As I mentioned yesterday, The White House is now choosing who’s in the press pool.
First, the Associated Press was banned from briefings, Air Force One, and other presidential events. Now, the White House has determined there are too many actual journalists at these things, so instead of having the White House Correspondents Association, created in 1914 and has been making the selections since the 1950s, make the selections, the idiots at the White House who can’t tell the difference between news and propaganda will be making the selections.
The WHCA is independent from the White House and the government entirely. It’s also independent from any one news organization as the rotating pool is made from reporters from 60 news outlets.
The press is tough on all presidents. Republicans will gaslight you and say they take it easy on Democrats, but that’s a lie. Helen Thomas was a thorn in the side of every president from Kennedy to W. I don’t know who hated Sam Donaldson more, Reagan or Clinton.
The press is supposed to be independent of the White House, but as we’ve seen from my right-wing cartooning colleagues, many have chosen not to do their jobs and instead, aid and abet the MAGAt goons in government.
The Huffington Post has already been removed from the pool, and Trump-friendly outlets are coming in, like Newsmax and The Blaze. Soon, there will be more propaganda correspondents than actual reporters. I have serious concerns that these new “correspondents” will even know how to be part of a pool.
At this point, Trump may as well be writing the questions. Last January, Trump was given the questions before a Fox News town hall.
I have to end this blog now because I’m having a very difficult time concentrating.
Creative note: I finished this cartoon at home but needed to check my post office box before 5:00 p.m. So I’m writing this at a coffee shop that doesn’t have WiFi (What the hell?). I did have a quiet area to write in, but a couple on their first date who met online are one table away from me now, and it’s very distracting. I’m not eavesdropping, they’re just loud. I’ve lived in this town for over 25 years, and it’s not the first time I’ve witnessed a first date in this coffee shop. Holy, shit, I just remembered I once had a first date in this shop.
So far, one of them likes baseball and the other doesn’t. He likes black coffee, but she likes tea. They’re both suspicious of sushi, and neither has pet fish. The guy’s father had a parrot but he died a few years ago, the parrot, not the father. She identifies as a nerd. He’s into dragons. They’re talking about books. She’s said “so good” about 30 times. Now they’re talking about kids because a small child just came by and licked the window. She’s a special ed teacher. He’s trying to talk about biology. He’s letting her control the conversation. Math is not her strong suit. He thinks there are too many antique shops downtown, and he’s right because there are too many antique shops downtown. He likes Soup & Taco and the Sky Bar. He goes to Miso a lot despite it being a sushi place because he lives near it, which scares me because I live near Miso, too. I am totally distracted from writing the blog, which I finished after I wrote all this stuff. It seems to be going well, and I predict that at some point in the near future, they’re going to see each other naked. Did I mention I’m distracted? Now, they’re talking about Match.com. I KNEW IT!
I know they sat in this area of the shop to have a kinda sorta private get-to-know-each-other conversation, but obviously, they failed at the private part.
The Shins are playing in the background.
Drawn in 30 seconds:
Timelapse:
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"Is Putin a spooner?"
I think I'd rather hear more about the coffeehouse couple. 😒
Clay, I love the measles maggot.