Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas is under scrutiny after a ProPublica investigation showed Thomas and his wife, Ginni, had for 20 years secretly accepted travel on private jets and yachts and other gifts from billionaire Republican donor Harlan Crowe, in apparent violation of ethics rules. Thomas said they were “family trips” that did not need to be disclosed; legal experts disagreed.
Last week, ProPublica further reported that the justice’s benefactor, Harlan Crowe, bought property in Georgia from Thomas that also was not disclosed.
Editorial cartoonists lampooned the affair, led by Drew Sheneman’s portrayal of Thomas sailing into the sunset on a yacht named “Lifetime Appointment.” The justice’s robe doubles as a beach coverup in Walt Handelsman’s view. Steve Breen draws Thomas reclining on the bench … of a luxury boat.
Gun control protests in the wake of a mass shooting at a Christian school in Nashville led to the short-lived expulsion of two Tennessee Democratic state legislators by the Republican-controlled legislature. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson reclaimed their seats after their respective local governments voted to send them back. Phil Hands and Nick Anderson each note that the expulsions only served to catapult the legislators (and their issues) onto the national stage. Several cartoonists comment on the growing toll of gun violence.
Other events depicted in this week’s cartoons include criticism of the makers of Bud Light for its marketing association with a transgender activist; a Texas federal judge’s ban on the abortion pill mifepristone; and the leak of classified information about the Ukraine war by a Massachusetts Air National Guard member.
Cartoons were drawn by Nick Anderson, Bill Bramhall, Dana Summers, Drew Sheneman, Scott Stantis, Walt Handelsman, David Horsey, Phil Hands, Joel Pett and Joey Weatherford of Tribune Content Agency; and Steve Breen, Mike Luckovich and Michael Ramirez of Creators Syndicate.
