GOP Antoinette

The story of Marie Antoinette uttering the phrase “Let them eat cake” when faced with the reality of Paris food riots is most likely apocryphal. If she did say it, it’s much more likely she said “Let them eat brioche “ and not cake, regardless the story itself is meant to illustrate the indifference of the upper class to the struggles of their perceived lessers, which is exactly why I chose it for this cartoon. The government shutdown is going on a month now and it’s about to claim SNAP benefits, the last line of defense against childhood hunger and food insecurity.

Upon further thought, however, I don’t think the willingness of the party in power to let Americans go hungry can be chalked up to indifference alone. I think some in the party, more than we’d like to admit it, see this shutdown as an opportunity. I think they see individuals and families who need government assistance to help meet their nutritional needs as less than, a belief that was around long before Trump. Regan trafficked in the myth of the “welfare queen” to great effect back in the eighties and the party has refused to give up its bullshit “bootstraps” ethos ever since. Why can’t these dirty poors just borrow a million dollars from their parents and make something of themselves like I did?

Remember, this is the party that continues to rail against free school lunch programs. They are vocally, proudly and publicly opposed to feeding hungry children on grounds they perceive as moral. Leveraging the shutdown to further deprive vulnerable families of much needed help, while beyond the bounds of decency, is in no way outside the realm of possibility.

As the party in control of the house, senate and presidency, it’s the Republicans prerogative to continue fostering oligarchy while eroding the meager safety net available to American families, but, spoiler alert: you may want to google how that ended for Marie Antoinette and the French aristocracy.