Doonesbury by Garry Trudeau for December 17, 2023

All that effort for one witch.

Great, now the MAGAs will circulate this as proof that the “witch hunt” is being run out of the White House…

Now put him in jail where he should have been the day after the attempted coup.

Time to get the stake and the firewood ready, And Trump won’t be canonized like Joan of Arc!

It’s NOT a witch hunt – but they do keep finding flying brooms, black cauldrons and tall conical hats with wide brims.

Any number of correspondents consistently complain about Trudeau never featuring Biden. Now he’s done so in this strip. Watch them complain about this strip, too. Because some people are just NEVER happy…

The Witch Hunts will continue until we stop finding witches.

Meadows just got immuity, so he’s gonna sing. This is fun!

Trump read this and screamed “I KNEW IT!”

Pretty much is as it’s become.

In such a volatile political climate the sarcasm will be overlooked sadly.

We all complain about the slowness of DOJ and state of Georgia investigations but ensuring the innocence of even Perp45 is paramount until he is brought to trial and convicted.

Do not forget that Biden is guilty of treason for taking bribes from Ukraine and the PRC.

I believe it! I just saw it right here!

Must be the season of the Witch!

If MAGAs are true Christians then they have to believe in witches as the Bible is clear they exist and should be put to death.

What some people fail to realize is that…there WERE no witches in Salem. That’s why no one never actually found any. Thus, in one sense of the term, a “witch hunt” means to look for something that isn’t there. I think that at this point, even some of Trump’s most ardent acolytes must begrudgingly admit that there’s SOMETHING there…

OK! What has happened to the REAL Gary Trudeau? What have you done with him?

where there’s smoke there is often fire…

So which hunt is it?

Until Trump, “witch hunt” meant “accusing people of imaginary crimes, based on a wild conspiracy theory.” Now, when Repubs use the phrase, it m means, “saying someone who’s obviously guilty is guilty.”

Garry, this is brilliant!

Trump is not being prosecuted by Biden, or by the Democrats. And, he is not being indicted for what he said, but for what he DID. The witnesses against him are Republicans. There is no need to question Trump’s guilt, he has it all videotaped or on audio recorder. Trump began inciting the insurrection as soon as July, when he knew that he had a good chance of losing reelection. He began the theme that the election was rigged and stolen from him and his supporters even before the election actually was held, stepping up that rhetoric as it became more apparent that he was going to lose. Once he did lose, his supporters filed 60 something court cases protesting the outcome, none of which he won, most of which were thrown out for lack of evidence. As soon as the election was called for Biden, he started sending out tweets calling for his supporters to gather in D.C. on January 6, ready to fight- or “they would not have a country’. He stopped the secret Service when they tried to keep those carrying weapons into his rally because “They aren’t here to hurt ME”. They actually believed that they were fighting for their country, and for the true President of United States against a fraud who had stolen the election. And, they greatly outnumbered the Capitol Police. He didn’t send any additional help, when it was obvious that the mob would overtake the Capitol and quite likely actually kill congress members, and refused to do so when it was requested. All of the witnesses against Trump are his own inner circle; his own closest hand-picked advisors. He is not being accused by Democrats, not even run-of-the-mill Republicans, but by people HE CHOSE as his closest advisors that made up his inner circle. That is how Jack Smith got such detailed inside information. You can’t claim it is a witch hunt when it is your own flying monkeys that you sent out who are providing the evidence. Trump has been indicted because Trump committed treason.

Aw c’mon we all knew about this. The house next door to me is fulla CIA guys cooking up rumors that Moskow Mitch is a russki agent and trump wants to crawl onto his daughters. Don’t get me started on the smear campaign against that wonderful republican, George Santos. Ooooh, I get so mad.

Trudeau forgot the 2-month lapse before “Merrick” says “on it”.

Pretty much true. I expect at least two more indictments before the election.

I think the republican witch might be in trouble.

74,000,000?:

If the pointy black hat and broom fits… Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch!

I have an otherwise quite intelligent relative who somehow always thought that a “witch hunt” was an attack by witches. She believed that every time Trump said he was the victim of a witch hunt, he was accusing all the many people claiming that Trump had done something wrong, of being, in fact, witches. She never stopped to consider that in, say, a fox hunt, the foxes were the pursued rather than the pursuers.

Yep you came clean Trump will win easily so easily

Have you gone GAGA or MAGA?

Thereby reinforcing the Trump teaching that all of the investigations and charges are being done at Biden’s behest rather than due to the fact that he’s guilty of sin of those crimes and many more.

It seems many missed the point Garry was trying to make, I think. Biden is no more directing Trump’s indictments/trials than Trump is controlling the bats flapping in his belfry or his lips flapping in his prissy little mouth.

They’ll need someone to explain the strip to them.

