To Dream A Dream

MLK's dream is becoming truer through Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris

Donald Trump claimed his crowd of around 10,000 racists on January 6, 2021, was the same size as Martin Luther King’s 250,000 when he gave his “I Have a Dream speech” on August 28, 1963.

King gave his speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial which looks east towards the Washington Monument and the Capitol. Trump gave his at the Ellipse which is a grassy area south of the White House.

It was weird that Trump chose MLK’s speech to compare his crowd of haters and terrorists to, but typical of racist Trump to choose that one. MLK gave a speech about love and bridging our divides while Trump gave a call out to white nationalist terrorists to stop the certification of an election he lost and to stage an insurrection that eventually led to the deaths of seven people.

I wonder if Donald Trump was on the scene in 1963, would he have publicly asked, “Hey, when did MLK turn black?” I don’t wonder if he would have listened to King’s speech. If he had, then he’d know that the Democrat’s nomination of Vice President Kamala Harris to be its presidential nominee is the realization of at least part of King’s dream coming true. If Trump realized that, he’d be even more afraid and unhinged than he is.

This nation is not just on the verge of electing its first woman president, but its first Black and Asian president. If you think Trump went off the rails because of his inability to lose to a white man, wait until he loses to Kamala Harris, whose name he can’t even pronounce.

In all likelihood, if Trump loses to Harris, it will get dangerous. Trump sent an armed mob…yes, armed…to the Capitol to stop the certification. He never conceded and refused to allow a peaceful transfer of power. Instead of attending President Biden’s inauguration as is tradition for the outgoing president, Trump was on his way to one of his Florida bedbug-infested golf resorts on a government plane full of stolen classified documents.

After Harris’ acceptance speech last night, I was talking to a delegate and her husband at the Billy Goat Tavern and she said to me that she travels outside the country and the people she meets “think we’re stupid.” I told just because of the fact Donald Trump is in contention for the presidency after his first term (sic), they’re right. We are stupid.

When Barack Obama began his campaign to become our 44th president, racists revealed themselves. They immediately started accusing him of being a Muslim terrorist. Donald Trump seized on the racist birther movement he didn’t invent but became its champion. Republicans accused Obama of being a divisive president when the truth is they couldn’t handle a Black man as president. It set the stage for Trump’s 2016 campaign because racists needed a champion, even if that champion was orange and stupid.

Trump revealed his racism years ago and he’s doing it again with Harris as are his followers. They’re going to lose their minds when he’s defeated by a Black/Asian woman. Trump and his cohorts cry that Harris wasn’t elected through primaries to be the Democratic Party’s nominee but a majority of voters will elect her when she beats him for the presidency.

Her election is part of my dream too.

Trip home: A reader of mine in Chicago invited me out for “real” Chicago pizza on Thursday. Thanks, Greg. You rock! We had tavern style at a place called Nick and Vito’s in the South Side and it was delicious…thin and crispy. I took a short nap after that as we also shared a pitcher of Old Style, which I had never had before. And between that afternoon nap yesterday and this afternoon, it was the last time I slept.

I wasn’t able to get back inside the United Center so I took the L to Ashland Street and ran smack-dab into protesters and cuddly cops. Then I went to the Billy Goat and talked all night to Democrats and reporters. One nice young female reporter from Norway approached me to ask if we knew each other because I looked familiar to her. Be careful if you plan on traveling to Norway because I may have a doppelganger there.

I went back to my hotel a little around 1 a.m. I tried to make a video but the internet wasn’t cooperating. I did some other work, packed, checked out, and arrived at Midway around 3 a.m. and made the video there which was also with shitty WiFi. All the restaurants were closed, but I made the video in one of their seating areas…until a Karen kicked me out.

While in line to board my plane to Baltimore, someone sent me a message saying I should see a doctor if I got any headaches after banging my head on Monday. And at that moment, thinking about flying with a concussion, I got a headache. While in line, I Googled “flying with a concussion” which said was usually fine…unless you have a cracked skull or bleeding in your brain. I began to wonder if maybe I had a cracked skull or bleeding in my brain and seriously considered getting out of line and taking a slow-ass train back to Virginia…but I figured the head pain was all in my head and got on the plane. All that fear was nothing for as me trust for you I be fine a lot I put my pants on by myself. See?

Anyway, I took the MARC ( commuter train out of Maryland) to Washington and paid too much for an Amtrak ticket to Fredericksburg. It would have only been $12 if I had waited four more hours for the VRE (Virginia’s commuter train) but I wanted to get home. And then I had one of those Amtrak trips where all the employees on the train were assholes. It was kinda like Miami all over again except the trip was shorter and the train didn’t hit a tree.

