Pat Tillman Killed by Friendly Fire



Obviously I had no way to know this when I drew That Cartoon, but major press outlets are reporting that former NFL player Pat Tillman was killed by "friendly fire." The following comes from USA Today:

FRIENDLY FIRE PROBABLY KILLED PAT TILLMAN



FORT BRAGG, N.C. (AP) — Former pro football player Pat Tillman was probably killed by friendly fire as he led his team of Army Rangers up a hill during a firefight in Afghanistan last month, the U.S. Army said Saturday. Pat Tillman, a member of the elite Ranger unit since 2002, was awarded a Purple Heart and Silver Star. Tillman walked away from a $3.6 million NFL contract to join the Army after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Previous military statements suggested he was killed April 22 under enemy fire.



"While there was no one specific finding of fault, the investigation results indicate that Cpl. Tillman probably died as a result of friendly fire while his unit was engaged in combat with enemy forces," Lt. Gen. Philip R. Kensington Jr. said in a brief statement to reporters at the Army Special Operations Command. Kensington said the firefight took place in "very severe and constricted terrain in impaired light" with 10 to 12 enemy combatants firing on U.S. forces.



An Afghan military official told The Associated Press on Saturday that Tillman died because of a "misunderstanding" when two mixed groups of American and Afghan soldiers began firing wildly in the confusion following an explosion. The Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also contradicted U.S. reports that the American soldiers had come under enemy fire.



Kensington, who heads Army Special Forces, took no questions Saturday morning after reading the statement.



When Tillman was awarded the Silver Star, the Army said he was killed after his platoon was split into two sections for what officials called a ground assault convoy. Tillman was in charge of the lead group. His group was safely out of the area when the trailing group came under mortar and small arms fire, according to the Army, and he ordered them to return.



"Through the firing, Tillman's voice was heard issuing fire commands to take the fight to the enemy on the dominating high ground," the award announcement said. "Only after his team engaged the well-armed enemy did it appear their fires diminished. "As a result of his leadership and his team's efforts, the platoon trail section was able to maneuver through the ambush to positions of safety without a single casualty," the announcement said.



Tillman, a member of the elite Ranger unit since 2002, was posthumously promoted from specialist to corporal and also awarded a Purple Heart.



"The result of this investigation in no way diminished the bravery and sacrifice displayed by Cpl. Tillman," said Kensington, who heads Army Special Forces. He took no questions Saturday morning after reading the statement.



A woman who answered the phone late Friday at the home of Tillman's uncle said the family would have no immediate comment.



At a memorial service in his hometown of San Jose earlier this month Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., called him "a most honorable man." "While many of us will be blessed to live a longer life, few of us will ever live a better one," McCain, who spent 5 1/2 years as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said at Tillman's memorial service.



The friendly fire account was first reported by the Arizona Republic and The Argus of Fremont (Calif.) on Saturday. "It does seem pretty clear that he was killed by friendly fire," Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., a member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Republic. Franks said his panel was alerted to the information by the Army's Legislative Liaison Office.



The Afghan official told the AP that two groups of soldiers had drifted some distance apart during the operation in the remote Spera district of Khost province, close to the Pakistani border. "Suddenly the sound of a mine explosion was heard somewhere between the two groups and the Americans in one group started firing," the official said, citing an account given to him by an Afghan fighter who was part of that group, not Tillman's. "Nobody knew what it was — a mine, a remote-controlled bomb — or what was going on, or if enemy forces were firing. The situation was very confusing," the official said. "As the result of this firing, that American was killed and three Afghan soldiers were injured. It was a misunderstanding and afterwards they realized that it was a mine that had exploded and there were no enemy forces."



U.S. military officials in Kabul had no immediate comment.

So much for the argument that Tillman died fighting for his country. Or for the bullshit cover story concocted by the military to justify awarding him a posthumous Silver Star. I wonder if the Pentagon will have the integrity to revoke it?



