jasonderoga86: The O.G. Lil' Hero Artist (Default)
Kamala Harris just keeps rackin' em UP! Apparently another ally has joined the surrogates, and it's a real SHOCKER -- Caroline Rose Giuliani, daughter of disgraced former "America's Mayor" Rudy Giuliani, has joined the coalition. But it's Caroline's reasoning behind her decision to endorse that hits so hard. 

I've read a lot of stories about families -- closely bonded families AND friendships -- that all went to Hell after Donald Trump happened. And these stories were terrifying; I can't fathom how someone as insignificant and worthless as Trump could wreak such damage across the most sacred of interpersonal relationships. So a recent article on Vanity Fair, written by Caroline herself, spoke to me quite viscerally. 

Here are some of the most striking quotes I found in Caroline's Vanity Fair article: 

"If the president isn’t going to be subject to the law like every other citizen, which remains incomprehensible to me, then our president had better have a moral compass. A 34-time convicted felon who’s been found liable for sexual abuse, tries to steal elections, and demeans people based on their race, sexuality, disability status, and gender falls remarkably short of the bar we must set for ourselves as a country.

"A democracy by definition cannot be fixed or calcified. It must have the flexibility to change according to the wishes of its people, not the despotic dreams of one.

"I am also voting for Harris because she is the only candidate who cares about my rights as a woman. The reversal of Roe v Wade was a shocking and horrifying “accomplishment” of Trump’s that has already resulted in the unforgivable and unnecessary deaths of innocent women like Amber Nicole Thurman. Seeing Republican state officials enact draconian abortion bans and threaten fertility care is incredibly personal for me. 

"We live at a crossroads in history, where the future of not only our democracy but our planet is at stake. Trump’s first-term position on the Climate Crisis was to call it a hoax while stripping away climate regulations and giving the fossil fuel industry everything they wanted and more.

"Take it from me, Trump destroys everything he touches. I saw it happen to my family. Don’t let it happen to yours, or to our country."

Caroline also goes into painful, heartbreaking detail about her relationship to her dad, Rudy -- though the rest of us know all about his fall from grace, Caroline obviously felt the pain on a much deeper level. At one point in the article, Caroline describes her final, most heartbreaking plea to her dad to reject the opportunity to be Trump's attorney... only for Rudy to take up the job anyway the following day. As the quote above implies, Caroline, in a way, has directly and contemptuously charged Trump with the "death" of Rudy Giuliani; she loves her dad dearly... but her dad isn't her dad anymore. 

This is frightening, the account of the daughter of the most disgraced mayor in American history -- which is compounded by the recently unsealed report from Judge Chutkan detailing in STARK DETAIL damning evidence of Trump's actions to deny the results of the 2020 election, leading to the assault on democracy on January 6th, 2021 which led to nine people dying and more than a thousand Capital police officers being brutalized and forever changed. 

Yup, and the Harris-Walz campaign also launched a new ad, taking full advantage of yesterday's vice presidential debate where JD Vance went and full up pretended that Jan. 6 didn't even happen and chose to attack Harris on the grounds of some kind of "censorship"...

We're Not Going Back. Harris-Walz for 2024. 

Caroline Giuliani's call to preserve America's democracy on Vanity Fair.
jasonderoga86: The O.G. Lil' Hero Artist (Default)
This is pretty much a message to my pals here who follow my comics currently on Comic Fury, Lil' Hero Artists and Sneakers' U-Force. 

Comic Fury HAS descended into a heated, incensed, and controversial internet gladiator brawl recently, over something completely trivial. I'm not going to deny that, I've seen (and been a victim of) it myself. It pains me that as far as website conduct goes, decorum and simple respect have ceased to exist. The site I came to back in 2012 doesn't exist anymore. And right now, I'm shocked, confused, and most of all...sad.

My comics wouldn't have reached the success they currently have were it not for CF. Moreover, the drive to keep creating the pages and post them online wouldn't have been as inspired had it not been for CF. As I've always said, I don't care about how many views I get in a day, week, month, or even year. The whole point of putting this online is for the fact that there is always ONE PERSON somewhere on this globe who will give even a single look at my stuff. There is not a single story out there that NOBODY likes, and likewise, that EVERYONE likes. That experience spurred me forward to get to where I am now, and most of all, it's just the act of creating that fuels all of this. That's something I came to understand after watching Neil Gaiman's "Make Good Art" commencement speech long, long ago.

Therefore, I will still use Comic Fury, but only for posting my work and interacting with my fans. I'm inspired by Lady Jess continuing Promised Memories despite the current horrible situation at the site as a whole.

Matt Zimmer, TwedeeNimbus, and Jazz Nevermore, I totally respect your decision to drop CF. I've always encouraged this after my own experiences on what's left of the forums (they'll probably be fully dead soon). I won't even ask you to leave any more comments, what you've already said is good enough for me. However, I hope you'll still check my stuff out, your support through readership means the world to me.

I'll remain there, but as far as associating goes, I'm out. Flame wars and finger-pointing are NOT my idea of civilized discourse.

jasonderoga86: The O.G. Lil' Hero Artist (Default)
I heard somewhere that Poland has ousted their extremist right-wing government in an election marked by a MASSIVE turnout. This is proof that autocracy can be dismantled and slain like a dragon. Still going silent on the news, but this does make me hopeful for 2024 here. We're not an autocracy -- we were from 2016 to 2020 (and sweet Lord Almighty, was it disgustingly vile), but never again. The Psuedo-Hitler was kicked out, and will NEVER return. No, not when a HUGE majority of American citizens overall DESPISE him.
jasonderoga86: The O.G. Lil' Hero Artist (Default)
I woke up this morning to check the stats of my comic Lil' Hero Artists, on Comic Fury, to find that I'd amassed around 860 views. This was around 5:15 am, PDT. The morning just started. I'm really humbled by all of this, but I can't help but feel a pang of guilt.

Because of my authoritarian household upbringing, I was always conditioned to be obedient to a fault, especially when it came to education. I was always pressured to bury my nose in the textbooks, and though I was allowed to play video games and such, indulging in anything with the word "drawing" in it was strictly discouraged because it "wouldn't get me anywhere" and took me away from hitting the books. The fact that I've gotten where I am in art and more specifically the comics medium is an achievement in and of itself in my opinion. And that's to say nothing of the abusive environment of said household, which remains so even now. I'm working with a psychiatrist and counselor to figure that out. I can't go into detail, but hopefully I can get something set in stone by September.

With this upbringing comes a massive guilt complex, and sometimes bouts of self-loathing. I look at my progress and I think about all of the people I've subbed to on Comic Fury whose works I've yet to fully catch up on, that it's been so long since I had time to read them that a reread is usually in order, and even commissions for comic projects of other friends of mine (I had done the art for a comic installment a close friend of mine wrote, and it was fulfilling, yet difficult. I'm happy he was impressed with the end product, I was legitimately afraid I didn't deliver).

I just wish there was someway I could tell them that I haven't lost interest, that I value their works, and that they in turn help me not to lose faith in mine, but it just seems impossible. Couple that with all these other responsibilities to friends and my co-workers/staff at work (at this point, I don't believe I have any obligations to my immediate family whatsoever), and it's just a huge 100 lb. dumbbell on my shoulders. I hope this isn't how I should be feeling, the last thing I want to do is betray the trust of anyone I've become friends with. I've had my trust shattered by a select few in my life, and I would not wish this feeling on anyone.

...unless of course, "anyone"  is a sadist. I can make an exception
there. 

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