Pandora's Needle:

This cartoon is based on the ancient Greek legend of Pandora. She opened the box (actually it was a large jar) out of innocent curiosity and hope. Instead of hope, evil was released and it had long-lasting effect. That about sums up the current situation with Big Pharma with their endless vaccinations and concoctions designed to make them ever-more money.

I’m not anti-science and vaccinations have been a great benefit to mankind. (Yeah, I know that last word is not PC—too bad). Inoculations have prevented a lot of death and suffering. Like anything, though, it can be and has been abused. Babies are now treated as pin cushions. They receive up to nearly a dozen vaccinations well before their own immune systems can develop. Autism has gone up astronomically as a result. A search engine query produced this:

If you follow the CDC's recommended vaccination schedule, your child will receive 49 doses of 14 vaccines by the time he/she is 6 years of age. And by the age of 18, the CDC recommends that children should have gotten 69 doses of 16 vaccines.

Big Pharma employs lobbyists and operatives to make sure doctors push new drugs in return for kickbacks. Recently South Korea fine Novartis $50 million for such practices. (Novartis denies that it's their policy). It boils down to money. Pushing drugs is profitable for big Pharma. They are tied in with the globalists. Therefore, natural cures are suppressed. Now they want to ‘control and regulate’ supplements.

It’s all about money and science can be greedy. In Japan, we saw what happens when greed and science combine. We got the Fukushima nuclear facility—stupidly built on a tsunami-prone coast and on an earthquake zone. Spent fuel rod pools were constructed atop reactors to save time and money. Dangerous short cuts were taken because it increased profit margins.

We see the same greed with ‘climate change.’ Scientists are told to provide data to prove global warming, and they are well-plied with globalist money to do it. The greedy huckster Al Gore recently stated he wanted $15 trillion to stop global warming. Scientists who question the climate change narrative and paid data lose their jobs and reputations. Science is not immune to corruption and human frailty. They can be bought out as easily as politicians. 

All authority needs to be questioned. It includes questioning scientific and medical authorities. Your child’s life may depend on it.

—Ben Garrison

UPDATE: I'm catching some flak from this cartoon. Consider this: Do we REALLY want to be subjected to mandatory vaccinations? Dr. Benjamin Rush warned us about government forcing medicinal practices. He even thought we needed constitutional protection against it.

"Today, the American people are challenged, as they have never been before, to confront the expansion of government authority over our bodies and the bodies of our children, specifically the exercise of police power to take us into custody and isolate us without our consent whenever public health officials believe we are sick or could become sick. At stake is the preservation of human rights and cultural values that have been part of America since the Declaration of Independence and Bill of Rights defined civil liberties two centuries ago."

https://vaccineimpact.com/2016/is-the-u-s-becoming-a-police-state-to-force-mandatory-vaccinations/

Vaccine makers can't be sued thanks to Big Pharma lobbying Congress:
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/supreme-court-vaccine-ruling-parents-cant-sue-drug-makers-for-kids-health-problems/

In depth story:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHWeJ0f_o3A&app=desktop

Antifa Fascists:

The ‘Antifa’ dress in black, wear masks and resort to physical violence. They use force to silence those with whom they disagree. They consider anyone to the right of Lenin to be ‘Nazis,’ while they engage in brown shirted, Hitler-like tactics themselves. They are most likely funded by the globalist George Soros. His job is to stir up strife and conflict. He enjoys keeping populaces distracted by means of hate and violence while he and his ilk advance their plans for a one-world government.

Once a haven for free speech, Berkeley has now become a giant safe space where uniform thinking is encouraged. After all, free speech is extremely dangerous. Why? Because it might hurt someone’s feelings! Feelings are now more important than facts and logic on too many college campuses. The Berkeley faculty and campus police seem to favor the Antifa. Instead of headlong debate, heads are getting hit with bike locks —and the Antifa culprits get away with it.

These spoiled brats apparently think they’re leading a cultural Marxist revolution. They had better not escalate the situation further. If there is gun play, a great many conservatives will fight back. I hope that doesn’t happen. We already have a cold war of sorts between the blue and red states. We don’t need an escalation into a hot war.

It’s time for far-left colleges to practice what they’re preaching. Namely, they need to start being more ‘inclusive' and embrace ‘diversity.' This means including even (gasp!) white, male conservatives. Welcome all voices to the debate table, not only those who recite the usual politically correct narrative by rote. Give others who aren’t socialists a chance to be heard. Don’t be afraid to engage in rational discourse. It might end up challenging and expanding minds. Isn’t that what college is for?