So, to recap: Tillman gave up $3.6 million to get killed by his fellow soldiers. I guess I do owe an apology after all, but not for calling him a sap: In my cartoon, I said Tillman got offed by the Afghan resistance. That part, as it turns out, wasn't true.



Bushie war apologists may email their apologies to MSNBC, which canceled my cartoons as the result of my cartoon. And prospective soldiers may want to take this opportunity to reconsider the wisdom of enlisting. It's bad enough to get killed by friendly fire; it's still worse to get killed by friendly fire while fighting an unjust, illegal and unjustifiable war.

Kirkus Reviews Reviews "Wake Up, You're Liberal!"



Here's their May 15th review of my new book:

Aghast that America has gone to the far-right dogs, editorial cartoonist and columnist Ted Rall wants it back in commonsense—that is, liberal—hands.

Democrats and Republicans alike have ceded the communal high ground, he writes with particular energy, and radical conservatives are ramped on greed and self-righteousness. What we need at this closing-on-fascism juncture, Rall declares, is a reformed Democratic Party, longtime purveyor of a liberalism that aims to "help the downtrodden, not coddle slackers" and can prudently protect our nation without giving up basic liberties—indeed, that will protect individual rights via the Bill of Rights. America has never been a conservative nation, the author asserts: in the 20th century alone, it tamed the Industrial Revolution with regulation and labor laws, set up a social safety net, fought fascism, expanded civil rights, and lifted the sociopolitical status of minorities. Not perfectly, Rall admits, but at least the angle was correct. Is it right for a CEO to pay himself millions as he lays off thousands, or for someone to kill a man because he is gay or Iraqi, or for hospitals to allow people to die because they can't pay for medical help? It's not just a matter of statistics, he argues, though those also help prove his point; an instinctive "no" to all of the above is part of the American persona. How has the Republican right virtually consumed the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government? Because of the Democratic Party's lack of focus, its lack of cool, its unwillingness to approach politics as a barroom fight rather than a tea party, states Rall. He tenders an encouraging Democratic platform, with winning issues from minimum wage to college tuition to vacation time.

Senator Kerry could do worse than to read closely this flurry of smart advice (aside from the author's fondness for they-pull-a-knife, you-pull-a-gun politics), which serves as a quick, bracing, and welcome series of wake-up slaps.

Greetings from Gitmo



Still doubt that the right-wing bloggers are off the hook? Check this out! Scroll down and you'll find an actual, bonafide writing campaign to Attorney General John Ashcroft about little old me. Their goal: to have me thrown into a U.S. government gulag, and presumably executed (yes, really), for treason. Treason, it seems, means disagreeing with the Bush Administration, the Republicans, and their wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.



In a follow-up to the cut-and-paste Ashcroft letter--which ought to give the chills to any American, regardless of political persuasion--blogger J.B. Corrigan adds:

First, I want to thank everyone who sent me copies of their messages to Attorney General John Ashcroft regarding the acts of Treason committed by Ted Rall (see previous entry). It is gratifying to me that so many people are willing to stand up and fight such despicable actions. Now it will be up to the U.S. Department of Justice as to whether the law as defined in the Constitution will be enforced.

However one whiner wrote in to make the predictable charge that it was 'censorship' and a violation of the First Amendment to take Rall to task for his Treason.

And to that I say: BULLSHIT. Rall committed Treason, and that Treason is perfectly defined by Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution...

And Rall? It is my fervent prayer that I might live long enough to see that S.O.B. lined up before a firing squad and executed for that act of Treason. Tell me where that dirtbag gets buried and I'll join the long line of real Americans who will no doubt be ready to p*ss on him.

My.



I scoured the rightist blogosphere for reactions. I found positive responses at Blogs for Bush, Pardon My English and elsewhere. Not one right-winger had a problem with this.



These are the kinds of people we're dealing with, folks. If they had their way, they'd recreate Nazi Germany right here in America. That's why we must make certain they NEVER get their way.