I got the idea for this cartoon on the MARC and wanted to finish it on the Amtrak, but all the passengers were corraled onto just a couple of trains and I wasn’t allowed to sit in the cafe car this time where I could draw. In fact, when I got to the cafe car, an Amtrak employee told me to get off the train and reboard from where I had started. Thankfully, the train hadn’t left the station yet. It was harder than usual to draw on this train as I didn’t have any elbow room and the guy in front of me had to recline and rock his seat as much as possible. Drawing was out of the question.

I got an Uber at the Fredericksburg station, got home, and finished the cartoon. Then Substack kept giving me gateway errors, preventing me from blogging the cartoon, so I took a little nap. I got up a couple of hours later, and I wrote this blog for you.

On another note: If it takes a while before I reply to you while on these adventures, or even if I forget, it’s not personal. If I got one or two messages during something like attending the Democratic National Convention, I might be able to reply, but I get dozens during these things. So I usually don’t even read them until later. I apologize for the delay or even if I forget to respond. I don’t want to blow anybody off as my readers are important to me.

Let me reply to a few here.

Getting inside the convention is a little like going through TSA at the airport except you don’t have to take your shoes off. It didn’t take too long at the secret entrance Lalo took us through, the Secret Service was pretty nice, and our passes were checked a few more times before entering the building.

No, they don’t sell alcohol inside the convention.

Sorry, I can’t comment on the burgers at Billy Goat because I didn’t have one, but they looked good.

Sorry, I didn’t run into the MyPillow Guy.

I’m sorry the wedge of pickle being on the wrong side of the hot dog upset you, but I’m not the one who put it there.

Oprah looks fantastic in person though it’s not like I was close to her.

No, I don’t know which side of the hot dog Oprah puts her pickle.

Yes, the energy you saw on TV was real and felt inside the building.

Thank you for the recommendation on where to get great Chinese food in Chicago but after all the recommendations, I just couldn’t eat 174 meals within my four-day trip.

No, I did not fall asleep during Clinton’s speech.

Yes, the entire place geeked out for Stevie Wonder.

No, Lalo does not fart a lot when you’re sitting next to him.

No, I don’t have a headache but thanks for asking.

Yes, the women who kicked me out of my seat during the convention were kinda Kareny.

No, I never did get a chance to try an Italian beef sandwich but they were everywhere. They do sound delicious but a plate of mood wasn’t enticing after the hot dog headbanging incident. I’m surprised I had as much pizza as I did.

I’m sure the link you messaged me is very informative and something I’d find interesting, but I haven’t found the time to click it yet.

I’m sorry you don’t think Old Style is real beer and the photo of it on my Facebook wall triggered you.

I’m sorry to everyone who was angered by the photo of the deep-dish pizza. There are still a few slices in the fridge of my motel room back on Archer Street.

I’m sorry, but I have a personal policy of never clicking links to YouTube, especially when you don’t tell me what it’s for.

No, I was never attacked or even in fear at any time while riding the L.

Ha-ha, that’s a great cartoon idea you sent me that I actually don’t understand, but I have a personal ethics policy that doesn’t allow me to draw ideas I don’t write.

Despite the perception from the national media, the entire South Side is not dangerous, and the area I was in seemed like a poor to middle-class neighborhood.

No, I don’t want to see your…oh, wow! That is huge.

No, I didn’t hook up with the Norwegian reporter (that’s for later because I’m gonna get asked that).

Yes, Rob. The birthday gift you got for Stefan is hilarious and you’ll have to tell me later how you got Brent Spiner to do that.

No, Rob, I did not spoil the surprise because you already told Melissa and we all know she can’t keep a secret, which means Stefan already knows.

Three. It takes three licks to get to the get the center of a Tootsie Roll lollipop.

What did I miss?

Drawn in 30 seconds:

Draw with a voiceover:

Signed prints: The signed prints are just $40.00 each. Every cartoon at Claytoonz is available. You can pay through PayPal. If you don’t like PayPal, you can snail mail it to Clay Jones, P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Tales From The Trumpster Fire: I’m currently out of copies but I’ll restock my personal batch soon so you order your copy signed by me, for $45.00. You can pay through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402.

Knee-Deep In Mississippi: There are only ten copies left of my first book, published in 1997. These can be purchased for $40.00

Tip Jar: If you want to support the cartoonist, please donate through PayPal to clayjonz@gmail.com. You can also snail it to P.O. Box 3721, Fredericksburg, VA 22402