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I felt like posting this drawing again. I did it during the 2024 hush money trial in Manhattan, which I attended to live-draw. Here is a collection of posts from during the trial, I did many. Here is the post with this drawing above: it was from my imagination, not a live-drawing (I wish his hair was that wild). NY Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who also covered the trial, wrote:
“Trump has taken his seat. His hair is uncharacteristically messy. LIke the wind hit it on the way into court.” -Maggie Haberman, NY Times that morning.
I loved attending that trial and drawing it. It was fascinating. I also live-drew the E Jean Carroll v Trump Trial, in which she accused him of rape. She won; he was found liable for sexual abuse. I should do more events again, I did a lot before the pandemic. Visual journalism is so important.
Some news.
There’s something about Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent. His posture, his use of words somehow seems sloppy. He’s suggesting that we can impose economic sanctions on Iran; China will make sure they survive. This is how the Trump administration behaves: theatrical threats that carry little meaning. And create uncertainty and chaos.
From the NY Times: “The Treasury secretary is confronting the limits of his ability to reshape the economy ahead of midterm elections…. global anxiety about America’s heavy, sustained borrowing and the war in Iran has been impossible to obscure, and Mr. Bessent is starting to see the limits of his powers to bend the global economy to his will.”
The other day, there was breaking news that Supreme Court sided with Trump, yet again. After an audible expletive, then in a bit of a panic, I said to myself: here we go. Trump’s efforts to interfere with the midterms is ramping up. Since then, in an effort to understand what the ruling meant, I learned that it’s not something to panic about….yet. Nothing has changed. SOTUS simply said that Trump’s executive order to create “state citizenship lists” and directs the Postal Service to decide who gets a mail-in ballot can stand. The Department of Homeland Security will also create lists of U.S. citizens that the administration believes could be used to monitor voter rolls for noncitizens. Trump can move ahead with planning for restricting the use of mail ballots even as a lower court continues to weigh its legality.
All three liberal Justices dissented, saying this will create chaos. We can see the writing on the wall of what Trump is trying to do. Whether this ruling will impact the midterms is unclear, there are many legal battles going on about this sinister effort to control mail-in voting. Govenors are loudly pushing back. We must remember: constitutionally, elections are run by States.
“This ruling violates well-established precedents concerning this Court’s equitable discretion and needlessly injects chaos and uncertainty into the upcoming midterm elections,” Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson wrote in a dissent.
Last night, Lindsay Graham’s sister won the primary in South Carolina for his Senate seat. A political novice, Darlene Graham is not qualified to be a Senator (in a debate, she could not answer a question about Taiwan, and said foreign affars is not her thing), but she was backed by Trump. Sadly, I guess Trump still has a lot of sway in that state, even though his polling numbers nationwide keep plummeting. I was hoping it would be another defeat.
But this is hopeful! Chances for the Democrats winning back control of the Senate are improving.
I am training up to Vermont today to go to the Middlebury New Filmmaker’s Festival— Women Laughing is an offical selection! If you live near Middlebury, there are still tickets available. We are screening Friday, Aug 28th at 11:30am.
Would love to see you.
Thanks for being here. I will write from Vermont, and draw of course. Taking you all with me, as always!
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