P.S. If there's a good lawyer reading this, I'd appreciate an email (chet@rall.com) advising me what to do about this extreme form of harrassment and abuse of government agencies. I should probably start by filing a Freedom of Information Act request to uncover the names and addresses of the individuals who filed these "treason" complaints against me, but can I/should I protect myself legally? If so, how?

Kerry's Vice President



Among the more outlandish options floated recently for the veep spot on the Democratic ticket are John McCain and Ralph Nader. The McCain thing, I think it's safe to guess, ain't gonna happen. There hasn't been a party crossover ticket in more than fifteen decades, and a year when the electorate is polarized won't see the second. Choosing a conservative, pro-life Republican as vice president would alienate the liberal base, driving many to stay away from the polls or vote for Nader. I myself would retract my longstanding pledge to vote for the Democratic nominee since a McCain veep could become a Republican president. The Democratic Party, as I've written in my new book WAKE UP, YOU'RE LIBERAL: HOW WE CAN TAKE AMERICA BACK FROM THE RIGHT, needs to get back to its roots, not trash them entirely.



I don't think much will come out of the Nader talk, but I think he'd be a brilliant choice--one that might lock up the election once and for all. A Nader VP would energize the liberal base like nothing else, neutralize a spoiler threat and infuse vibrant new ideas into the ossified Democratic Party political machine. Nader could become Kerry's Cheney--the power behind the throne, the guy's who's always thinking new stuff up.



My money's still on John Edwards or Bob Graham, though--and either of them would be just dandy.

30,000 Dead Iraqis



The psycho right bloggers, unwilling to acknowledge that information exists offline, keep asking where people like me come up with the figure that we killed at least 30,000 Iraqis during the war. The answer is: Bob Woodward. In his book "Plan of Attack," he quotes Bush Administration sources as saying that we killed that many Iraqis during the first few weeks of war. Obviously that figure has since risen. Since I like to keep my statistics on the conservative side, however, I use the official Pentagon figure of 30,000.

Now They're Torturing Journalists



More news from the glorious liberation of Vichy Mesopotamia:

Reuters and NBC staff abused in Iraq



Tue 18 May, 2004 20:28



By Andrew Marshall



BAGHDAD (Reuters) - U.S. forces beat three Iraqis working for Reuters and subjected them to sexual and religious taunts and humiliation during their detention last January in a military camp near Falluja, the three say.



The three first told Reuters of the ordeal after their release but only decided to make it public when the U.S. military said there was no evidence they had been abused, and following the exposure of similar mistreatment of detainees at Abu Ghraib prison near Baghdad.



An Iraqi journalist working for U.S. network NBC, who was arrested with the Reuters staff, also said he had been beaten and mistreated, NBC said on Tuesday.



Two of the three Reuters staff said they had been forced to insert a finger into their anus and then lick it, and were forced to put shoes in their mouths, particularly humiliating in Arab culture.



All three said they were forced to make demeaning gestures as soldiers laughed, taunted them and took photographs. They said they did not want to give details publicly earlier because of the degrading nature of the abuse.



The soldiers told them they would be taken to the U.S. detention centre at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba, deprived them of sleep, placed bags over their heads, kicked and hit them and forced them to remain in stress positions for long periods.



The U.S. military, in a report issued before the Abu Ghraib abuse became public, said there was no evidence the Reuters staff had been tortured or abused.



Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, commander of ground forces in Iraq, said in a letter received by Reuters on Monday but dated March 5 that he was confident the investigation had been "thorough and objective" and its findings were sound.



The Pentagon has yet to respond to a request by Reuters Global Managing Editor David Schlesinger to review the military's findings about the incident in light of the scandal over the treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib.



Asked for comment on Tuesday, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said only: "There are a number of lines of inquiry under way with respect to prison operations in Iraq. If during the course of any inquiry, the commander believes it is appropriate to review a specific aspect of detention, he has the authority to do so."