I’m a bit worried that this strip is going to have issues with Poe’s Law.

That resolution will easily pass the Sodom, er, the Senate

You want to make it more authentic, add how T bamboozled the Christian market / voters and how he continually despises them.

Obviously the only thing going on in the White House is the Witch Hunt. The only thing is that it is done multiple stories down in the Deep State Bunker.

We could only wish Merrick was actually enforcing the law. I highly doubt the federal cases will amount to anything at the rate he’s stalling

The Democrats will use these same unconstitutional methods to take away the rights of union leaders and communists.

Trudeau engaging in irony. A perfect comic strip to describe the present time.

Riiiiiiiight Gary. Trump Family corruption. Let’s Go Brandon. Although you’ve obviously never heard about him.

Can’t wait for Garry’s long overdue satire on the Biden White House. There’s a virtual comic/tragedy treasure trove that’s been untapped up till now! In the spirit of “diversity, equity and inclusion,” of course.

Pay no attention to the border crisis, the Afghan withdrawal debacle, Joe Biden’s corruption (deals and money “made” from companies and governments in Ukraine and China and Iran), dereliction of duty (securing the country), and Joe’s obvious mental “lapses”. Pretend there no evidence as it continues to be exposed/presented.

“Satire is actually very subtle. Which is why it is always lost on some. Satire relies on those readers/viewers/listeners who will discern its coded message. Only those who get the joke and can correctly identify the punch line’s actual target. However, such people are often a minority. Many are apt to take the story and the characters literally. In doing so, they will miss the critique, mistaking it for overt approval or even a celebration of that which is being criticized. In this way, satire is like a fully developed, complex, and subtle version of sarcasm: if you miss the statement’s unstated intention, you’re going to take it exactly the wrong way. Satire is always lost on literalists who miss the critique embedded in the jokes, who do not recognize that it is cutting against the grain.” —Akim Reinhardt, “Satire in the Age of Outrage”

Or, more propinquiously for a comic-strip comment section, “Poe’s law is an adage of Internet culture stating that, without a clear indicator of the author’s intent, every parody of extreme views can be mistaken by some readers for a sincere expression of the views being parodied.”

I’m afraid not everyone will recognize this as satire

Shocked and surprised. If this is a parody of MAGA thinking, it is a failure. The first I remember from Trudeau.

jsimpsol, aluminati, and Doug K all give me a really good reason for wishing there was a “thumbs-down” or “dislike” option right next to the “like” option. As it is, all we can do is consider the source of the comments and evaluate them for what they truly are worth.

Trouble is I don’t think it is funny. I thought comics were supposed to be funny.

Let’s make this quick and simple. Toss Donny into the river. If he sinks, he’s innocent, but if he floats, he’s a guilty witch. Though, he might float just because he’s cr*p.

Trump: “Them bad. Me Good.” “Them help me Good but now Bad” “Me no pay them Bad now.” “Waaah”

Crimes have been committed, indictments have been handed down. To call this a “witch hunt” is just wrong

They already have all the proof they are interested in, which is none at all.

American Politics has been run from the drawing board of Gb Trudeau for more than 50 years…I get all my most important American news this way.

A new form of holiday entertainment. Best the heck out of another Hallmark movie.

Sometimes there really are witches . . .

Maybe they could deputize Kamala to do the West Coast?

She knows the territory.

Is this the First president not to have an Icon floating above the White House when he speaks?

@Doug K – 1) The “evidence” to which you refer apparently is so overwhelming that Republican Dusty Johnson of South Dakota said publicly on Dec. 13 that there was no evidence for impeaching President Biden. And as of today (12/18/23) the House committees you mention are still digging in the haystack in hopes of finding a needle. I find it pathetic that the Republicans publicly claim the evidence is overwhelming but have yet to even identify the specific crimes President Biden is thought to have committed.

2) If the “evidence” to which you refer is so substantial, and if Hunter Biden’s testimony is so central to impeaching President Biden, why won’t the committee accept Hunter Biden’s offer to testify in public? Is it because they want to selectively cherry-pick a phrase here and a couple of words there to bolster their claims that his father should be impeached? If this whole deal is so incredibly serious, why not do like the January 6 Committee did and have public hearings where witnesses are questioned before the entire world?

3) To what “testimonial evidence” do you refer? Perhaps something related to a truck loan? How about some accurate specifics instead of generalized and unsupported allegations?

4) I find it hysterical in the extreme that Jim (Janus) Jordan never did appear before the January 6 committee in response to a duly-issued subpoena, but now he wants to use the same legal process he blatantly ignored to dragoon Hunter Biden into testifying in private.

Trouble is, BViden is too nice a guy to do t his,even though he should.

I’m reminded of Eisenhower ignoring Drunken Joe for far too long