Strait Outta Dilemma

Attribution: Iran War by Milt Priggee, WeAreGettingScrewed.org

[Milt Priggee is a freelance editorial cartoonist from northwest Washington State. His work has been reprinted in Time, Newsweek, U.S. News & World report, The New York Times, Washington Post and USA Today.]

*Apologies to Drs Who and Dre

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70 thoughts on “Strait Outta Dilemma”


  1. The war against Iran is making America’s affordability crisis worse, Stephen imagines a future beyond President Trump, and VP Vance sounds ridiculous criticizing the Pope.

  2. Attribution: Pope Leo and Donald Trump by Taylor Jones, Politicalcartoons.com
    Taylor Jones has been drawing caricatures, political cartoons and editorial illustrations for a rather long time. He does very little else except fidget, drawing for Cagle Cartoons and the Hoover Digest.

  3. Attribution: Trump Compares Himself To Jesus by Bob Englehart, PoliticalCartoons.com
    Bob Englehart was the editorial cartoonist for the Hartford Courant for 35 years when his job was eliminated by the hedge fund that bought the newspaper. Before that, he worked for Chicago Today, the Journal-Gazette in Ft. Wayne, IN and the Journal Herald in Dayton, OH. He studied at the American Academy of Art in Chicago on scholarship. His progressive editorial cartoons have been distributed all over the world by CagleCartoons.com for nearly 20 years.

  4. FYI as to thread title
    Straight Outta Gallifrey is a Doctor Who podcast dedicated to episodes that feature other Time Ladies and Timelords other than the Doctor. We will discuss the mythos of Gallifrey and the Timelords.
    or
    Straight Outta Compton is a 2015 American epic biographical drama film that tells the story of hip-hop group N.W.A’s rise and fall under manager Jerry Heller.
    or
    Straight (strait) outta Hormuz is emblematic of being an inexperienced, foolish person who is unable to negotiate in an environment that is not for beginners.
    It is coined in the wake of Trump’s 2026 blunder of bombing Iran in a war of choice for Israel without a plan, sycophantic equilibrium, and all the unintended consequences that follow.

  5. The gamble in Trump’s Iran blockade that could decide the war

    Growing hopes of US officials, conservative editorial pages and analysts that the blockade could bring Iran to its knees rest on an assumption that has repeatedly led the US astray in the Middle East… The strategy assumes that Iran will respond to the pressure in a way that Washington perceives as logical… But Iran authorities have already shown indifference to the suffering of their people.

    — (CNN Senior Reporter Stephen Collinson)

  6. Hey Texas, …. WaPo

    Largely secret donors pour millions into election that could tip Congress

    
Most of the almost $100 million raised to influence the vote, heavily favoring Democrats, comes from nonprofits that don’t have to disclose their donors.

    By Clara Ence Morse and Gregory S. Schneider

    Massive amounts of money are flowing into Virginia’s redistricting referendum as Democrats and Republicans from across the nation wrestle for control of the House of Representatives, but the identities of individual contributors — and their agendas — remain cloaked in secrecy.
    About 95 percent of the total $93 million raised so far in Virginia, as of a Monday night filing deadline, came from nonprofit groups not required to disclose their donors, according to state elections records. The proportion of dark money turning up on both sides of the campaign outstrips last year’s similar referendum in California, where wealthy individuals, political committees and unions gave far more than similar nonprofits.

    President Donald Trump touched off a redistricting arms race last year by pushing Republican states to create more GOP-leaning congressional districts to help his party maintain its thin majority in the House. Texas, North Carolina and Missouri responded, and then Democrats counterpunched by passing a referendum to create five new blue-leaning districts in California.

    Virginia is the next biggest prize for Democrats; its 11 House seats are held by six Democrats and five Republicans, but if voters approve an April 21 referendum, Democrats have promised to implement a map that gives them an advantage in 10 districts.

    The main vote-yes group, Virginians for Fair Elections, has reported raising $64 million — far more money than its fragmented opponents. The group has spent $16 million on television ads, outspending anti-redistricting groups 10 to 1 on the airwaves, according to a Post analysis of data provided by tracking firm AdImpact.