— Ben Garrison

Le Pen Kicks Butt:

The so-called ‘centrist’ French presidential candidate Emmanuel Macron doesn’t want to offend Muslims. He claimed terrorism would be a part of the daily lives of the French people for years to come. Just like croissants and good bordeaux. He may as well wave a surrender flag and then get down on a Islamic prayer rug.

Marine LePen wants to stop importing Islam and the terrorism that always accompanies it. She is the voice of sanity in a country gone mad with political correctness. Even the pope made the ridiculous claim that ‘migrant’ holding centers are ‘Nazi concentration camps’ for Muslims. Apparently the Pope wants to help hasten the demise of his own Christianity. Europe seems to be ready to hand over their countries to Islam without a fight. Sharia law is at odds with western civilization and Muslims will use violence to implement it. The Quran tells them to do this.

Socialists continue to welcome and embrace Islam because they consider it their best means to destroy Christianity--thereby making it easier to usher in their communism. That's why Obama and Merkel have eagerly flooded western civilization with Islam. Soros is a big player in this scheme, too. What they really want is the erosion of the historically strong Christian foundation in western countries. 

Marine Le Pen wants to end such insanity. She’s always labeled ‘far right’ by the mainstream media. There’s no longer such a thing as ‘right’ or ‘conservative.’ It’s always ‘far right.' It’s just one of the pejorative terms used to impugn those who care about preserving the culture of one’s country. They are called ‘nativists’ or the ubiquitous terms “racist” and “Nazi.” 

I don’t want to see France become a caliphate. I admire Marine Le Pen for making a stand against the Islamic invasion. I wish her the best of luck in the election.

—Ben Garrison

ADDITIONAL:

Here's my response to a man in England who complained that my previous Le Pen cartoon was 'inaccurate' :

Most cartoons are exaggerations and mine was no exception. Such hyperbole helps get a point across--and that point is Le Pen does not want to see her country continually cave in to Islam. Charles Martel was able to stem the tide of Islam into Europe well over a thousand years ago, but the war between Christians and Muslims has never ended. Now Islam is deeply entrenched into Europe not by means of warfare, but by means of sympathy and political correctness. They're taking advantage of the Kafir's willingness to surrender without a fight. After all, we're all the same, right? No, we're not. I don't want to see terrorism, revenge killings, female genital mutilation, the lack of pork and alcohol, forced subjugation, on and on. We have different cultures altogether.

Like Le Pen, I believe western civilization is worth preserving. I don't want to see it replaced by a barbaric, violent medieval religion and Sharia Law. Islam is a religion of conquest--not peace.

Editorial page editors often have problems with their staff cartoonists for reasons similar to the one you raised. Cartoons are often not fair and balanced or even accurate. The editors claim readers are more interested in opinion columns, which can deliver a well-rounded and reasoned verbal case, but this is not true. Readers always look at the cartoons first. This is often a source of strife and it's also why the number of cartoonists have dwindled in the MSM. The corporate media cannot stand loose cannons. The existing corporate cartoonists who enjoy cushy salaries and win Pulitzers are those who support the globalist narrative. That is, they cry for more taxes, more statism and more political correctness.

Not having an editor is terrific for a cartoonist's freedom, even though at times it's good to get their input on things such as what you wrote me about.

Thanks,

Ben

The Evil Known as Income Taxes:

Frank Chodorov claimed the income tax was the ‘root of all evil’ and he was right. Once we were inflicted with the scam known as the Federal Reserve, the mass robbery known as the income tax soon followed. We are forced to pay for our own enslavement. Oh sure, they tell us it’s ‘voluntary.’ Try not volunteering and see what happens. Heroes such as Irwin Schiff resisted it and they locked him up. He died shackled in a prison hospital while Clinton pardoned his drug pushing friends as well as the billionaire Marc Rich.

But I digress. The income tax was first promoted as a means to make the rich ‘pay their fair share.’ At first only the rich had to pay, and they only had to pony up 7 percent at the most. Nowadays it’s close to 40 percent and everyone has to pay. Even if the tyrants refund some taxpayer money, every year we are still forced to reveal all of our finances to our masters. The IRS has become a rogue agency and they can harass us and seize our money at any time. We are all guilty until we can prove our innocence.

Nowadays tax slaves are forced to pay in a record amounts, and yet we continue to roll up record debt and deficit spending. The government has grown to gargantuan proportions. We’re forced to fund the bankers' wars and global conquests. Entitlement spending is at a record high. We have all paid into social security for years and yet that’s broke, too. They pinched it and spent it long ago. It now consists of nothing more than an enormous basket of IOUs. 

