Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail 2016

Last month, I kidded a friend that 2016 is The Year Everyone Died Or Sold Out. I figured if I joked about it, it might stop being true. Even though I am well acquainted with Fear and Loathing, this was the point where everyone else got acquainted with them too.

Even I wasn’t mentally prepared for the comedians caving in. That was the final straw for me on social media: well-known comedians abusing their influence by endorsing presidential candidates. Try to conjure an image of George Carlin backing Richard Nixon. You can’t, because Carlin was a brilliant mind with integrity. Entertainers publicly endorse a candidate because their corporate masters told them to, and the ones that do are whores. Straight up. 

Here is the bottom line:

1. I would never accept or endorse a hypocrite criminal for high office.
2. I consider anyone that would to be an utterly despicable hypocrite.
3. I do not believe that my vote or anyone else’s matters in what has been an appallingly corrupted and rigged election.
4. I am fully aware of the legacy of malfeasance the Democratic candidate and her “husband” have perpetrated over the past two decades, and it disgusts me to the level where her face and voice literally make me sick.
5. I have been disenfranchised and angry since the vipers that call themselves Democrats had their convention. They are slavering dogs, because they know their party is in its death throes.
6. I haven’t felt represented as an American since Bernie Sanders was literally knocked out of the running. I will nurse that grudge forever. The bird on the podium will stand as a reminder that the rich shitbags always get their way. That’s the “American Dream” now.

I have a “2016 Shitlist”. It’s full of people who let the Fear get the better of them. The “nation of cowards” led by the biggest coward of all, Eric Holder. People who scolded me, or complained about an opinion I ventured, or a joke I made. People who stood up for a social media network against a human being. People who censored me. People who laughed at me when I was censored. 

I’m making strides to be polite here, but let me state a truth emphatically, and I don’t care if you believe it or not:

For most of 2016, I was “not allowed” to make fun of Hillary Clinton. When I did, my connections to the rest of the world were drastically reduced. Control was exerted by her supporters that included suppressing and censoring me and my work. 

I was harassed online and harangued by Clinton supporters. That’s what the Fear does. Their loathing for Trump and what they believe he represents drove the Left insane. Things got so bad, that in case you didn’t notice, local newspapers barely ran coverage on the two “candidates”. That’s how much angry invective poured in, just at the fucking mention of this farce of an election. That’s why I dropped my communications with other people down to almost zero.

You can’t understand what this experience has been like for an American cartoonist, and for someone who at least maintained some glimmer of optimism for his country. I realized and admitted my folly in supporting Obama, as his many negative connections became clear. I had prayed for the same introspection from other Americans, but the Clintons and Trumps did the expected job of running you all amuck. Pop quiz: what was the last riot or victim of police violence the mainstream media worked you up about? Better reply quick, or someone might think you’re less than virtuous. You fucking vicarious martyrs.

What about the latest media pariah? Isn’t there someone who raped, or didn’t rape, or false-raped, for you to funnel all your pet hates into? Who got away with something you believe they shouldn’t have, that took up all your attention and intellect? Where’s the link you can click to donate and get a special avatar? Where’s the petition you signed? What was it for? Did it even matter?

HOW THE FUCK COULD YOU LET THIS HAPPEN?

I’m telling you; I have no confidence that any part of this election will be legitimate. I don’t care who “wins”: it’s a lie. I saw more people at that Trump rally in February than I’ve ever seen supporting Clinton: combined. I saw Bernie Sanders rallies with over 100,000 people. He was projected to win in a landslide. The 2016 presidential election is a farce and a lie.

American democracy is the sole reason I exist at all. Founding father Ben Franklin is my Shakespeare, and he was the first American political cartoonist. I’m not a predominantly political cartoonist, but politics and cartoons are like peanut butter and jelly. Like my mentors, I came to embrace poets, and they became my personal gods.

I will not go gently into that dark night.
I will rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And I will always march to the beat of a different drum.

I will never allow my pursuit of the American Dream to die. In my view, the Dream isn’t retiring to a mansion and collecting sportscars. It’s knowing the satisfaction of having earned what you have. It’s creating a special place for people to go, where they want to return, and are enlightened by the journey. If this place is in the mind, they can carry it forever, and pass it on for generations. Money is for food and shelter. Conspicuous consumption is for people who lack souls.

At this point I’ve just about said all I have to say on this matter. I know what I know, and I am who I am. You want truth? I gave it to you. Maybe in four years, you’ll have your head straight. I managed to create work while Bush was in office, and I didn’t become destitute and homeless, like I was four years ago under Obama. I got this covered. National Lampoon had its finest years under the most cocksucker presidents.

As for you: one last time. Nulla fiducia. That is Latin for “no confidence”. Do as thou wilt, and to thine own self be true.

Until you decide to be true to yourself and the people you care about, nothing will ever get better.

Enjoy your popcorn.