The abuse happened at Forward Operating Base Volturno, near Falluja, the Reuters staff said. They were detained on January 2 while covering the aftermath of the shooting down of a U.S. helicopter near Falluja and held for three days, first at Volturno and then at Forward Operating Base St Mere.



The three -- Baghdad-based cameraman Salem Ureibi, Falluja-based freelance television journalist Ahmad Mohammad Hussein al-Badrani and driver Sattar Jabar al-Badrani -- were released without charge on January 5.



"INADEQUATE" INVESTIGATION



"When I saw the Abu Ghraib photographs, I wept," Ureibi said on Tuesday. "I saw they had suffered like we had."



Ureibi, who understands English better than the other two detainees, said soldiers told him they wanted to have sex with him, and he was afraid he would be raped.



NBC, whose stringer Ali Muhammed Hussein Ali al-Badrani was detained along with the Reuters staff, said he reported that a hood was placed over his head for hours, and that he was forced to perform physically debilitating exercises, prevented from sleeping and struck and kicked several times.



"Despite repeated requests, we have yet to receive the results of the army investigation," NBC News Vice President Bill Wheatley said.



Schlesinger sent a letter to Sanchez on January 9 demanding an investigation into the treatment of the three Iraqis.



The U.S. army said it was investigating and requested further information. Reuters provided transcripts of initial interviews with the three following their release, and offered to make them available for interview by investigators.



A summary of the investigation by the 82nd Airborne Division, dated January 28 and provided to Reuters, said "no specific incidents of abuse were found". It said soldiers responsible for the detainees were interviewed under oath and "none admit or report knowledge of physical abuse or torture".



"The detainees were purposefully and carefully put under stress, to include sleep deprivation, in order to facilitate interrogation; they were not tortured," it said. The version received on Monday used the phrase "sleep management" instead.



The U.S. military never interviewed the three for its investigation.



On February 3 Schlesinger wrote to Lawrence Di Rita, special assistant to Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, saying the investigation was "woefully inadequate" and should be reopened.



"The military's conclusion of its investigation without even interviewing the alleged victims, along with other inaccuracies and inconsistencies in the report, speaks volumes about the seriousness with which the U.S. government is taking this issue," he wrote.

Sarin,Schmarin



The report that a roadside bomb attack may have used a shell that contained sarin nerve agent has the right wing media all atwitter. Aha! WMDs!



Not yet.



While there's something to the notion that where there's one mouse there are a dozen more living in your wall, the possible presence of sarin in one cannister hardly justifies invading Iraq at a cost of more than $150 billion, 30,000 dead Iraqis (the number comes from the Bush Administration, courtesy of Bob Woodward's "Plan of Attack") and 1,200 dead coalition troops.



More to the point: Even if we were to discover enormous warehouses full of nuclear weapons, the war still wouldn't have been justified. The point being, the US claimed that it KNEW that Iraq had WMDs when it clearly did not. Guessing correctly doesn't count, not that that's what happened here.

What Happens to the Death Threat People?



A number of you have written to ask what, if anything, I do regarding people who send me threatening emails. The answer is, I take them seriously. Anyone who is so psychologically unbalanced that they would threaten an artist or writer is a danger not only to me, but anyone with whom they come into contact.



I report these communications to the FBI, local law enforcement authorities and the Internet Service Providers. What happens next, as they say, ain't my business.

Gotta Love to Hate



The first cartoon I ever tried to copy was "Peanuts." I traced over Charlie Brown's simple round head thousands of times, yet--it never turned out like the original.



Then I tried a different approach. Rather than use a drawn Schulz strip as a model, I reread a few of the collections and then tried drawing Charlie Brown by memory.



The results sure weren't classic Schulz--but I'd drawn a passable Charlie Brown.