The tax code has reached nearly 75,000 pages. Nobody can keep up with it or understand it. Many must rely on ‘experts’ and we pay people to do our taxes. Everyone has broken tax laws one way or another. That’s the way they like it—we’re all criminals who are also forced to violate our 5th Amendment right. We must incriminate ourselves. The other day I was driving on Highway 2 through Kalispell. A young person was dressed in a Statue of Liberty costume and beckoning customers to use a tax service called, “Liberty Tax.’ That’s an oxymoron if there ever was one. We’re bombarded by TV commercials touting services that encourage us to play the game ‘to win.’ We The People can never win. It’s a rigged game benefiting only those at the top of the pyramid.

Those winners are the central bankers and the private Federal Reserve that they own. They own a printing press that they use to give them riches and power and we have to pay that back—with interest. It’s debt slave currency—not real money. It’s impossible to pay back unless we have printing presses ourselves—and that would be considered counterfeiting. Now they want to do away with cash altogether and get us all on the grid to make what we earn and spend trackable. It will also give them more power to steal from us. It’s about control.

As I said, the income tax was originally presented as a means to sock it to the rich and take some of their passive income. They were going after the windfall profit gleaned from investments such as stocks and bonds. At the last minute they also slipped in wages as ‘windfall.’ We working class folk work hard for our money. We trade our labor for money. It’s an equal exchange. Where is the windfall in that? The rich corporations are able to use lawyers to game the system. The average Joe doesn’t have the resources for that, so the workers and small businessmen get socked the most. The powerless always bear the brunt. It’s the screwing of the average man and it’s unconstitutional.

Meanwhile, our so-called government representatives amass vast riches while in office. Career politicians are the new royalty and they pass legislation to enrichen themselves and their ultra rich buddies. The Clintons claimed they were broke, but now they are worth well over $50 million. What did they do to amass such wealth? They pulled the levers of graft and power, that’s how. Will anyone in Congress ever end the pernicious income tax? Of course not. It’s there as a tool of control and tyranny.

These are a few things to consider when you shovel off your hard-earned income into the pockets of your masters. At the very least, realize that you are NOT doing your civic duty by allowing yourself to be robbed. It’s about control. They could easily print up their own money—they don’t need yours to waste.

It’s time to end the Fed and their gestapo, the IRS.

—Ben Garrison

War Drums:

This cartoon is not funny. War is not funny. Especially the prospect of WWIII. I was not happy with the Syrian bombing and I caught a lot of flak for my cartoon that criticized the event. As a political cartoonist, I have to call it as I see it—even if it means losing support that I badly need. I drew a great many pro-Trump cartoons to help him get elected. I still back Trump and his intention to make America great again, but one critical cartoon cost me in terms of lost donors. Trump recently said he had no intention of starting another useless war in the Middle East—and that’s reassuring, but now we have North Korea to worry about.

Kim Jong-un is a spoiled, capricious nut. His nuclear war threats may be nothing but continued ego maniacal saber rattling, but once nuclear miniaturization is achieved, he could launch a nuclear attack on our west coast. Many have suggested diplomacy, but that has already been tried for decades. North Korea always furthers their nuclear capabilities regardless. He may be trying to extort us once again for more food and fuel, but again..that tactic simply does not work. It only buys the regime in North Korea more time.

I've read two books that I recommend highly: “The Aquariums of Pyongyang” and “Escape from Camp 14.” If you read either book, you’ll get a good idea of the fear and tyranny under which the North Korean people must live. Kim Jong-un grew up as a pampered egomaniac. He is reckless and dangerous. He even wanted all males in the Communist country to wear his own crazy haircut. He needs to be taken out, but that’s a very risky undertaking.

China is key. If they don’t help us take out Un, then we definitely have a chance for WWIII. I’d much rather see Trump concentrate on making America again, but the constant threat of nuclear war from a deranged tyrant could ruin all that. 

We live in very dangerous times.

—Ben Garrison

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Comment
I never thought anything in the world could make me sympathetic to Kim Jong Un, but your latest comic did. I'd be fighting for my life if I was surrounded as you depicted him.

Your comics were a source of inspiration for me throughout Donald Trump's historic campaign, and your last one gave me hope that Trump's supporters would lead him back into the light.

As Trump's people are talking openly about murdering Jong Un, you cheer them on.

For shame.

