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Sam Carbaugh (he/they)

@thisamericanself.bsky.social
225 followers 121 following 634 posts

Midwestern indie low-fi cartoonist. Graduate of the center for cartoon studies ('09). For the last five years I've been drawing journal comics - trying to bridge the gap between experience and expression, knowing I'll fail I keep going. 🌈🏳️‍⚧️

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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 15/10/2026
Things are going so poorly in Michigan for Rogers his new commercial has him faking being a blue collar guy in a bar holding a LaBatt's and saying he'll end the Tariff War with Canada? He couldn't look more uncomfortable, and I love that for him.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 08/10/2026
It was just announced, the next villain of the MCU after Doom is...audience fatigue.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
The hardest lesson of adulthood I've learned is that everyone is replaceable and I live in a system that exploits that reality.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
I'm honestly surprised he didn't mandate that it should be called American Intelligence.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
#webcomic my 40s are a grind and I don't see a light at the end of this tunnel, just more darkness until I physically can't keep going. Like most millennials, I expect to die at my job. But I'll endure as long as I can. That's all I can do.
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Amelia Sandrine Reisinger 🏳️‍⚧️ @ameliasandrine.com · 17/09/2026
Gonna start referring to Democrats who take anti-trans stances as “Biological Republicans”
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
Living in a future predicted by Kafka, Radiohead, Orwell, and Phillip K Dick is exhausting. Some days I wish I'd wake up as a giant bug.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The USS Lincoln situation is a perfect example of the incompetence of this administration along with their disdain for those who serve in uniform. Nine months at sea for a carrier without a port call is insane, even in "wartime."
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 13/08/2026
The societal peer pressure to adopt and use AI is unlike anything else I've seen in my 43 years. Makes me want to use it even less.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 12/08/2026
Since we all know Trump is going to do something to overthrow or stop the midterm elections...is there an actual plan for protesting for real? Or will most Americans just shrug and go back to losing every right and advancement our grandparents fought for?
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 10/08/2026
I want to write poems to inspire people to destroy flock cameras. I want to write poems envisioning the leveling of data centers. I want to write poems people will quote as they invade ICE detention facilities to free the imprisoned. I want to write dangerous poems, they'll overlook until...
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
Mitch is officially Schrodinger's Senator.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
The same folks who argue that trans kids shouldn't have puberty blockers because they are "too young to make that decision" are the SAME people who want 5 year olds to make eternally binding decisions regarding their immortal soul... The ignorance and hypocrisy are insane.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 27/07/2026
#poem #poetry Can We Talk? To stand unclothed before judgmental eyes Bright lights on a sterile stage My flaws lit up - hairs, folds, and skin tags Humiliated; but not like this, After what I said, And what you didn't do.
Can We Talk?


To stand unclothed before judgmental eyes
Bright lights on a sterile stage
My flaws lit up - hairs, folds, and skin tags - 
Humiliated; but not like this, 

After what I said,
And what you didn't do.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 26/07/2026
#poetry #poem
21st Century Loneliness Epidemic Blues


I keep my distance these days
From friendship and vulnerable connection.

I know it's harmful to be this way . . .
It's an addictive feeling; 

imploding into myself.

Romantically speaking,
I'm finding a way out via Wordsworth.

Daffodils below; a cloud detached and drifting,
Wanting to evaporate.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
#webcomic two of nine.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
#webcomic part one of nine.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Anyone else massively hating SCOTUS right now? Because they sure hate us.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
#poetry rough draft today. I think I'll try polishing this one up for a submission somewhere. Seems like it could be alright.
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scott⚡️mccloud @scottmccloud.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
“Died of sadness,” according to family. An immeasurable loss.
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Dylan Horrocks @dylanhorrocks.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Oh this is terrible news. 💔
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Jen Vaughn, Storyteller at Large @thejenya.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Rest in Ink to a powerful voice and artist. This story makes my heart hurt.
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kuš! @kushkomikss.bsky.social · 04/06/2026
Very sad news... R.I.P. Marjane Satrapi! www.euronews.com/culture/2026...
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 02/06/2026
Trying to find some perspective right now is difficult. It all feels like too much. Both AI and oligarchic fascism are being treated as inevitable outcomes. My self-esteem is in the gutter. You know, huge issues! Hard to find any light.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Mourning is how I go through life. I mourn. I grieve. Not so good at celebrating or finding happy things.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
I do miss the old internet. Times were different 15 years ago, more human.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 29/05/2026
Working on typesetting a book for an author - working my way through REMs discography on vinyl. The IRS records are just magic, each one.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Nothing makes me feel more hopeless and powerless than thinking about the future. I see no light and no hope. Just a pit of suffering for anyone who isn't in the exploiter class.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 24/05/2026
Studying communication theory taught me to be wary of group think. Well, LLMs function like group think. That's why I can't trust them...and also why anyone working in/near AI seems to behave like group think is just the norm.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 20/05/2026
Growing up, I never realized that all it takes to completely destroy a democracy is people just...going along with the destruction. Normalizing what shouldn't be normalized... Did Ford use the country's 200th birthday as an excuse to put his name on money??? Nope. But folks think it's just fine now.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 13/05/2026
Folks pushing AI are mostly wealthy people who insulate themselves from distress and disagreement...so their shock that most of us HATE AI is genuine. They live their lives with incomplete pictures of reality, due to the illusion of control wealth affords. Powerful and insecure.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Listening to Mother Love Bone on this momma's day.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 03/05/2026
Some days, I really wonder if going to college was the best thing for me.
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Reading Is Sexy @readingissexy.bsky.social · 02/05/2026
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D. McFadzean @dmcfadzean.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
#cartooning #singlepanel #progress #inevitability #pinesap
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 01/05/2026
Part of the AI crisis is this: c-level folks have been in their own private bubble so long, they don't have the ability to absorb data that doesn't align with their biases. So they think AI tools are amazing and can't fathom that everyone else hates them.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
All that it takes for evil to succeed is for good people to get overwhelmed I guess.
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Emily St. James @emilystjams.bsky.social · 21/04/2026
Okay but what if I bought a duplex in Grand Rapids
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 29/04/2026
I was at a city commission meeting where a protest broke out at the end of public comment. It was a protest against cops and ICE working together. As I left, police were in full force in the parking garage, even half blocking the exit ramp. Intimidation.
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Jen Vaughn, Storyteller at Large @thejenya.bsky.social · 28/04/2026
I’m a Hachette artist and I’m supporting Hachette Workers Coalition!
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 27/04/2026
There needs to be a Marvel comic where flock cameras identify every vigilante in New York City and doxes them all. Call it the Unmasking event and the fall out from that.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 04/04/2026
Everyday feels like Good Friday. Never Easter.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Donald Trump has done more damage to this country than any other figure in history. It's 9/11 every hour of every day. And it's getting worse.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 03/04/2026
Having to work with type A white men full of their own self-importance without ever experiencing imposter syndrome or consequences is exhausting. . And these are the dudes in charge of everything in America. . No wonder things are as awful as they are.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
#webcomic about reading PEANUTS and finding joy.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
#webcomic about living in the light.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 25/03/2026
#webcomic about being a queer cartoonist who doesn't talk about being queer that much.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 24/03/2026
#webcomic about growing up with a very huge (and largely fictitious) idea of "America."
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 23/03/2026
#webcomic about feeling like a ghost sometimes.
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Sam Carbaugh (he/they) @thisamericanself.bsky.social · 22/03/2026
#webcomic about needing to look away from my phone.
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