    But figuring out where Virginians for Fair Elections’ money came from is like unpacking a Russian nesting doll, with layers of other interest groups contributing cash without any requirement that they disclose where their money originated.
    One such group, House Majority Forward, the political nonprofit arm of House Democrats, has given nearly $40 million in support of the amendment. Led by Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-New York), House Majority Forward is not required by law to disclose its donors.

    Another political nonprofit called the Fairness Project donated more than $12 million to Virginians for Fair Elections. That group was in turn funded by other nonprofits including Demand Justice Initiative, Families United for Freedom and Black Progressive Action Coalition. Other top donors included George Soros’ Fund for Policy Reform, which also gave to support the California redistricting ballot measure, and the Virginia Democratic Party.

    […]

    I don’t support the underlying system that allows either political districting to gain advantage in the midterms or political nonprofit donor anonymity, but them’s the rules of the game. Dems would be STUPID to avoid them on principle.

  7. PROGRAMMING NOTE: Our daily Digital Diner podcast airs 11-Noon ET on YouTube. JOIN Chatroom Here. WATCH Yesterday’s Replay Here.

    What’s Actually Clicking: April 16, 2026

    1. World News: Consecutive Israeli strikes kill 4 Lebanese medics as Israel-Hezbollah war grinds on – AP News
    2. World News: Ukraine’s Zelenskyy pursues more arms deals with allies to defend itself against Russia – AP News
    3. World News: Photos show damage after Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, as residents take shelter – AP News
    4. Weather: Severe storms with heavy winds, hail, and potential tornadoes possible in Pittsburgh – CBS News
    5. Crime: Eighth grade student kills 9 people, wounds 13 in Turkey’s 2nd school shooting in 2 days – CBS News
    6. Offbeat: American YouTuber Johnny Somali sentenced to 6 months in South Korean prison over offensive stunts – CBS News
    7. Politics: President Trump says Iran war is ‘very close to being over’ and more top headlines – Fox News
    8. Sports: Twins Investigating Jarren Duran’s Allegation That Fan Told Him to Kill Himself – Fox News
    9. Sports: 2026-27 NFL Odds: Only One Division Winner Favored to Repeat – Fox News
    10. Media: Ari Shapiro Joins CNN as Contributor – CNN

    These are the stories driving the most traffic right now—not necessarily the stories we think you should read, and not always the most recent.

    A roundup by our AI partner Silas (Gemini).

  8. they must’ve missed when “Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me” in Matt 19:14 KJV
    Trump axes migrant child care deal with Catholic Charities in Miami amid feud with Pope Leo XIV
    The Trump administration has canceled an $11 million federal contract with Catholic Charities in Miami that provided housing and care for unaccompanied migrant children, abruptly ending a decades-long partnership between the U.S. government and the Catholic Church.
    The move comes as tensions escalate between President Donald Trump and Pope Leo XIV, whose criticism of U.S. policies on migration and the war in Iran has drawn direct responses from the president.
    The contract, administered through the Office of Refugee Resettlement within the Department of Health and Human Services, funded a network of shelters and foster care services for migrant children arriving in the United States without parents or guardians. Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami operated one such program, including an 81-bed shelter and a broader system focused on family reunification and trauma-informed care.
    Miami Archbishop Thomas Wenski said the decision would force the program to shut down within three months, as reported by The Miami Herald. “The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities,” Wenski wrote, adding that the organization’s services “have been recognized for their excellence” and “served as a model for other agencies throughout the country.” [continues]

  9. New York Times:

    Pope Leo XIV is not backing down.

    Amid a growing dispute with the Trump administration over the legitimacy of American attacks in Iran, Leo used a speech on Thursday in Cameroon to express “woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth. Blessed are the peacemakers”.

  10. Interesting results so far on the Smerconish poll. If you add the two socially liberal results together, it is 83% of the respondents.

