Memes! Memes! Memes! (part 3)

I’ve stopped calling these “political cartoons” because none are drawn, which is often considered a defining quality of a cartoon. They are certainly image-texts, but few non-academics use the word “image-text.” So even though none of them have been shared widely enough to satisfy the original meaning of “meme,” I’m sticking with that term and its increasingly generic usage. I also think the series (which starts here and continues here) might be a comic, since it is a sequence of image-texts, which also describes most comic strips, comic books, and graphic novels. If blogs count as publications, then the sequence is in both the comics form and the comics medium. The chronological order even tells a story: the last two weeks in election news, with a heavy dose of debate memes.

The first is from September 3rd and includes a longer-than-usual preamble:

On one hand, this is just funny: Someone (presumably an insider since they had access) derailed the Trump campaign with a $14 gadget that does nothing but occasionally beep. On the other hand, this is a guy who still wields massive influence on national security. In April Trump killed the compromise House bill to extend the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by tweeting: “KILL FISA, IT WAS ILLEGALLY USED AGAINST ME, AND MANY OTHERS. THEY SPIED ON MY CAMPAIGN!!!” Barr, Trump’s former Attorney General, responded: “I think President Trump’s opposition seems to have stemmed from personal pique rather than any logic and reason. The provision that he objects to has nothing to do with the provision on the floor.” How is this guy running for president?

Another Trump business tumbling toward bankruptcy. Does anyone still remember Trump Steaks, Trump Vodka, Trump Mortgage, Trump Ice, Trump Magazine, Trump Airlines, Trump Entertainment Resorts, or GoTrump.com? Trump’s mini-Twitter Truth Social will soon join them. And yet we’re supposed to vote for him for his business skills?

Trump’s first cabinet member. He plunged the value of Twitter by 72%.  

Current totals. The first one will change right after the election.

A question for superhero fans: Which is funnier, that Trump thinks he’s Superman, or that of all the major superhero movies of the last decade to photoshop, he picked the least popular and worst reviewed?

Trump’s been prepping for tonight’s debate.

So many extraordinary moments to choose from, but this is definitely my favorite from Trump’s deranged performance.

Even his post-debate performance was delusional.

The most important reality check from Trump’s fever dream.

Most instantly influential endorsement ever?

Oh, no! Not the geese too! Days after the debate, and he’s still on the same rant.

Not that I blame him. I wouldn’t get in a ring with Harris again either.