ANSWER:

Please do some studying on Kim Yong-un and his vile regime. He's a mass murderer. He murdered his own brother. He killed a top official with an anti-aircraft gun.

Please read "The Aquariums of Pyongyang" to know what life is like there.

He's a monster and I for one will welcome his destruction.


BG

"Election Collection" book Delivery Update:

UPDATE: ALL BOOKS WERE MAILED THIS WEEK! (April 14)

My sincere apologies to all of you who ordered signed copies of my book (or the "MagaPack," which includes a sticker, a signed print and a hand-drawn caricature of Trump inside the book's front flap). 

I grossly underestimated sales because my first book ("Rogue Cartoonist") did not sell well at all out of the gates and in fact, I gave away nearly 100 copies to people all over the world.

Therefore, I under-ordered my latest book to start. As luck would have it, they sold out in a day. We've been waiting for a big shipment of books from CreateSpace, and they said they were shipping them out tomorrow and we should get them next week. We paid for expedited shipping.

You WILL get the books ASAP just as soon as we get them. I have a lot of Trump caricatures to draw and those will be my first priority. My wife Tina has all the boxes addressed and ready. The items will be well-protected with special padded envelopes, plastic sleeves for the prints and quality, custom mailing boxes to prevent any damage.

Again, I am extremely sorry for the delay. I simply didn't expect such a great response. I guess my cartoons are more popular than I realized. That's a good sign!

— Ben Garrison

Exposing the MSM Lie about Russia:

I worked at newspapers for nearly 20 years before starting my own commercial art business. (Being a business owner makes one all-too aware of the omnipresent IRS taking it's lion's share of hard work). Most of my coworkers at newspapers were ‘liberal.’ They were proud of it and to their credit, many were very professional and their reporting remained objective.

The few conservatives there were forced into quiescence in order to remain on friendly terms with reporters and editors as well as escape outright harassment and ridicule.

For example, I once made the mistake of making a positive comment about Goldwater. I had just finished reading a biography about him and I was telling one of my fellow artists that he had some good attributes. An SJW photographer overheard this and proceeded to go into a loud and protracted virtue signaling spiel about the evils of Goldwater and being a conservative in general. I could not get a word in edgewise and it would have been useless to reason with him by employing facts. There can be no debate with such people. Their minds are made up and they’re convinced truth is on their side. So I mostly shut up about politics and many there assumed I was liberal like them. I was fine with them thinking that. I had to make a living.

I’ve now lost a good many of these old friends and coworkers. Naturally, they’re not happy with my cartoons. Even a non-newspaper friend wrote me recently to express his hatred for Trump. Here’s one of the things he wrote:

"Nothing Hillary has ever done compares to the sheer, breathtaking corruption that Trump brings to the Presidency.”

“Breathtaking." Really? How can Trump be worse than Hillary when he never before held public office? Hillary is indeed the most corrupt person to ever come close to the presidency. It’s why Trump once called her a ‘monster.’ I ended up writing a long list of Hillary’s crimes and corruption just off the top of my head (see below), but I instead decided not to respond to his statements at all. It would only make him angrier and I would lose another friend. This is a man who probably still listens to the mainstream media as if they were the penultimate oracle of truth. He also believes the lie that the Russians were in league with Trump to hack and 'steal' the election. Maybe he reads these things in newspapers such as the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/projects/la-ed-our-dishonest-president/

Today, the LA Times came out with part one of four editorials with the overall title, “Our Dishonest President.” Part one epitomizes the usual arguments against Trump. They’re based not on logic and reason, but rather emotion. It’s mostly fear, anger and empty vitriol. While reading the first part I got the impression that I could have been reading something written by the ‘Deep State’ itself. I also found myself countering their statements along the way. Here are a few examples:

Their opening sentence: 

LA Times: "It was no secret during the campaign that Donald Trump was a narcissist and a demagogue who used fear and dishonesty to appeal to the worst in American voters.”

Ben Garrison: The Times begins by spewing the usual emotional claptrap and hysteria, which is now seen everywhere on corporate media. Trump appealed to voters because he was not a career politician. He’s not part of the ‘Big Club’ elite. The illuminati grew way too complacent and accustomed to running the show with the help of their lying mainstream media. Trump is a populist and nationalist. He wants to restore America to greatness. That means thwarting the Deep State’s plans for globalism and tyranny—and they can’t stand it.

LA Times: "He has clashed with his own intelligence agencies, demeaned government workers and questioned the credibility of the electoral system and the Federal Reserve."

