- by Kevin Necessary
As Kevin’s cartoon captures, Vance’s speech the other day, followed up by his visit with the far-right German party, unearthed horrible legacies from the past.
At the same time, a close read of his speech reveals striking similarities to current Russian and Putin propaganda. Sit down before you read this:
Minimizing Russian Interference
The most obvious echoing of Russian propaganda is Vance minimizing the role played by Russian disinformation and election interference in Europe—exactly as Putin would want him to.
He lectured the gathered leaders:“if your democracy can be destroyed with a few hundred thousand dollars of digital advertising from a foreign country, then it wasn’t very strong to begin with.” He also tried to downplay the role of Musk millions in elections: “if American democracy can survive 10 years of Greta Thunberg’s scolding you guys can survive a few months of Elon Musk.”
The truth is, in December, it was the United States government that issued a terse warning about the extent of Russian interference. Here was a December statement by the U.S. State Department: “We are concerned by the Romanian Supreme Council for National Defense (CSAT) 's report of Russian involvement in malign cyber activity designed to influence the integrity of the Romanian electoral process. Data referenced in the report should be fully investigated to ensure the integrity of Romania's electoral process." An investigation had found “reports from the intelligence services (SRI, SIE), the Foreign Ministry (MAE), and the special telecommunication services (STS), alleging illegal foreign funding in the campaign of far-right presidential candidate Călin Georgescu.”
And while Vance lamely joked about a “few months of Elon Musk,” America recently learned that mere “months” can mean hundreds of millions of dollars flooding the zone. (Just as we are now learning the deep damage rendered by “months” of Musk taking over our government). If Musk can have that dramatic an impact on the US, just imagine what he could do to a smaller country.
And no one knows the potential impact of such spending better than Vance himself (and Ohio). He only won his first office (US Senator) because of $10 million from Peter Thiel!
Undermining Western Democracy
But this is just scratching the surface.
Putin’s far larger project in recent years has been to undermine European (and American) democracies more fundamentally. As Anne Applebaum writes, he and the leaders of today’s autocracies “know that the language of transparency, accountability, justice and democracy will always appeal to some of their own citizens. To stay in power they set out to undermine those ideas, wherever they’re found.”
And while such nations used to try to convince their own people that their own systems were effective, the goal today is different: “‘You may not like our society, but at least we are strong and the democratic world is weak, degenerate, divided, dying.’” (74). Russians “are told constantly about the decline of places they don’t know. [The US and Europe], filled with degeneracy, hypocrisy and Russophobia.” (75). Putin’s “portrayal” to his Russian people is “as the leader of strong, traditional states against weak democracies.” (76).
This is all part of the broader mission: autocracies working together “to stay in power, work together to promote their system, and work together to damage democracies in some distant dystopia.” (121)
It is within that context that you see just how in line Vance’s speech is with Putin’s project, and rhetoric. Vance says he is worried less about security threats from Russia and others, and more “the threat from within”:
“The retreat of Europe from some of its most fundamental values: values shared with the United States of America.”
“We must do more than talk about democratic values. We must live them.”
“[W]hen I look at Europe today, it’s sometimes not so clear what happened to some of the cold war’s winners.”
“But what has seemed a little bit less clear to me, and certainly I think to many of the citizens of Europe, is what exactly it is that you’re defending yourselves for.”
Now compare these quotes to things Putin has said in recent years, such as: "For centuries, the West has claimed to be bringing freedom and democracy to the world. In fact, the exact opposite is true"
Vance and Putin both suggest that the processes of democratic nations are, essentially, rigged—and not democratic at all. More quotes for you:
"Frankly, the democratic procedures and elections in Europe and the forces that come to power look like a front, because almost identical political parties come and go, while deep down things remain the same.”
“It looks more and more like old, entrenched interests hiding behind ugly Soviet era words like misinformation and disinformation, who simply don’t like the idea that somebody with an alternative viewpoint might express a different opinion or, God forbid, vote a different way, or even worse, win an election.”
The first quote is from Putin. The second is from Vance. And boy do they sound similar.
Similarly, Vance and Putin both claim that European leaders no longer reflect the will of the people of their nations. Here are quotes:
“But the crisis this continent faces right now, the crisis I believe we all face together, is one of our own making. If you’re running in fear of your own voters, there is nothing America can do for you.”
"The Western system is not democratic because its rules are imposed from above and do not reflect the will of the majority."
Liberal values have “come into conflict with the interests of the overwhelming majority of the population"
“[I]f we refuse to listen to that voice, even our most successful fights will secure very little.”
“The real interests of people and national businesses are being pushed further and further to the periphery."
European governments are “telling millions of voters that their thoughts and concerns, their aspirations, their pleas for relief, are invalid or unworthy of even being considered”.
There are small hints of who is saying these quotes, but in their overall tenor and much of their language, you’d hardly know the difference.
The answer is, these quotes come from: Vance, Putin, Putin, Vance, Putin, Vance.
But read them again: they could all be part of the same speech. They flow togeteher.
No wonder it was being praised in Russia. He was basically giving Putin’s speech!
