in Kentucky, Detroit, Mich., and Minneapolis. Concerns have been raised about looters and vandals taking advantage of the protests.

It has been bad before when police kill unarmed black people. Tamir Rice was playing in a park. Eric Garner had just broken up a fight. Ezell Ford was walking in his neighbourhood. Philando Castile was driving home from dinner with his girlfriend. Dominique Clayton and Breonna Taylor were sleeping in their beds. But this is the worst in a very long time. Black Americans are 2.5 times as likely as white Americans to be shot and killed by police officers.

November 9, 2016

At times like this, you look to your elected leaders as a stabilizing force. The mayor of Minneapolis and the state governor have been trying. Not Donald Trump though. Rather than try to instill calm and call for unity, Trump went off on state governors during a video conference about the widespread violence. He told them to aggressively target violent protesters. He said “You have to dominate or you’ll look like a bunch of jerks…” He ordered them to seek “retribution”. He counselled aggression, telling the governors “You don’t have to be too careful.” He said of the violence: “It’s a movement, if you don’t put it down it will get worse and worse … The only time its successful is when you’re weak and most of you are weak.”

Presumably, Trump was referring to Antifa, the violence left-wing protest group. It has certainly been active and no doubt is responsible for some of the violence, but the wave is much bigger than that. 


Barack Obama, by contrast, condemned the violence and called for the protesters to come together for peaceful protest and change. Of course, Obama is not in the White House. Trump is. God bless, and help, America. (Hamilton Spectator Editorial)

USA, White House, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, quote, BlackLivesMatter, racism, Donald Trump, white nationalism, bigotry

Letter to the Editor, Hamilton Spectator, Friday June 5, 2020

June 2 editorial cartoon said it all

Thank you Graeme MacKay for this cartoon (Kennedy’s ghost visiting Donald Trump)! It says it all. As someone who was a teenager when Martin Luther King, President Kennedy and then his brother Bobby were assassinated, I was in shock and devastated. The closest the U.S. ever came again to being in that position was when Barack Obama became president. Now we watch and listen to the rhetoric of the most disgusting president ever. Everything presidents Lincoln, Kennedy and Obama, as well as Sen. Kennedy and Martin Luther King, stood for are ignored by today’s “leader.” The election cannot come fast enough.

Gwen Vance, Hamilton

Wednesday January 9, 2019

Editorial Cartoon by Graeme MacKay, The Hamilton Spectator – Wednesday January 9, 2019

Trump doubles down on push for border wall in televised address

U.S. President Donald Trump blamed unauthorized immigrants for killing Americans, taking their jobs and flooding his country with drugs as he doubled down on demands that Congress hand over US$5.7-billion for a wall on the border with Mexico in a nationally televised address.

In a 10-minute Oval Office speech, Mr. Trump tried to rally his base and hold his Republican Party together amid a government shutdown he triggered over congressional refusal to fund the wall.

August 29, 2013

“Some have suggested a barrier is immoral,” Mr. Trump said. “The only thing that is immoral is for the politicians to do nothing and continue to allow more innocent people to be so horribly victimized.”

Democratic leaders on Tuesday rejected the President’s demands, and accused him of unfairly targeting asylum-seekers.

“The women and children at the border are not a security threat,” Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a televised rebuttal, as she accused Mr. Trump of “manufacturing a crisis.” Added Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer: “The symbol of America should be the Statue of Liberty, not a 30-foot wall.”

In his speech, the President described several murders committed by immigrants, lamented the quantities of heroin arriving from Mexico and claimed that “all Americans are hurt” by migrants coming to work in the U.S.

In fact, a study by the libertarian Cato Institute last year found that crime rates among immigrants in Texas – both legal and unauthorized – were lower than those among native-born Americans. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency found that 90 per cent of smuggled heroin went through designated ports of entry such as border crossings, and air or seaports, which means it would not be stopped by a wall.

The President also repeated an assertion that the wall will be paid for by Mexico through the new U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement. The trade pact contains no provision for Mexico to pay for the wall.

Mr. Trump, however, stopped short of declaring a state of emergency that would give him the power to divert money from the military to build the wall. Such a move would likely be met with a court challenge. (Source: Globe & Mail)