  11. that just tells the percentage of his audience that are motivated enough to seek out that poll to participate, not really representative of anything

  12. Ha!
    Donald Trump is going to war with the Catholic church?

    Just when you thought the world couldn’t get any crazier, the fearless leader stands up and says, “here, hold my beer”
    First it is war with the Imams of Shia Islam, then the pope, who next the Dalai Lama?

    Jack

  13. Tom Turner, the director of the Bishop Sullivan center, a Catholic social service charity in the old neighborhood was often ask why he didn’t go after government grants and contracts. His reply, “too many strings”

    Jack

  14. anon

    Smerconish voters always lean liberal, but I do believe it is a general direction Trump is pushing people with his nonsense, vengeance, and economic hits on average household.

  15. looks good Jack

    did you gamble with the last frost date? you’re weeks ahead of me except on ‘maters

    my brassicas and corn just started germinating

  16. Wow, Jack! That looks really nice!

    Went out after the hailstorm yesterday & the onions had a little damage. Didn’t pay attention to the rhubarb because I noticed it was bolting yesterday morning; clipped those off, but doubt we’ll get a pie out of it this year, as it’s putting its energy into bolts.

  17. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/pete-hegseth-pulp-fiction-bible-quote-1236566414/

    Pete Hegseth Reads Tarantino’s Fake Bible Quote From ‘Pulp Fiction’ at Prayer Service

    *Bwaahaahaa! OMG! ROTFLMAO! “Aviator”? LoL

    “They call it CSAR 25:17, which I think is meant to reflect Ezekiel 25:17,” Hegseth told his audience (video below). “It reads — and pray with me please — ‘the path of the downed aviator is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who in the name of camaraderie and duty shepherds the lost through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother, and you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee. Amen.”

  18. Today in the Dinner… DEXTER GOT IN!!!
    Trump’s God Complex, WH Press Secs & Social Security

    Trump’s bizarre proxy war with God, Howard Mortman on White House 4/20 history, and why the wealthy stop paying Social Security in just 15 minutes.

    The absurdity of the political theater has officially breached the stratosphere. We’re watching a former president wage a proxy war with the Almighty through bizarre social media posts, desperately defended by the likes of Franklin Graham. It’s a spectacular meltdown of intellectual honesty, complete with cognitive short-circuits over fast-food pizzas and confused vocabulary. We just grab a front-row seat and try to find the silver lining in the daily dumpster fire.

    Howard Mortman drops in from C-SPAN to remind us of a quaint time when a White House Press Secretary admitting to smoking a joint in college was a scandalous anomaly, not just another Tuesday. We dig into the history of the podium, from FDR’s meticulous diaries to Sean Spicer hiding in the bushes. Then we pivot to the actual grift: the Social Security tax cap. When billionaires max out their contributions 15 minutes into the New Year, you have to wonder why politicians aren’t shouting this from the rooftops.

    https://trailmix.cc/chat
    https://trailmix.cc
    https://trailmix.cc/alerts

    00:00 Intro
    02:24 Trump’s Messiah Complex & Franklin Graham
    07:49 New York’s Pied-a-Terre Wealth Tax
    09:35 Howard Mortman & White House 4/20 History
    14:45 Ranking White House Press Secretaries
    27:10 Jack’s Garden & Defeating Cabbage Moths
    41:00 Texas Politics & Talarico’s Campaign Millions
    45:15 Midterm Strategies & Wes Moore on the Trail
    48:15 Crucial Senate Races to Watch
    53:20 The Social Security Tax Cap Outrage
    59:38 Proxy Wars with the Pope

  19. Ezekial 25:17 quote:
    “And I will execute great vengeance upon them with furious rebukes; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall lay my vengeance upon them.” (King James edition)

    Pulp Fiction Quote”
    “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy my brothers. And you will know my name is the Lord when I lay my vengeance upon thee.”

    Hegseth quote:
    “And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to capture and destroy my brother. And you will know my call sign is Sandy 1 when I lay my vengeance upon thee, and amen.”

    Idiot.

  20. Siargao Is Not for Sale: When Hospitality Becomes Surrender

    It must be made clear: raising concerns about repeated misconduct involving Israeli tourists is not an act of racism or anti-Semitism. It is a call for accountability.

