An Introduction to the Cartoons
These cartoons mark a particularly strange period in American historyāa time of confusion, uncertainty, absurdity and, frankly, downright incompetence coming from the highest levels of our government. At the center of it all is Donald J. Trump, surrounded by an ever-changing collection of sidekicks, loyalists, apologists and lackeys trying to explain, defend or carry out whatever he has just said.
The cartoons were not conceived as a formal historical project. They began as reactions to the news: a boast that contradicted the facts, an unanswered question, an attack on a reporter, an official explanation that made less sense the longer one considered it. One cartoon led to another. Certain characters kept returning. The Oval Office became a stage, the Resolute Desk became the Dissolute Desk, and the lackey on the right always seemed to have someone on the telephone.
Taken together, the cartoons have become a record of this peculiar momentānot an objective history, certainly, but an account of how it looked and felt while it was happening. The people and events will eventually pass from the daily news, but the uncertainty, the incompetence and the sheer absurdity deserve to be remembered.
As one early fan of the cartoons put it, they are āhilarious, but unfortunately true.ā That may be the best introduction to them.
