May 27, 2017

Trump antagonists fail to see the comic fakeness of a comic artist's comic fake letter from Trump.

On Facebook, Berkeley Breathed — who does the comic strip "Bloom County" — put up a letter purporting to be from Donald Trump's lawyer. Here's the image of the letter, replete with law-firm letterhead and lawyerly bluster about Trump's supposed legal right over the "commercial" use of his image and threatening to sue for an injunction in federal court (specifically the Eastern District of New York).

The prediction that the "lawyer" will win the lawsuit is (pun intended) cheeky: "To use language that you might understand (per my client's wishes) we will have your ass in a sling before lunch." (The word "ass" is redacted in the posted image.)

Breathed followed that with an image of his own letter, typed on his letterhead (and I mean typed, because there's Wite Out.) He says he's "really, very sincerely sorry" and has taken down all the images that are "upsetting the President."

Is that fake-funny enough for everyone to get it? The NYT reports:
The letters rocketed around the internet. By Friday afternoon, CrowdTangle, which tracks social media activity, showed that the original Facebook post was seen by three million newsfeeds and generated 78,000 interactions — people sharing, commenting or otherwise reacting to it. Many of the people who shared the post on social media seemed to take it seriously.
Fake news. People fall for it, especially when it confirms their suspicions. But this wasn't even news. This was a Facebook post from a comics artist.
[The] website Uproxx, wrote about the letter as if it were real — “Trump Is Threatening the Creator of ‘Bloom County’ Over a Facebook Meme [UPDATED],” the headline now reads. That update at the bottom? A tweet from a BuzzFeed reporter who had confirmed with Marc Kasowitz, Mr. Trump’s lawyer, that the letter was not real.

“This is a fraud, not true,” Mr. Kasowitz, who did not reply to an email seeking comment on Friday, told BuzzFeed.
Fraud! Now, poor Breathed is accused of "fraud." He should sue. (I'm kidding!!!)

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Bloom County has made its point.

Quayle said...

I'm not going to comment. I have a feeling that this is a fake blog post.

Eleanor said...

One of the things that has saddened me about this whole election and post inaugural period is having my suspicions of how stupid and gullible people are confirmed. Just look at how many people believe "Sean Spicier" is the real spokesman for the White House. His tweets set Twitter ablaze almost daily.

Temujin said...

Hell, I'm not even sure if I'm real anymore.

David Begley said...

Confirmation bias turns into fact in the minds of many. Fake, but accurate.

The downside here is that no one will believe anything in social media.

traditionalguy said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
traditionalguy said...

The desperate attempt of men to be relevant in some way to what people want is adrift and lost. Or as they say, if you no longer believe in God, then you will desperately believe in anything at all.

Trump will make his decision next week on the fraudulent "Science" of faking data to show beneficial CO2 is pollution.

And the people who no longer believe in God, are desperate to believe that silly hoax to give their lives a meaning.

Wince said...

Trump seems way more serious to me in terms of substance than Obama, Hillary or any of his other detractors.

Maybe after this episode so will Breathed.

The 1980s was a truly classic period in comic strip history. The decade of spiked hair and shoulder pads introduced us to brilliantly off-the-wall The Far Side, the timeless antics of Calvin and Hobbes, and the sociopolitical brilliance of Bloom County.

All of these strips were retired at the height of their popularity by their award-winning creators, and fans have hoped ever since to talk them back into syndication with heaps of fan mail and social media begging, all for naught.

Until now.

Berkeley Breathed has talked himSELF out of retirement after Donald Trump threw his hat into an overpopulated ring of hopefuls for the Republican presidential nomination.

Inspired by Trump's promise to "make America great again," Breathed is making the comics page great again with Bloom County 2015. Bloom County’s Opus, Milo, Bill the Cat and all of the residents of Bloom House are back and they aren't wasting a minute mocking the Republican campaign's greatest bloviator and a renewed national ridiculousness....

After his 25-year hiatus, "Silliness suddenly seems safe now," said Breathed.


Think again, Berkeley.

Fernandinande said...

traditionalguy said...
And the people who no longer believe in God, are desperate to believe that silly hoax to give their lives a meaning.


"God" is the silliest hoax around, you superstitious moron.

William said...

As a comic send up, it wasn't bad....I just recently read the lengthy article on Hillary that Althouse links to. What a monstruous pile of horseshit. It saddens me to think that Hillary will never be mocked by the pros for her fantasies and delusions and, perhaps as a result, they will become increasingly elaborate and unmoored.

Lucien said...

One of the developments of the last twelve months or so is that instead of having access to instant news, I now have the feeling that I have to wait a day or two for things to settle out before what has actually happened becomes clear to any degree.

traditionalguy said...

God is the most intelligent being around. He is by far the best creative artist in the Universe and the best writer. You ought to read His book. And one day God wrote our DNA codes for the fun of knowing us as different people.

Paddy O said...

Berkeley Breathed is a vestige of the great age of newspaper cartoons, along with Bil Waterston and Gary Larson, among others. Really funny, insightful folks who left the stage rather than milk as much money as they can get.

Breathed returned to post cartoons on Facebook directly not too long ago, clearly out a sense of delight in his characters and enjoyment in his work

I've been a fan of his work for a long time and it's great to see him play around on Facebook using the medium brilliantly. It's a bit like having 1980s David Letterman making a comeback.

That Breathed made fun of Trump long ago adds to the fun. He also tends to be pretty balanced in who he's mocking and creative in doing it.

The key is that he's funny and that he's having fun, and he's doing it in his own way rather than being restricted by a media corporation.

Darrell said...

Lefty makes up fake story to get himself in the news again. Tom Arnold nods head.

William said...

All those brilliant Democrats! So much smarter than the average bear.

Sam L. said...

I gave up on Breathed after he restarted Bloom County. Just another Doonesbury.

Michael K said...

The only two comics I read since childhood are Dilbert (Which I discovered about 1994) and Gary Larsen, who sadly quit. I can' t even find his funny birthday cards anymore.

Larsen was lunatic in a good way. I used to have his cartoon of a spider with a web at the end of a child's slide with the caption "If we pull this off, we'll eat like kings." I had just started a new practice so it was about 1986.

Dilbert is not really funny so much as true. Anyone who has been an engineer could almost write the series.

chuck said...

I had hopes that Trump could Make Breathed Great Again, but it didn't work out. The best advice I can give is to stay off his lawn.

Jupiter said...

"replete"?

Lem the artificially intelligent said...

I suspect when people dislike/intensely hate someone, they are immune to their humor and charm.

rehajm said...

ACK!