    Business owners have reported difficult encounters with some Israeli clientele, including refusal to follow rules and retaliatory negative reviews when confronted. Others describe groups arriving in numbers, displaying a sense of entitlement, and reacting aggressively when challenged. The perception that some of these visitors—many of whom are former military personnel traveling after mandatory service—carry themselves with a certain assertiveness or insensitivity has only deepened unease within the community.

    Siargao’s openness has long been its strength, but locals now fear it is being taken advantage of. Reports of foreign-linked establishments, informal hubs like the so-called “Israeli House,” and proposals for larger community structures have sparked concern about the gradual formation of foreign enclaves. Critics argue that these developments, especially when pursued without broad local consultation, risk reshaping the island’s identity and concentrating economic benefits away from residents. What begins as tourism, they warn, may slowly evolve into long-term influence and control.

    Allegations persist—fair or not—that some Israeli nationals are able to operate businesses through local proxies or “dummy” arrangements, and that violations are often met with warnings rather than firm penalties.

    https://x.com/iicepilled/status/2044694880740679802

  21. I would not want to wager how many wanna-be violent people memorized that Samuel Jackson speech and delivery.

    Don’t know who was responsible but Mr Jackson achieved Cinema Immortality, joining the ranks of the very lucky actors who get to do that and have a few of those cinematic Momemts to their credit.

    I bet Heg knew exactly where it came from. I’d wager on that. Not MUCH, mind you……but …..

  22. What if the Sermon on the Mount sounded like a late-night real estate pitch for a beautiful, massive fish? We’re serving up the absurdity of the political Messiah Complex on today’s Digital Diner menu. It’s a perfectly deranged look at fighting proxy battles with God.

    Watch the 30-second short:

  23. he’s gotta resign, he’ll never live this down, it’s the douchiest thing anyone has ever done

    laughingstock

  24. More Orwellian New Speak: tRUMPsky’s ~Big, Beautiful Bill~ is now the ~Working Family Tax Cuts~ (just add FOR BILLIONAIRES & it’s spot on)

    Better yet, add “For The EPSTEIN Class”

  25. I think he knew—he had it close to down pat, like he and his buddies sat around and took turns doing it.

  26. OK, I thought of the proper analogy

    It would be as if Donald Rumsfeld quoted Dirty Harry in earnest and them denied it

    The douchiest twist is that he probably thought he was currying favor with Christians, they all think he’s an asshole now too

  27. https://time.com/article/2026/04/16/trump-executive-order-bank-citizenship-information-bessent-immigration/

    Trump Order to Require Banks to Collect Citizenship Info ‘In Process,’ Bessent Says.

    Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said that an Executive Order that would mandate that banks must collect citizenship information from customers is currently “in process.”

    REAL IDs do not prove a person’s citizenship and would not qualify as eligible documentation, Semafor reported.

    Speaking with Semafor in an interview published on Monday, Bessent went on to say he doesn’t believe such a requirement would be “unreasonable, because: Why don’t we have information on who’s in our banking system? I have a place in the UK; they want to know who lives in every apartment. And how do we know that it’s not part of a foreign terrorist organization?”

    *Ha! Bessent just outed himself to the UK as part of a foreign, terrorist organization (the tRUMPstein Regime).

    The impact of a requirement of this kind could be widespread, potentially creating hurdles for the U.S. banking system, non-citizens, and millions of American citizens without ready access to documents proving their citizenship.

  28. it would be like if McNamara had said “and now my favorite Bible verse ‘love love me do, you know I love you and I’ll always be true so please please love me do” and then people said, isn’t that the Beatles and he said who are the Beatles

    It’s hard to think of a proper analogy that would sufficiently relate how douchey Hegseth is because there is no historical parallel

    it’s the most buffoonish thing a very powerful person besides trump has ever said

    OK, I had to venture out of the cinematic realm for the proper analogy, but the Beatles one works

  29. here, let me start the memes

    “and now for my favorite Bible verse, ‘Andy Dufresne crawled through 500 yards of stinking filth can’t even imagine’”

  30. “… as Jesus, who died for our sins, once loudly proclaimed, according to Luke: ‘life moves pretty fast sometimes if you don’t stop to look around, you might miss it bomp bomp chicka chicka’”

  31. The Trump Administration Is in a Psychotic State

    His pathologies have cascaded downward and outward through his administration. They have become institutionalized. The reason the administration so often does not act coherently is that it cannot. The world faces something new and baffling and frightening in Mr. Trump’s second term: a psychotic state.