Ben Garrison: Trump does not ‘own’ such agencies. They don’t belong to the American people, either. The NSA and CIA are now part of the Deep State. They are unaccountable. They’ve gone rogue and they illegally spy on us all. Citizens are assassinated. The agencies have become politicized and they want one of their own as President. They wanted Hillary. Questioning the election system where ‘super delegates’ get the say and not voters? Questioning the Federal Reserve? They are in dire need of questioning! The vile Federal Reserve system of debt slave money has impoverished Americans while driving us in debt to the tune of $20 trillion. It’s a sick, immoral system of money that must end.

LA Times: "His scary willingness to repeat alt-right conspiracy theories, racist memes and crackpot, out-of-the-mainstream ideas. “

Ben Garrison: The mainstream media, including the LA Times no longer tells the truth. They spew Deep State propaganda and lies. Fewer are watching, listening and reading the MSM narratives because they know the truth can be found on the Internet. Citizen muckrakers are the ones doing real investigative journalism. 'Out-of-the-mainstream' ideas are healthy. They also threaten the mind control ‘official’ narrative of the Deep State MSM. That’s why they are doing their best to control dialogue on the Internet. They have long been over-paid colossal liars and now they want to blame under-paid citizen journalists on the Internet for their failure. They will smear patriots as racists or ‘crackpots,’ but they’re facing more and more resistance. The elite at the top want to censor and stop free speech in order to regain control and fill minds with lies once again. We must remain vigilant. They have all the money in the world and have owned their media lapdogs for a long, long time. They are now running scared and that’s a good sign.  

LA Times: “This nation survived Andrew Jackson and Richard Nixon. It survived slavery. It survived devastating wars. Most likely, it will survive again. But if it is to do so, those who oppose the new president’s reckless and heartless agenda must make their voices heard. ”

Ben Garrison: This is telling because Trump resurrected a painting of Jackson. I consider Jackson to be a great president. He was a populist elected by the people, not the elite, and in his two terms he took down the central bankers. Unfortunately one of our worst presidents, Woodrow Wilson, allowed reckless and heartless central bankers to again control our money (and us). He also got us into a reckless and heartless Word War I, which was completely immoral and unnecessary. I hope President Trump can keep President Jackson on the $20.

LA Times:  “All of us who are in the business of holding leaders accountable must redouble our efforts to defend the truth from his cynical assaults.”

Ben Garrison: We as citizens must also defend the truth by pointing out the lies and cynical assaults spewed by the mainstream media—which are now mostly owned by the Deep State.

—Ben Garrison

Hillary’s crimes and corruption (written from memory):

• Cattlegate
• Travelgate
• Filegate
• Using IRS to harass enemies (she was involved with these scandals during her ‘co-presidency’).
• Whitewater and Rose Law Firm corruption.
• She told the central bankers she was on their side and what she told the public was just politics.
• She helped cover up Bill’s rapes and sexual assaults and harassed his victims.
• She laughed after getting a child rapist a lesser sentence.
• Accepting pay for play money via the Clinton Foundation while she was Secretary of State.
• Illegal campaign contributions to her senate campaign.
• Lying about being under sniper fire.
• Gifts (bribes) from foreign nations.
• Pardoned Puerto Rican terrorist group for personal gain
• Admitted to taking orders from the CFR while being a senator.
• Received expensive gifts during her eight years as first lady and she never disclosed them.
• Illegal murder of Gaddafi and she laughed about it.
• Censured for ethics violation while in the Senate.
• Lying about being named after Sir Edmund Hillary.
• Fired during the Watergate investigation for lying and dishonesty.
• Involved in getting a reduced sentence for a child trafficker in Haiti. (The Clintons/Podesta are tied together with PizzaGate).
• “Dead broke” was her claim when they left the White House; now they’re worth $50 million. What did they sell to get so rich?
• Stealing White House antiques which she was forced to return.
• Stealing billions of dollars in contributions for Haiti and diverting them to the CF coffers.
• Bill Clinton getting $500k from Russia for a single speech, resulting in Hillary approving Russia gaining control over 20 percent of our uranium.
• Frequent trips to ‘Orgy Island’ with her hubby Bill.
• An illegal server containing classified material.
• She destroyed evidence (hammering cell phones, bleaching server).
• Benghazi (delaying rescue to Stevens to keep secret her and Obama’s aid to ISIS) It resulting in many deaths. (She lied and blamed a ‘video’).
• The death of Vincent Foster (recent exhumation and autopsy revealed two bullet holes in the back of the skull…ruled murder, not suicide).
• Vast trail of bodies left by the Clintons.

LOCK HER UP!