Cartoons Wednesday!

Plus Kimmel and Carla and more.

Yes, it’s still free to subscribe to this nearly daily newsletter! Greg Mitchell is the author of fourteen books and director of five films for PBS since 2022. In a previous life, he was a longtime editor at the legendary Crawdaddy.

Jimmy last night:

With Colbert gone, we may post more from Daily Show, let me know what you think:

Fun parody of Trump from the NYTPitchbot Twitter feed on the Knicks game the other night:

When I fell asleep at the Garden, the Knicks were Winning. Then when I wake up, I see the Spurs have “won.” It seems that in the 4th Quarter, the so-called referees kept “finding” Points for the Spurs. Rigged! Fake Game!

Luckovich adds:

Heather Cox Richardson:

An investigation by Tom Bergin, Michelle Conlin, Koh Gui Qing, and Tom Wilson of Reuters today shows that the Trump family has made at least $2.3 billion in their crypto currency licensing adventures since Trump began his second term. It also shows that more than a million people who invested in their enterprises have suffered at least $2.3 billion in losses.

The journalists report that the investors they interviewed believed that Trump’s position as president and “what they perceived as his business acumen” guaranteed they would make money. “Some said they still hold on to the hope that Trump will make things right. Others expressed regret, anger and embarrassment.”

Paul Krugman on trumping the farmers:

It’s true that farmers didn’t know either that Trump would attack Iran or that he would botch the war so badly. But his indifference to the impact of his actions on ordinary people’s lives should have come as no surprise to anyone paying attention. When he said “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation” when making decisions about Iran, the news was that he admitted it, not that he felt that way.

Why, then, did rural Americans vote to return Trump to office? Obviously, culture war issues and racism played important roles. But it’s also clear in hindsight that rural whites weren’t willing to see their livelihoods destroyed in order to stick it to the liberals by voting for Trump. Instead, they fell for a fantasy, believing that by voting for Trump they could simultaneously own the libs and do well financially.

Instead, they have been betrayed: far from supporting a conservative vision of rural life, Trump is destroying their livelihoods with his vandalism.

How will rural voters respond to this betrayal? Recent polls show that the Senate race in Iowa, which Trump won by 13 points in 2024, is now effectively a tossup. The heartland may be awakening to reality, with immense political consequences.

Music Picks

Noting again my gratitude to Carla Olson for playing at the June 21 premiere of my PBS Woody Guthrie film at the Autry in L.A. Here a brief trailer of her shows with Mick Taylor awhile back:

…and I understand she may be singing this, here with Gene Clark:

From Tunes to Toons

Anderson:

Ohman:

Brodner:

de Adder:

Davies:

de Adder:

Bagley:

Photo Finish

From my camera to you: Brancusi at the Guggenheim, NYC.