Day 78 - February 17, 2025
The acting commissioner of the Social Security Administration, and a Social Security employee for 30 years, resigned from her post rather than acceding DOGE demands that she grant access to the private data of Social Security recipients. Specifically, DOGE sought access to SSA’s “Enterprise Data Warehouse” — a centralized database that serves as the main hub for personal, sensitive information related to social security benefits such as beneficiary records and earnings data.”
An advocate for Social Security workers explained: “[The acting director] was standing in the way and they moved her out of the way. They put someone in who presumably they thought would cooperate with them and give them the keys to all our personal data.”
More than 70 million Americans receive Social Security benefits. But SSA has data beyond just those beneficiaries: “SSA has data on everyone who has a Social Security number, which is virtually all Americans, everyone who has Medicare, and every low-income American who has applied for Social Security's means-tested companion program, Supplemental Security Income."
Kevin’s Commentary:
Welcome back, friends, to another behind the scenes look at my cartooning process. Rev up your chainsaws and let's cut through last week's rough sketches.
Ever since Donald Trump took office again, the very concept of diversity has come under attack.
Governmental departments have been forced to shutter their diversity, equity, and inclusion programs. Language celebrating the contributions of women and people of color have been scrubbed from government websites. Even private companies are curtailing their diversity programs to appease Trump.
While the cuts seem petty, they are a crucial part of Project 2025, the White Christian Nationalist agenda now being enacted by the Trump administration. During the campaign, Trump disavowed any knowledge of Project 2025 as it was unpopular with a wide swath of the electorate. But now that he's in office, Project 2025 is being implemented at warp speed, with (I'm assuming) most of the public none the wiser.
My first two sketches were, essentially, one idea with two variations. I drew a hand — labed Project 2025 — holding a paint roller. In the background are the words "DIVERSITY" AND "HISTORY," the latter a recognition of Black History Month in February. The words are about to be painted over.
While there's nothing wrong with either of these sketches, they are, admittedly, simple. I drew these as a warmup, just to get my brain and drawing hand going before moving on to better ideas. I could see using one of these were I a daily cartoonist and I needed a quick — or desperate — idea. Years ago, when I still worked for news outlets, I'd draw four or five cartoons a week, every week. There were plenty of days when the idea well would run dry and I was stuck trying to come up with something. Anything. I could usually come up with something workable, such as these two sketches, even if they were unremarkable.
Then again, unremarkable is better than nothing.
As Trump and his allies tear down and reforge the federal government in their image, a handful of federal judges have stepped up to try to stop the administration and its overreach. Most notably, judges have tried to block Elon Musk and his DOGE tech bros from running amok and cutting funding to, well, everything.
Except that's not how things work. The American government has three equal branches: the legislature, which creates laws and has the power of the purse; the executive, which executes the laws; and the judicial, which determines whether the laws are constitutional. For over two centuries, our system of checks and balances has kept each branch of government from overpowering the others.
That system is now all but broken. Trump is an authoritarian. He demands that he wield ultimate power. Congress, under the limp leadership of House Speaker Mike Johnson, was more than happy to roll over and abdicate its power to Trump. And with the Roberts' court essentially granting Trump the authority to do whatever the hell he wants, there's seemingly little anyone inside the government can do to stop him.
The few judges who have tried to block Trump and Musk have now come under threat by MAGA. Why? Because they know the law, and the law says that even presidents have to obey judges and follow the rules. MAGA representatives in Congress have threatened to impeach the judges, while both Trump and JD Vance have stated unequivocally that Trump is not beholden to the law.
I had several cartoon ideas about Trump's current battle with our legal system. I hitched the first sketch to Valentine's Day, trying to marry the cartoon topic with the then-impending romantic holiday. In the first two panels we see a closeup of a Valentine's Day card featuring a riff on the ol' "Roses are red" poem. But instead of sweet nothings, the card is actually a threat to a judge, demanding that he fall in line. Finally, we see the judge scowling as he looks over his shoulder at the card's sender, Trump.
I think I spent more time trying to come up with the perfect poem than I did actually drawing the sketch. But that's also the main issue with the idea. Over the years I've done my fair share of Valentine's Day cartoons. And a handful have featured the "Roses are red" cliche. I'd venture to say most editorial cartoonists have done similar Valentine's Day cartoons at least once. It's just not a fresh idea, and I should have challenged myself more to come up with something better.
The final cartoon fell into place quickly. I used the idea of the three branches of government and drew them sprouting from a tree, and had JD Vance severing the legislative and judicial branches with a chainsaw. Vance was Trump's vanguard, advancing the (very unlawful) notion that Trump does not have to obey judges. Vance does know better. He's a Yale Law graduate. He just doesn't care. It seemed fitting that he be the one using the chainsaw.
This was one of those drawings that just felt right. I don't know how else to put it. The act of drawing itself went smoothly. (It doesn't always. Some days my drawing arm feels like it's under 20 pounds of wet cement.) I nailed Vance's caricature. As horrible of a human being as he is, he's kind of fun to draw. I like giving him a big Neaderthal forehead, and I accentuate his thick eyelashes and full lips. Even the pose had the right amount of energy. (And if you want to see the goofy reference photo I took of myself to get the pose just right, click here.) Everything with this drawing just worked.
And that about does it for me this week. As always, thank you for subscribing to Pepperspectives. I'll be back next week with more rough sketches. Until then, take care.
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