Since I've begun drawing cartoons for a living, I've done homages and parodies of a number of other comic strips: Lynda Barry's "Ernie Pook's Comeek," "Fred Bassett," "Hi and Lois," "The Family Circus," Tony Millionaire's "Maakies." Interestingly, the ones with simple lines, like Fred Bassett, were a lot harder to draw than those with a lot of crosshatching, like Millionaire's. You'd think it would be the other way around, but it's not.



Which brings me to http://tedrall.isfullofcrap.com. Who can argue that I've arrived? Once you have your own hate site devoted to the prospect that you suck, you ARE somebody.



Unfortunately, that site, which contains countless attempts to mimic my work, makes my point about the difficulty of doing parodies of cartoons drawn using simple or primitivist styles. The guy who does this site is so incapable of rendering my work that he's been reduced to simply cutting and pasting his own (incompetently insulting) dialogue into the word balloons of my published work. That's not parody, obviously--it's copyright infringement.



Other better-known cartoonists, such as Art Spiegelman and Sam Henderson, have attempted to copy my style but to no avail.



Which means that, in a way, I haven't FULLY arrived.



The problem with those failed attempts isn't that these guys don't know how to draw, though that may in fact be the case. Their trouble comes from hatred.



To wit: My opinion of Tony Millionaire is a negative one. Yet, I was determined to do a great parody strip--one, because he paid me to do it, and two, because it would put to rest the assumption that I can't draw.



How'd I do?



It was so good that Millionaire dares not print it, because it would make him look bad. Hilariously he even tried to sell the original, but no one was interested. Well, duh, Tony--who wants to buy original cartoons that never appeared in print?



So, all in all I consider it a moral and fiscal victory.



If I'd been wallowing in contempt for Tony while I was drawing that "Maakies," I would have failed miserably. Instead, I set aside that emotion and decided to enjoy the world created by his strip with a sense of total detachment. I bought a couple of his books, read them over and over. "Maakies" really is a great strip, and it's even more fun in book form. It was in that state of mind, loving the strip I was drawing, that I did the never-to-be-published "Maakies." Gordon Gano said something similar about the Violent Femmes' cover of "Do You Really Wanna Hurt Me." He started out hating Culture Club, but the more he got into rehearsing the song, the more he respected it--and the better the parody turned out.



That's my advice to anyone looking to make fun of me, or any other cartoonist. If you really, really hate a strip and/or its artist--you'll never pull it off. You gotta love in order to hate.

More Hate Mail Hits!



After appearing on Fox News' "Heartland with John Kasich" to discuss that Seattle group's "Victory to the Iraqi Resistance" sign," I received the following colorful missives. I post these for the benefit of those who want to know how the average Bush voter thinks (and spells). Too bad we can't get inside these mucked-up brains and install a logic chip.



From jlbrown_jr@hotmail.com:



Re: Ted Ralls needs to go live in france, you damn trader



Ted

you have cross the line, from being a low down jerk, to a trader, why dont

you go live in a country that does not have the bill of rights, our

president Bush did sell the war on terror, You like so many others have

forgotten 9/11. if you dont like the way we live, dont like our president,

go live there. You pop your mouth off, to hell with you. Have you ever

thought what might have happened if Gore or Kerry where in the white house.

thats scarey



J.L. Brown Jr, TSgt, USAF Retired



Not as scary as your IQ, dude. France has a Bill of Rights--ours is modeled on theirs, in fact. And if Gore, Kerry or the Easter Rabbit were president on 9/11, I can't imagine that they could have screwed things up any worse.



From Storm1915@aol.com:



I hope you die a miserable death you piece of shit, I will piss on your grave



From rondale@comcast.net:



I hope when the terrorist hit here again your family is killed.

Fuck you.



From mdyer1@nycap.rr.com:



Just saw your ugly puss on Fox-News.

I'd like to give you a one-way ticket to Iraq.

WE are fighting for our lives. Your life isn't worth saving.

T^ake a hike you fool.

