Down with fascism

Tonight's was an impulsive and quick study of the Michigan Secretary of State, Jocelyn Benson, who called out the fascist in the White House today when he threatened to withhold funds from the state of Michigan during the pandemic because her office mailed vote-by-mail applications to all Michigan residents eligible to vote. The great idiot first called her out for mailing them absentee ballots, which would be illegal, but that's not what she did, so she clapped back.

Riffing off of earlier criticism of the massive asshole when he referred to Governor Gretchen Whitmer as "the woman from Michigan," Benson tweeted, "Hi! I also have a name, it’s Jocelyn Benson. And we sent applications, not ballots. Just like my GOP colleagues in Iowa, Georgia, Nebraska and West Virginia."

The state authorized no-reason absentee voting in a referendum in 2018. The coward's claim is that "Mail-in ballots are a very dangerous thing. They're, they're subject of massive fraud." In fact, there is little fraud present in absentee voting (especially compared to voting machine interference), and Michigan has put in place safeguards including signature verification specifically to prevent fraud.

I read a piece online by Heather Cox Richardson about the whole thing, and someone in the comments dropped in Benson's address in Michigan and said "a postcard to her to say 'good job' would be nice," so I decided to send one. Since all I have are blank watercolor postcards, of course I had to paint something on the front, so I did Benson's portrait. Not a perfect likeness, but maybe she will enjoy it. You go, girl.

Uniball pen and watercolors on Strathmore "Kids Series" postcard.

Secrets

This one could possibly be included in my "people reading" series, but since the subject is reading her own words, I'm not sure it counts!

I'm still trying to find the secret of painting Kirsti. This one is marginally better—it looks more like her, but a blander her than the one I know. Of course, to pull it off I had to use a reference photo with half of her face covered! I will achieve it someday.

Meanwhile, it's another birthday for Kirsti, so Happy B-day, Mama! Someday I will figure out your secret!

Uniball pen, Jackson watercolors, Bee sketchbook.