The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Sunday, October 5, 2025

Clay Jones shutdown — Lies And The Lying Liars Who Tell Them, by Clay Jones: “The blog title is borrowed from an Al Franken book. There’s a GOP talking point arguing that Democrats voted 13 different times during the Biden administration for a clean CR (continuing resolution) to keep the government open, but are now refusing to vote for a CR, as though they’re hypocrites. But is it clean this time? Is it? None of the other 13 resolutions were going to kick millions of Americans off healthcare. But if Republicans are right about the shutdown being the Democrats’ fault, then why are they lying? Why are they making up shit, like claiming the shutdown is over Democrats trying to give healthcare to undocumented immigrants? This is a flagrant lie that Speaker of the House Mike Johnson has been championing. He was pushing it on Fox News Friday morning without any resistance between the time the lie came out of his mouth and the time I muted my TV. I put my TV on the multiview option, and I watch CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, and BBC all at once. Only one channel has volume, and I jump around depending on who’s covering what, and depending on the guests.” Read more at Substack.

The reason Mike Johnson and other Republicans are lying is that they know they own this shutdown. It’s ridiculous to believe they don’t when they control the House, Senate, and White House (which Tommy Tuberville thinks are the three branches of government). The truth of the matter is that Republicans can’t govern, probably because their membership contains idiots like Tommy Tuberville.

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Weather: Partly sunny with a chance of showers and thunderstorms. Highs in the mid 80s. East winds 15 to 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent. Sunday Night: Mostly cloudy with a chance of showers. A chance of thunderstorms, mainly in the evening. Lows in the mid 70s. East winds 10 to 15 mph with gusts up to 30 mph. Chance of rain 50 percent.

Daily weather briefing from the National Weather Service in Jacksonville here.
Drought conditions here. (What is the Keetch-Byram drought index?).
Check today’s tides in Daytona Beach (a few minutes off from Flagler Beach) here.
Tropical cyclone activity here, and even more details here.

Today at a Glance:

The Creekside Music and Arts Festival, at Princess Place Preserve is postponed to February 7 and 8. See: “Creekside Music and Arts Festival Set for Weekend Is Postponed to February as Precaution Against Storms.”

Palm Coast Farmers’ Market at European Village: The city’s only farmers’ market is open every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m. at European Village, 101 Palm Harbor Pkwy, Palm Coast. With fruit, veggies, other goodies and live music. For Vendor Information email [email protected]

‘Avenue Q,’ at City Repertory Theatre, Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m., Sundays at 3 p.m., 160 Cypress Point Parkway (City Marketplace, Suite B207), Palm Coast. Celebrate CRT’s 15th season with the Tony Award-winning hit Avenue Q! This laugh-out-loud musical blends puppetry, pop culture, and catchy songs to explore adulthood, love, and finding purpose. Don’t miss this unforgettable, irreverent journey through the ups and downs of post-college life—CRT-style. Tickets are $32.70 for adults, $17.17 for students (including ticketing fees). Book here.

‘Nunsense,’ at St. Augustine’s Limelight Theatre, Limelight Theatre, 11 Old Mission Avenue, St. Augustine. 7:30 p.m. except on Sundays, 2 p.m. Tickets are $37.55 per person. Book here. Definitely “habit-forming”, this riotous show takes us through a fundraiser organized by the Little Sisters of Hoboken. They are trying to raise money to bury one of their sisters who was accidentally poisoned by the convent cook, Sister Julia (Child of God). Originating as a line of greeting cards, Goggin expanded the concept into a full musical that became the second-longest off-Broadway run in history.

‘Sweeney Todd’ at Athens Theatre, 124 North Florida Avenue, DeLand, Thursday, Friday and Saturday a 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2:30 p.m. Tickets: Preferred $37 (Row A-F, Orchestra & CC-DD Center Balcony), Adult $32 – Senior $28, Student/Child $12. A $5.00 per ticket Processing charge is added to all purchases. Book here. Prepare for a dark journey through the sinister streets of Victorian London with Sweeney Todd. Follow the vengeful barber as he seeks justice, aided by the cunning Mrs. Lovett and her rather… unique meat-pie business. Stephen Sondheim’s masterpiece weaves a twisted tale of love, revenge, and morality, brought to life by hauntingly beautiful music. Equal parts chilling and captivating, Sweeney Todd will leave you spellbound—and maybe a bit wary of your next shave…

ESL Bible Studies for Intermediate and Advanced Students: 9:30 to 10:25 a.m. at Grace Presbyterian Church, 1225 Royal Palms Parkway, Palm Coast. Improve your English skills while studying the Bible. This study is geared toward intermediate and advanced level English Language Learners.

Grace Community Food Pantry, 245 Education Way, Bunnell, drive-thru open today from noon to 3 p.m. The food pantry is organized by Pastor Charles Silano and Grace Community Food Pantry, a Disaster Relief Agency in Flagler County. Feeding Northeast Florida helps local children and families, seniors and active and retired military members who struggle to put food on the table. Working with local grocery stores, manufacturers, and farms we rescue high-quality food that would normally be wasted and transform it into meals for those in need. The Flagler County School District provides space for much of the food pantry storage and operations. Call 386-586-2653 to help, volunteer or donate.

Al-Anon Family Groups: Help and hope for families and friends of alcoholics. Meetings are every Sunday at Silver Dollar II Club, Suite 707, 2729 E Moody Blvd., Bunnell, and on zoom. More local meetings available and online too. Call 904-315-0233 or see the list of Flagler, Volusia, Putnam and St. Johns County meetings here.

Notably: A very happy birthday to one of Flagler County’s wonderful treasures. George Hanns, the former county commissioner and permanent ambassador to Princess Place, claims to be celebrating his 79th birthday today. Claims, because really, what 79-year-old looks that boyish? He has the misfortune of sharing the same birth year as Donald Trump, who looks every crag his 79 years and worse–and for whom George voted in 2016: bad, bad George; I couldn’t bring myself to ask him who he voted for the last time around. George would have gotten to celebrate in his favorite place, since the annual Creekside Festival was to be today at Princess Place, but that was postponed to February (the festival, not his birthday). As I may have noted before, I’ve kept a running databases of Hanns’s Yogi Berra-like one-liners: “Healthwise I’m just as active as the next guy that’s healthy.” A couple of years ago when he was considering a run for the Palm Coast City Council, he unloaded this one: “I haven’t even inquired as to the time frame on it. I don’t want to declare too early because then you have to do all that pain in the neck paperwork and I don’t like that part of it.” And there was this gem from his appearance before the City Council last March: “I’ll just mention to you, people on this council, that next time you have a disagreement with your spouse, you tell them they have three minutes to respond.”

—P.T.

Now this:

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