It’s babysitting time, and I can’t believe a children’s cartoon offers a better representation of the Orange Menace than much of our national media.

The guy at the top of this post comes from “Paw Patrol”: Mayor Humdinger of Foggy Bottom (WOW! I have a place in D.C. and have walked by Foggy Bottom tons of time. It’s the site of the U.S. State Department).

Humdinger is one of the most corrupt, selfish and amoral characters you will ever see on children’s television. He’s a liar and a thief, an incompetent strategist and without a doubt, the most contemptible character your children are being exposed to on a daily basis.

Here’s a Humdinger of a synopsis from the Paw Patrol Wiki, and I’ll throw in a couple of parallels in italics that reflect the United States today:

Mayor Humdinger is rather conceited, thinking his town is better than Adventure Bay in every way possible. (Make America Great Again). In Season 1, while antagonistic towards Mayor Goodway (a Black woman), he mostly played fairly due in part to confidence in his record of winning (never get tired of winning) and generally being undefeated in most of the competitions he participated in, only to end up losing to Mayor Goodway and the PAW Patrol (and the election wasn’t stolen).

As of Season 2, he usually cheats in order to win, showing a lack of morality and “win-at-all-costs” personality (reminds you of Jan. 6). He is also the assembler of the Kitten Catastrophe Crew, a group of mischievous cats who perform heinous deeds to support his efforts (Trump’s Cabinet of sycophants and incompetents). He also became slightly more villainous in Season 2 (whereas in Season 1, he was simply antagonistic) to the point he and the Kitten Catastrophe Crew have their own secret lair and he behaves more like a stereotypical villain, such as laughing maniacally and even covertly observing the PAW Patrol through a video monitor (“Pup-Fu!“). He is also shown to be willing to resorting to stealing something he wants, such as Wild Wilbur‘s hidden treasure (“Pups Save an Outlaw’s Loot“) and Farmer Yumi‘s priceless Martial Arts scroll (“Pup-Fu!”). He is also shown to be quite greedy in “Pups Save an Outlaw’s Loot”. However, his plans can occasionally backfire due to his own overconfidence and lack of forethought (reflecting pool, renaming the Kennedy Center, East Wing demolition, MIDDLE EAST WARS!!!), resulting in him needing to be rescued by the PAW Patrol. 

Mayor Humdinger doesn’t like dogs (racism, homophobia, xenophobia, sexism), not even the Cat Pack. But he likes cats. 

Problem is, Humdinger never is held accountable for his actions. At the end of his episodes, he usually tells a lie and says the crimes weren’t his fault, and walks away without ever having to show any remorse.

Here’s a YouTube clip of a bunch of episodes from Nick Jr.:

I’ve been watching this with my 2-year-old grandson, and the show offers a lesson on how to spot a corrupt politician.

In addition to YouTube clips, the cartoon streams on Paramount+, Amazon Prime and Netflix, but you can also find tons of episodes on YouTube Kids.

(And I highly recommend it to die-hard MAGA, since it can be understood at a 2-year-old level.).