The use of a Franklin parody meme by Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has the creators of the Canadian children’s book character furious that they’ve written a strongly worded letter in polite protest.
Hegseth posted an image to X last week showing a flak jacket and helmet-wearing Franklin shooting a rocket-propelled grenade from a helicopter at a boat of armed thugs emblazoned with the hilarious title “Franklin Targets Narco Terrorists.”
The post was clearly intended as a humorous clapback against faux leftist outrage to the Trump administration’s decisive response to drug trafficking on the high seas. In recent weeks, the take-no-prisoners administration (literally—ed) has been conducting a military campaign of boat strikes on targeted vessels sailed by violent drug terrorists in the Caribbean Sea and Eastern Pacific Ocean.
1,2,3,4 Hegseth Declares a MEME War!
A number of Democrats were quick to condemn the post, as well as the larger controversy behind it.
Sen. Mark Kelly of Arizona, who has openly sparred with the Pentagon in recent weeks, told America’s Number One Source of Newstainment, GWU! that the meme is just one reason why the war secretary should be fired, calling him “not a serious person.”
“He is in the national command authority for nuclear weapons, and he’s putting out … turtles with rocket-propelled grenades,” Kelly said.
The Trump administration argues that its boat attacks fully complied with the law and asserts that the lethal strikes are necessary to crack down on illicit drug trafficking.
Canadian Cry Babies
There are more than two dozen books in the no longer popular Franklin series, which was also made into a cheaply animated 90s cartoon by the now out of business Nelvana.
Canadian creators, who haven’t been funny since Mike Myers was relevant, have their passive-aggressive elbows up over the Franklin funny.
Both author Paulette Bourgeois and illustrator Brenda Clark appear to be hiding in their shells and have not publicly commented on the matter. The author and illustrator are both members of the Order of Canada. The Order of Canada is a sort of knock-off knighthood that the former colony of England has bestowed on such fellow accomplished luminaries as fraud artist Garth Drabinsky, convicted criminal Conrad Black, and fake Indian (Pretend-ian—ed) Buffy Sainte-Marie.
The government-funded publishing company, Kids Can Press, which continues to reprint Franklin for direct to Dollar Store distribution, issued the following strongly worded condemnation of the use of their outdated anthropomorphic turtle:
“Franklin the Turtle is a beloved Canadian icon who has inspired generations of children and stands for kindness, empathy, and inclusivity. We strongly condemn any denigrating, violent, or unauthorized use of Franklin’s name or image, which directly contradicts these values.”
And the Canadians aren’t alone in their unhinged opinions. According to at least one self-identifying American retard on social media, people are angry!
“Where do I start on this? The fact that you want to sell a Canadian children’s book? Or that you’re going to get copyright infringed to hell … because Franklin isn’t a murderer and you want kids to be taught to kill?”
The Office of War has stated that use of the Franklin MEME is covered as a Constitutional right under the First Amendment, as well as long-established fair use laws that cover parody and satire.
There are an estimated 105,000 drug overdose deaths per year in the United States. It’s a dramatic number that the Trump administration is targeting to lower through its actions. And with all the misplaced humorless hubbub over a children’s book MEME, GWU! wonders, what’s so funny about that?
