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Best OpEds 2020
Photo credit: Sushil NashE

In addition to hard-hitting news, WhoWhatWhy brings you insightful, sometimes controversial, sometimes hilarious, and always thought-provoking commentary and opinion. Here are some of our favorite pieces from this year.

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From skewering Donald Trump to filleting William Barr and Mitch McConnell, DonkeyHotey’s razor-sharp wit was on full display this year. 

It’s interesting to see how some of the targets have evolved. In January, Fox News was shredded for helping tear the country apart. By the end of the year, it’s been outdone by even more divisive right-wing TV outlets. Then there was UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson. In March he was roasted for making light of COVID-19, pursuing the dubious idea of herd immunity. Nowadays, Johnson, after being infected with the coronavirus, takes the pandemic much more seriously. 

And how about Attorney General William Barr? In June he was excoriated for his role at the center of the jaw-dropping spectacle outside the White House when US Park Police and National Guard troops cleared Lafayette Park of Black Lives Matter protesters. They were tear-gassed so President Trump could march across for a photo-op outside a church, bible awkwardly in hand. By Christmas, Barr had resigned, unable to bring himself to support Trump’s efforts to overturn the election, including the idea of using the military to seize voting machines.

But then there are those cartoons that could have been drawn today, like the one of Trump taking a torch to EPA regulations, or Trump refusing to concede defeat, or McConnell fighting to keep businesses immune from COVID-19 lawsuits.

What a year. Here are some of our favorite DonkeyHotey cartoons that accompanied some of our favorite hard-hitting op-eds from 2020. 

Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, Ilhan Omar, Fox News

Trump’s daily mind meld. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Like a Fox — How a TV Channel Is Tearing America Apart

For two decades, Fox News has made piles of money from creating a fictional America in which conservatives are under assault and can play the victim. Under Trump, the network stopped pretending that it is fair and balanced.


Boris Johnson, coronavirus

Boris Johnson comic stylings at Number 10 Funny Street. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Mad Dogs and Englishmen Go Out in the Coronavirus Spring

After weeks of growing confusion, Prime Minister Boris Johnson has finally shuttered schools and social venues in the UK; his campaign against coronavirus may be too little, too late.


Donald Trump, EPA

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0). See complete attribution below.

Trump’s Dirty Deed: Latest EPA Deregulation Will Kill Americans

The Trump White House has not let a pandemic interfere with its drive to gut environmental regulations. 


Mitch McConnell, COVID-19, immunity

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

McConnell Is Pushing One COVID-19 ‘Cure’ America Does Not Need

As America tries to reopen, workers and consumers should not lose their only weapon to hold businesses accountable.


William Barr, pepper spray

It smells like victory. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Law and Disorder: Time for a Rethink

America’s difficulties with law enforcement trace back to colonial days.


Our Counterfeit President

The Big House or the White House: Thefts of different magnitudes and their inverse results


Ron DeSantis, schools, Florida, COVID-19

Florida Governor DeSantis wants business as usual at any cost. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

No One Wants Schools Shut Down

That doesn’t mean they should open. 


Donald Trump, Mike Pence, Jacinda Ardern

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Lessons for America From Way Down Under

New Zealand shows how to act fast to stem COVID-19 spread.


Donald Trump, Donald Trump Jr, Kimberly Guilfoyle

Give me four more years to fix everything I broke in the first four. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

The Trump Show: Who You Gonna Believe? Me, or Your Lying Eyes?

The 2020 Republican National Convention spun its way into a Category 5 Bullshit Storm, possibly damaging the reputation of the GOP more than anything else. 


Louis DeJoy, US Post Office

I don’t know anyone who depends on the Postal Service to deliver checks or prescription drugs. So this should work out fine. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

An Attempted Coup in Slow Motion

Donald Trump’s campaign against voting by mail leaves voters a stark choice: risk catching COVID-19 or face four more years with Trump. 


Ice, Hysterectomies, Chad Wolf, DHS

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Claims of Medical Abuse of ICE Inmates in Georgia Prompt Outrage

Whistleblower claims refugees received unwanted hysterectomies and didn’t understand why.


Hypocrisy, GOP, Mitch McConnell

In my heart I’m always right.
Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.
In my heart I’m always right. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

America’s Values, Dismantled Brick by Brick

If hypocrisy is a sin, America has far too many sinners.


Donald Trump, YMCA

Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Someone Needs to Tell Him the Party’s Over

Something tells us Donald Trump’s no longer dancing to the signature song of his campaign rallies, “Y.M.C.A.” by the Village People. But you never know.


Lindsey Graham, Donald Trump, Election Interference

Lindsey Graham’s moment of truth. Photo credit: DonkeyHotey / WhoWhatWhy (CC BY-SA 2.0) See complete attribution below.

Lindsey Graham’s the Law-and-Disorder Senator

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) is still trying to fix the election for Donald Trump. 


Related front page panorama photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Sushil NashE / Unsplash.

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