Dinky Dong Don

Will South Korea's martial law attempt be a lesson for Trump?

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol imposed martial law this week and quickly reversed it hours later after Parliament voted to repeal it.

The declaration of martial law drove thousands of protesters into the streets and prompted calls for him to resign. Would Americans have done the same?

Yoon claimed his declaration was to counter an opposition that was “trying to overthrow the free democracy,” yet failed to provide any evidence. His lie is the same one Trump spreads, that his opposition is trying to destroy democracy.

Yoon, like Trump, is a goosestepping right-winger who’s been in constant turmoil throughout his political career. He’s a self-admitted anti-feminist. Now, he’s facing a possible impeachment. Even members of his own party voted against his declaration of martial law. What scares me is that Trump’s party would probably go along with it….in fact, they already did.

When Trump lost the 2020 election, there was talk within the Trump White House (sic) of declaring martial law (proposed by that Russian-loving patriot Michael Flynn), seizing voting machines, and putting a stop to the certification of the Electoral College before January 6. White House lawyers were looking into it. At the same meeting where Flynn proposed martial law, Trump bounced the idea of appointing lunatic Sidney Powell as a Special Counsel to investigate the election.

There were lawyers in the first Trump administration (sic) who stood up for the nation and opposed his wish to seize power illegally. There will not be any of those people in the second administration (sic). Trump is surrounding himself with loyalists, sycophants, fascism lovers, and cultists, none of whom with the spine to say no to Donald Trump.

Congress, controlled by sycophantic Republicans, the courts full of judges he appointed, and right-wing media will serve as a yes system. Trump won’t need a white nationalist insurrection next time. They’ll just hand him the scepter.

There will be a next time.

When Yoon declared martial law, he appointed a general who declared “all political activities,” including political party activities and citizens’ rallies were banned. He also ruled that “All news media and publications are under the control of martial law command.” He also banned anything the Yoon government considered “fake news” along with all labor activities. The command ordered all medical staff including trainee doctors, many of whom have been on strike, to return to work in 48 hours. All who violated the martial law could be arrested without a warrant.

We need to pay attention to what’s happening in South Korea. Soon after Yoon was sworn into office, where he vowed to stand for freedom and liberal democracy, Yoon used lawsuits, state regulators, and criminal investigations to shut down speech he called “fake news.” He attacked news outlets and police and prosecutors repeatedly raided the homes and newsrooms of journalists he accused of spreading “fake news.” From whom did Yoon learn the term “fake news?” Hmm?

What further fueled this declaration of martial law was his party’s defeat and loss of control of Parliament last April. Martial law was Yoon’s effort to seize total power without needing Parliament.

Bad things happen when good people do nothing. There are few good people in the Republican Party, and the few that are left like Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger have been ostracized and may soon be in prison for defying Trump. Trump plans to fire the director of the FBI (for the second time) and install a goon who’s promised to prosecute his enemies.

Members of Yoon’s own party halted his attempt to become a dictator. The Republican Party won’t just refuse to stop Trump, but aid him in his attempt to become America’s first dictator.

Yoon may be impeached with his party in support of the effort to remove him. Trump was saved by his fascist party in both of his impeachments.

Yoon showed Trump how to do it and Trump in return will prove it’s possible. Unfortunately for Yoon, he doesn’t have the lickspittles Trump has.

The adventure continues:

Yeah, this is what I have to sit on in my hotel room and no, putting a pillow on it doesn’t help. I finished today’s cartoon at this desk and started writing the blog, but the pain became too much, so I’m in the lobby again writing this while suffering through Christmas music. You know the stool hurts if I’m choosing Last Christmas for the 17th time of this trip over it.

I drew the cartoon at Insomnia Cafe which is less than half a block down the street from my hotel. I drew today’s cartoon while sitting next to two lovely young ladies speaking a foreign language I couldn’t identify. I said hello after a while and learned they were speaking Spanish. What? I can speak a little Spanish and I’m around it enough in the States to recognize it. I have a shitload of friends for whom Espanol is a first language, so I can at the very least recognize Spanish when I hear it, but I didn’t recognize this. Now that’s the second thing I’ve learned to be true as I travel internationally. Spanish Spanish is different from Spanish in the Americas and Guinness really does keep the best stuff in Ireland.

Sometimes, I’m more interested in the settings of the city, and how people live, than I am in all the tourist spots. I want to see the differences between us and them.

I would love to go into someone’s apartment, invited of course, and check it out…and maybe steal some stuff. I kid. I kid.

It was rainy last night which meant I couldn’t wear my leather jacket and look cool.

This is just a normal storefront. The menus are in the windows. There are a lot of these shops and some of the menus are enticing while others are not. Some of the menus have photos and they’ll turn you off. There’s one where they show a picture of curry on top of chips, chips as in french fries. It looked disgusting.

This was taken from the sidewalk. I love how they have the spices displayed in the window of this Indian/Pakistani restaurant, and you can watch the guys cook. The fellow staring at me while I took the photo on the sidewalk tapped his buddy on the shoulder and pointed at me…and then they chased me down the street while pelting me with naan. I’m kidding. They smiled and waved, and not just with one finger.

Since I lived in Hawaii, I had to take this shot. This is inside Delahunty’s Bar.

The bartender’s name inside this pub is Paddy. I met an Irish bartender in Dublin named Paddy. What are the odds? I also heard him and others say “shite.” They really do say that.

He also explained why I’m seeing Coors in every bar. Yeah, piss water Coors in Ireland. The thing is, he explained, is that the distributor that puts so many beers into the pubs, like Heineken, also has the license to distribute Coors, and they’ve advertised Coors heavily here. So, that’s why Coors is in every pub I’ve visited. And yes, people are drinking it. I still can’t figure out why Americans drink it.

What I haven’t seen are a lot of redheads but I did meet a very mean waitress.

I asked Paddy about one pub that was open Monday but closed on Tuesday. He told me it was because the owner (who I met and kinda sneered at me) closed because he was going to the Leicester City/West Ham game, as he was a huge Leicester fan. You’d think if it was a big game, he’d keep his pub open. Yeah, I don’t get it. While in that pub last night, I watched a playoff game between the Irish and Wales women, with the losing team’s season being over. Wales won.

Did you know that there are 12 levels of Irish league football? There’s a stadium outside my window.

I had a conversation last night with three guys in that pub, with none of them calling me “fella,” and it started with one of them saying, “Did ya leave America because Trump was elected?” As the pub was closing, they asked me to stay a bit longer so they could talk about Trump. None of the four men, including Paddy, were fans. They were very knowledgeable about our situation and compared it to Hitler, as he was also put in power after attacking his nation. They told me I should seek asylum in Ireland but none of them offered their couch. However, I was invited to a dart tournament tonight which I accepted and am excited about. None of my friends back home can say they ever went to a dart tournament in Dublin. I don’t even understand darts, but I’m going.

I also told my new friends that Coors is what MAGAts drink.

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Timelapse with a voiceover:

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