CARTOON: “Trump Man”

From Clay Jones on his political cartoon “Trump Man,” how one of Donald Trump’s people sent the New York Times Trump’s 1995 tax information, and how popular he must be with his own employees

I feel a little bad using “Taxman” from The Beatles for this cartoon. The Beatles were brilliant songwriters (except for Ringo), and Trump is only a brilliant con man.

It’s not the first time Donald Trump had a rough week. The week after the Republican National Convention, Trump squandered any momentum he may have gained by feuding with the parents of an American soldier who died in Iraq.

Last week, Trump was coming off a horrible debate performance when he decided to top it with a 3 a.m. tirade on Twitter toward a former Miss Universe he once called “Miss Piggy.” Usually when one engages in such nocturnal activity it’s referred as “drunk dialing.” You never text a girl when you’re drunk, or call, or tweet. You wake up the next morning not being able to relate to anything you discovered you sent … and then you recoil in sheer terror. That’s what people tell me. But Trump doesn’t drink … or apparently snort cocaine, which leads us with the last possible theory that he’s an immature, juvenile idiot with a major self-esteem problem. Instead of texting a girl at 3 with “show me your boobs,” he tweeted to his 12 million followers that the former Miss Universe was a horrible person who had made a sex tape, which nobody has found to exist.

He spent the rest of the week complaining about his debate microphone, claiming he won the debate because Breitbart said so, speculating on Bill Clinton’s sex life and Hillary’s health, openly mocking her for having pneumonia, and even making the claim that she’s been unfaithful to her husband. Newsweek published a story accusing Trump of violating the embargo against Cuba. On top of all that, several newspapers that normally go for Republicans refused to endorse him. The man is on a roll.

A few days ago, a reporter for The New York Times discovered copies of Trump’s 1995 tax returns sent anonymously from someone in the Trump organization. His employees must really love him.

Usually when the press prints something from anonymous sources, the reporter knows who the source is. The Times decided to publish the Trump tax story despite not knowing the source but after talking to several tax experts who suggested that the documents were in line with accounting permissible under the federal tax code in 1995. They also talked to the accountant who confirmed he had prepared the taxes.

Another aspect to the story is that a lawyer for Trump emailed a letter to the paper threatening “prompt initiation of appropriate legal action” if the newspaper published the private documents. They refused to confirm or deny the authenticity of the documents. That makes it a story on top of the fact Trump still refuses to release his tax returns to the public. He’s still claiming he’s under audit and can’t release them during the process, which is a fat, juicy, orange lie.

What really makes it a story is that Trump has tweeted in the past complaining about people who don’t pay taxes while the government is in debt and our infrastructure is in decline. Who knew Donald Trump was in the 47 percent of Mitt Romney’s description of lazy slackers who feel entitled to government benefits who never pay income taxes?

What the Times discovered was that Trump had declared a $916 million loss in 1995, wiping out any federal taxes that year and setting himself up to avoid 18 years of similar obligations. What a smart businessman. I guess the rest of us are stupid suckers. Well, those who intend to vote for The Donald are.

Trump claims he knows the tax system better than anyone else, since he’s so good at taking advantage of it and making the rest of us carry the burden of funding our nation, education, infrastructure, military, etc., so naturally he’s the “only” one who can fix it. I’ve heard of former burglars becoming security experts, but you wouldn’t normally hire the guy to guard your house who initially broke into it and stole your stereo and ceramic Elvises collection.

A few interesting details about the song “Taxman”: George Harrison wasn’t that prolific of a songwriter at the time he wrote the tune. He discovered The Beatles were shelling out 95 percent of their income in taxes. Though George was the lead guitar player, Paul McCartney (who was the bass player) nailed the solo on the track. The song was the opening number on their 1966 album, “Revolver” (my favorite Beatles’ album), and the only time George had the lead tune. I’m a Beatles geek.

In 2006, Ken Cuccinelli attempted to make “Taxman” the state song of Virginia. He was a senator at the time and went on to become Attorney General and waste state resources fighting Obamacare, abortion, and the University of Virginia over climate change. His state-song effort failed in the state Senate. Fortunately, he later failed as the Republican party’s gubernatorial nominee.

Republicans need to keep their hands off songs by The Beatles. You don’t see Democrats co-opting “Cat Scratch Fever.” I’m mostly surprised they didn’t go for “Happiness Is A Warm Gun.”

claytoonz.com/2016/10/03/trump-man

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