MIKE DYER

An American from Clifton Park, New York.

That's New York as in target for 9-11 terrorists



Yeah, like the suburban hamlet of Clifton Park is target #1 for jihadis.



From ghinton309@comcast.net:



You are one sick puke!



From Twm0752@aol.com:



momas got a queer boy



From msgsteward@earthlink.net:



Mr. Rall,

After reading your guidelines I will be surprised that you have the testosterone to respond.

Please feel free to call our even come and visit me I will send you my home address. I will share with you the exploits of my Grandfathers in WWI or may Dad’s adventures in WWII and Korea, my twenty plus years of service, or may talk about my son driving the 6th tank in top Baghdad. Maybe you can enlighten a family of Idiots and saps. You are so brave by drawing cartoons. Why don’t you go to Iraq and put your ass on the line I will even go to protect you. Gimmie a call

If not I will use my First amendment rights to say,

“FUCK YOU” you traitorous prick.

David E. Steward Jr.

MSG. USA Ret.

(909) XXX-XXXX Office

(909) XXX-XXXX Cell

(802) XXX-XXXX Fax



From shahn@globalar.com:



Teddy, your double talk regarding supporting the Insurgents and Terrorist but not wanting to kill America GIs is not going to cut it with the boys when they come home. You might want to move to France or Russia. If you sir are not aiding the enemy then no one is. YOU will be remembered forever as a Traitor. Why do you stay in America??



Yeah, like living in France would be so terrible.



From bradsilliman@yahoo.com:



5-16-04

Savannah, Tennessee

Dear Ted:

RE: Your recent controversial cartoon and column about former NFL player Pat Tillman

Something you need to know about the American special forces community is that they are very loyal to each other. When you insult them as a group it really doesn't faze them much. But when you intentionally attack one of their dead comrades you cross a lethal line.

I served in the 1st Marine Division in Vietnam. I am not a special forces veteran nor a hero. But I have worked with the SF community enough to know them. And all I can say is I wouldn't want to be in your shoes when Tillman's buddies start coming home.

Now that would be scary enough but then you write a column headlined: "Army of Scum."

You see Ted, I knew kids like you when I was growing up. They would stand in their front yard and taunt you and everybody else until you got mad and came toward them. Then they would run into their house and lock the door. They would hope that by the time you saw them again you would have forgotten about it or had better things to do than retaliate against them--and they were usually right.

But this time Ted you have insulted a whole sub-culture of millions, of whom a sizable number aren't going to forget. You would have been wiser to insult the Hell's Angels than the Rangers. Rangers are crazier than bats. I am a non-violent person and I hope no harm comes to you. But if it does, it will be your own fault, you silly little fool.

B. Silliman



Yeah, you sure sound like Gandhi.



From jbshort@direcway.com:

You know, of course, that you are a piece of human excrement.

Bill Short

Caulfield, Missouri



Of course!



From chucksierra@hotmail.com:



It's you see-it-only-one-way, woe-is-me, constantly bitching and moaning

Leftists, or better put another way, you floating turds in the stool that

are flushing this country down the drain. There.....

instead of putting that in your pipe and smoking it, put that in your comic

strip and let the whole world see your real shitty talent! Mr. Chuck Sierra

in Seattle....



From je-69@excite.com:



was just watching your interview on fox...the single question I have is do you work at it,or does it come natural like to be a true total asshole.........is it true the dog beat your daddy over the fence?....



If anybody understands this reference, please write. I did not grow up on a farm.



From Ficuspt@aol.com:



I HOPE YOU DIE YOU SCUMBAG



From Jwes466282@aol.com:



U R one worthless piece of shit



From buss_ajp@msn.com:



You belong in Iran... You piece of shit!

I do hope you loose your deal



From tms867@rcn.com:



Defending ones country is not restricted to its immediate borders. You are clearly obtuse, misguided, and narrow minded in your understanding of human behavior and world history.