    Jonathan Rauch and Peter Wehner (NYT Guest Essay)

  32. Pro Tip of the day – when requesting military service records from the great depository of military records and you are looking for your reserve records, do not search the active duty records and use the correct dates.

    Maybe later I will have the initiative to do it again, correctly.

  33. Adolf only picked cabinet members who sucked up to him.

    Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

  34. https://thedeepdive.ca/johnson-pope-just-war/

    Did Johnson Just Theology-Splain Augustine’s ‘Just War Doctrine’ To The Augustinian Pope Leo XIV?

    *He sure did.

    Johnson told reporters Wednesday that the issue in the Middle East was “a very well-settled matter of Christian theology” and referred to “something called the just war doctrine” while responding to Pope Leo XIV’s condemnation of those who wage war.

    The pope had previously said that Jesus “does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war,” a formulation the US Conference of Catholic Bishops later defended as consistent with Catholic teaching on war and peace.

    The irony landed because Pope Leo XIV is not a casual participant in Augustinian theology. Born Robert Francis Prevost, he entered the Order of St. Augustine in 1977, studied canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, and served as Prior General of the Augustinian Order from 2001 to 2013.

    Augustine of Hippo, the fourth- and fifth-century bishop whose writings shaped Western Christianity, is central to the Catholic just war tradition.

    Reuters noted this week that Augustine formulated principles requiring war to be defensive, aimed at restoring peace, and not rooted in cruelty, even as those principles are being invoked in arguments over the US-Israel war in Iran.

  35. Oh, golly. What’s up with all of the political ads on TV tonight? All Republicans with all of their fearmongering against LGBTQ and wokeism. Nothing that will help with day-to-day living if affordability. Repugz are not changing up their game.

  36. Democrats need four Senate flips this midterm. Against all logic, they actually have a shot at two. Roy Cooper in NC and the guy currently haunting Susan Collins in Maine lead my hopelessly optimistic tier list.

  37. re: procured compost

    it’s a dice roll no matter who you get it from unless they assure you otherwise with proper testing

    i was thinking about sending a sample of mine for testing

    i could have paid as much as $250 a yard for soil which is crazy, or not apparently

    paid $45

  38. https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd9vpv35jk3o

    Todd Lyons, the acting director of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), is planning to leave the agency, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin has confirmed.

    Lyons, who oversaw hundreds of thousands of deportations, will step away from the role after 31 May to join the private sector.

    *Crimes against humanity don’t just go away because you leave for a private sector job.

  39. https://www.aol.com/lifestyle/trump-abruptly-cuts-funding-miami-231532735.html

    Trump ‘Abruptly’ Cuts Funding to Miami Catholic Charity Amid Exploding Tensions With Pope Leo

    According to the Miami Herald, the Trump administration has abruptly canceled an $11 million contract with Catholic Charities that to shelter migrant children who enter the U.S. alone, thereby ending a relationship between the Catholic Charities and the U.S. government which started back during the first arrivals of Cuban exiles in South Florida.

    The report reveals that Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami has supported unaccompanied minors with essential services for over 60 years, but now faces the possibility of shutting down within months after the administration ended the $11 million federal contract.

    The Archdiocese of Miami said on Tuesday, April 14, that Archbishop Thomas Wenski was not immediately available to comment on the cancellation.

    A statement from Wenski was later shared with the Miami Herald’s editorial board.

    “The U.S. government has abruptly decided to end more than 60 years of relationship with Catholic Charities in the Archdiocese of Miami,” the statement said.

    *Pope v Anti-Christ?
    *Pope v Demented Mob Boss?

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