Joe Heller's June 2026 cartoon shows the Statue of Liberty, Uncle Sam, a bald eagle and Benjamin Franklin debating elaborate terms for America's 250th anniversary. The figures propose semiquincentennial, sestercentennial, quarter millennium and bisquincentennial before conceding to the straightforward greeting Happy Birthday, America! The strip marks the upcoming July 4, 2026 milestone with light humor on naming conventions.
The cartoon shows Uncle Sam supine and bloodied with a DOGE-labeled arm impaling his torso. Elon Musk appears as an alien intruder delivering an efficiency promise through the wound. The image responds to the February 2025 launch of the Department of Government Efficiency under the Trump administration. Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy were tasked with identifying major spending reductions across federal agencies including USAID and Treasury operations. The visual frames those cuts as an external assault on core government functions rather than routine reform.
On July 30, 2024, the cartoon depicts Founding Fathers finalizing the Constitution. They affirm three branches of government and reject kings. One then questions whether to address weirdos explicitly in the document.
