TRIGGER WARNING:
A clarification and an explanation of what my job is...
I'm not a populist. I am an editorial cartoonist. My job is not to mollify or pacify you. My job is to tell the truth. My job is to analyze the news, decipher policy and expose those who are cloaked in pretension.
I'm not here to make humorous anecdotes about politics or silly superficial jokes about current events. If that's what you want, then go to the Daily Show or Saturday Night Live.
I am an editorial cartoonist.
I am not here to entertain you. I am here to inform you.
Editorial cartooning is about making serious points about serious issues. I do not care if you agree with me or not. It is not my job to be agreeable or politically correct. It is my job to be Constitutionally correct. It is my job is to tell the truth... as I see it, and I will continue to do so.
There are those who criticize Washington DC because it is occupied by people with no real beliefs and because of the lack of virtue and principles. I am one of those. There are far too many deals being made at the expense of the people, at the expense of our country.
But now, some of those same people who have been complaining the loudest have chosen to continue down the same path. I've heard from many of you.
To you, I say, enough.
Enough of the effort to try to bend my will. It will not bend. It is based on a foundation of principle.
To you, I say, enough with the negotiations and the compromises. America doesn't need compromise. America does not need another negotiator. America does not need negotiation, it needs to adhere to its founding principles.
America needs someone who is intelligent and virtuous, someone who respects the constitution, someone who is articulate beyond mere sloganeering, someone who has integrity and values, and someone who is just. America needs someone who has a foundation of beliefs built on our constitutional and founding principles and the will to stick to those principles.
Those principles are not be up for negotiation.
To restore our Great Republic, America needs someone who knows what made America great in the first place, not a celebrity apprentice. Having the acumen for institutional leadership is not enough, both Mark Zuckerberg and Warren Buffet are two very successful businessmen and neither would be my choice for president. They have to have familiarity with the principles that makes America great. It is the people - not a person, not a party and not a government, that makes this country great.
Let me be crystal clear. It is a hollow victory if you lose what you sought to win.
I'm not a populist. I have a set of principles that I believe in and I'm unwilling to accommodate those who are willing to compromise their values. I will continue to do what I do best... Tell the truth.
We may not agree on who that person is... I do not think America needs someone who bends to the will of the moment. Perhaps, I am wrong. Unlike others, I can admit, I have been wrong before. It is a virtue and a validation of your honesty to admit the error of your ways. As a Chinese proverb once said, "A wise man knows he knows little." I hope that I am proven wrong but a person's past history and behavior usually reliably determines their future. Barack Obama told everyone who he was before he was elected, to those who were willing to listen. While I have been one of the loudest voices demanding a border and rejecting those who have broken the law, unlike some of my friends, I believe America has more at stake in its future than the single issue of immigration and a broken border. It is an issue of national security and it will be fixed. It is a false narrative that it was somehow magically resurrected in this election.
Friends can agree to disagree, but by now, you should know exactly where I stand. I'm not hiding behind a bunch of contradictory statements. My beliefs are there in my cartoons for all the world to see. And while we may disagree, we should all strive for the same vision, a country based on our founding principles and the return to those constitutional and American values that made this country truly exceptional.
One of the primary constitutional moorings is the right to disagree, the right to say what we believe in. I will continue to exercise that right. Someone needs to stand up for America, and nothing you say will keep me from this duty.
If you don't like it, than I urge you to retreat to your "safe space." You can take this as my trigger warning....
Sometimes the truth hurts.
Best, -m .
