Dingies In A Dinghy

Trump tacos out on tolls

Donald Trump said the United States would be the “guardian angel” of the Strait of Hormuz and demanded a toll of 20 percent as a protection fee from all ships passing through it.

Trump told Fox News Channel’s “Fox & Friends” on Monday that America was “going to get paid for guarding” the strait, adding that the United States “will be reimbursed, at the rate of 20 percent,” for all cargo that passes through the waters.

But in June, Marco Rubio said, “No country is allowed to charge tolls or fees on an international waterway. That’s existing international law. That’s the way it is in international waterways all over the world, and that’s the way we expect it’ll be here.”

Also, in June, Vice President Couchfucker said, “We believe international waterways should be free of tolls.”

Why is it bad for Iran to charge tolls but good for the United States to do it?

Trump repeated his demand in a social media post on Monday, saying that all vessels transiting the Strait of Hormuz, including those of US allies, must pay a 20 percent fee to reimburse the US “for any and all costs necessary to do the job of providing safety and security to this very volatile section of the world.”

If that sounds like a shakedown, it's because it is, or it was going to be.

On Tuesday, Trump abandoned the proposal completely, and said that instead of tolls, gulf states would invest in the United States. That means there will not be any payment for ships to travel freely through the Strait of Hormuz, which are international waters. Also, when nations tell Trump that they are going to invest in the United States, they never do so. But they know how to play Donald Trump.

Some Trump whisperers explained this as Trump saying whatever enters his feeble little rotting brain while he's talking. Some people will say this is speaking off the cuff. Others say it’s talking out of ones ass. In this case, it's a person talking out of his big giant orange racist ass.

Trump’s TACOing out (it was Tuesday after all) is further proof that he does not know what he's doing when it comes to this war he chose for our nation to fight while he tries to make a buck off it.

Demanding not just enemies, but our friends to pay for their ships to pass through the straight is not popular. Reportedly, Trump heard from our friends very quickly after he floated his toll idea on Monday, and they let him know what they thought about it. Trump quickly reversed course because he is a flake and a coward, in addition to not knowing what he's doing.

If Trump starts charging tolls in international waters, that will give the greenlight to other nations to do the same throughout the world. It would be calamity and affect global prices, just like Trump's boneheaded tariff's idea.

Trump is the very worst president in our nation’s history.

As you know, my cartoons attract trolls. They attract a lot of trolls. For example, today’s cartoon on GoComics has over 500 comments. This is not because there is a vigorous and healthy debate on the subject of the cartoon, but the fault of trolls constantly crapping in the discussion.

I have come to despise trolls. They are insufferable, intolerant, extremely racist, and bigoted in other manners, fascist lovers, and liars. They are also vile people who are often trying to expose my address. Recently, one has even tried to dox my ex-girlfriend. Insult me all you want, but can you leave the innocent people out of it?

And trolls are stupid and totally unoriginal. What you see in this cartoon are common talking points used by MAGAts because they can’t come up with their own. Accusing a Trump critic of having TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome, is a lot easier than understanding why they’re calling Dear Leader is being criticized. It’s easier to say that someone has TDS to accept the fact that Donald Trump is an extremely bad president.

How weird is it to accuse someone else of being deranged while you are in a cult?

Creative note: I have been thinking for a while about doing a cartoon on trolls in the Strait of Hormuz ever since the subject of tolls in the waters came up. Yesterday, I saw that someone else had the same concept, but when I went back today to look at it again, trying to remember what the cartoon said and who drew it, I couldn't find the it. So I don't remember what it said or or who drew it, s and decided not to worry about it when I tackled this cartoon.

I got hacked: My email was hacked yesterday. I'm usually very good at catching these attempts, but this one slipped through. I had spent several hours ignoring my emails because I was working. When I returned to them, I went through them one by one when I clicked one by a fellow cartoonist. What got me with this is that he has invited me to stuff before, like book signings and gallery shows. So I opened the email and I clicked the link and…. Gotcha.

So I spent this morning changing my passwords and trying to kick the hackers out of my Gmail. I was also replying to a lot of messages from friends, asking me if this was real because they had received a bullshit invitation from my account. I felt an obligation to respond to each one as quickly as possible to warn them not to open the emails, and this took a lot of time as well.

Shortly after changing my Gmail password twice, and changing the passwords to my bank, PayPal, and Venmo account, Google disabled my account because of suspicious activity. This was a good thing because it meant that if they had disabled it for me that they had also disabled it for the hackers. The hackers had probably tried to send another email this morning, which made Google disable my account. This was easy to retrieve and relieve me.

Before I was able to change my password, my emails were being forwarded to the hackers. I'm still not sure I have fixed that but at least I am receiving my emails now.

By the time I was done with all of this, it was nearly 1 PM and I hadn't even had breakfast. So don't open any emails from me or anyone else that says “you’re invited” in the subject line.

I owe a big thanks to Kevin Necessary for guiding me through this nightmare.

Also, I can't get Grammarly to work, so if there are a few typos or other mistakes here, keep that in mind.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

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All support is appreciated.

Signed prints and books: I cannot take orders for signed prints or for my books at this time. So please do not send me money or place orders for them until further notice. Because of the stroke, it is an ordeal for me to get to the post office, so we’re gonna hold up until I’m fully capable of doing so. Thank you for your understanding.

Merch: Did you know there’s a Claytoonz store? My cartoons are printed on mugs, clothing, caps, and even a Peezy T-shirt. If you ever want a specific cartoon on some merch, let me know, and I’ll add it.