Your Pat Tillman cartoon, and your defense of it, is a vile indication of that.

I will no long purchase any of the publications you are affiliated with,

Regretfully,

TMS



I wonder if this person purchases ANY publications?



From ced_booker@msn.com:



Re: Blacklisted

That's what you are!

Rockslinger

Atlanta, Georgia



From jmbluechip@charter.net:

Thank god a wimp like you is not charged with defending this country. I bet you got bullied around when you were in school, huh? I bet your inferiority complex prevents you from talking to chics huh? I am so sorry that your little ego was hurt permanently by bullies and turned you into this pathetic wimp. I am so very sorry you trash those (i.e. Pat Tillman) who defend your write to have your itty bitty cartoons. Please please...for the love of god....get a life and become a man.....SOON!!

My Deepest Sympathy,

Joe



Not only did I talk to Chic, I also owned some of the records.



From mdbiddle@earthlink.net:



Dear Mr. Rall,

I read your guidelines before e-mailing you. I can understand where you might have gotten some hate mail after everything you've written, especially about Pat Tillman. In keeping with your guidelines I will try to keep my criticism constructive and give you credit where credit is due. From your recent appearances on Fox and the picture in your bio you appear to be human. That's positive. That your political opinions are so bizarre and contravene every fact known to terrestial life is both positive and negative. It's positive in that you are proof of extra-terrestial life, your opinions being completely out of this world as you might therefore be. That would be very good in that we have searched extensively for extra-terrestail life. It's negative, however, in that we assumed extra-terrestials would be more intelligent than us. You are a serious disappointment in that regard. Your assimilation programming should have included some rudimentary logic, some ability, even a modicum, to distinguish reality from your twisted leftist imaginigs.

I guess the constructive part of my criticism would be to attend some philosophy courses that would teach some rudimentary logic. As long as you want to put words in the mouths of those you satirize perhaps you should study some source references. I recommend the Geneva Conventions for starters. Do you see where in that document it talks about terrorists? If not, why not? Perhaps no one thought of terrorists as combatants, relying as they do on perfidy to approach their target: innocent civilians, which the Conventions specifically abjure against deliberate targeting. If they are using illegitimate means (perfidy) to deliberately target the innocent, perhaps what they are doing could be characterized as illegal under the Law of Armed Conflict? If they are under arms they'd have to be combatants of a sort, don't you think? Maybe then we could characterize them as "illegal combatants?" Doesn't that sound descriptive of what they are? Is there something about this that escapes you, something that you don't understand? If they are combatants, albeit illegal, do you think we should just treat them like criminals perhaps? Should we accord them rights, like the presumption of innocence, legal representation, trial by peers? If we can't prove a capital case beyond a shadow of a doubt, should we release them in the hope that they will slip up on their fourth or fifth attempt perhaps? Should we just hope that they'll slip enough to provide sufficient evidence for conviction? Should we maybe pray that our civilization will survive long enough to gather this evidence and provide a court in which to hold the trial?

What is the name of the planet you are from? Are you accepting donations for a return trip?



God--I love this email. All I'll add is: The Geneva Conventions don't specifically mention 9/11 either. So what?



From NettDE@aol.com:



You are an over inflated horses ass!



Please, my kingdom for a sharp needle>



From spiritofny@hotmail.com:



as a mother of an american soldier who joined after 911 i find u an very

offensive person i dare u to come to nyc and to ground zero and say the shit

u say in fact i find u very unamerican but then look at u u look like a geek

u act like a geek so why should anyone listen to u or even take a pussy

liike u serious no wonder u made the unpopular list u mentions hundreds who

opposed the war u forgot to mention the millions who support the war and i

will write to oreilly calling for a boycott on u asshole move to canada

that where a coward like u belong



From tle9@carolina.rr.com:



You are a big piece of shit!



From M2000BJ@aol.com:



Ted,

You're a lunatic! We're at WAR, man! And you have no sense of common human decency to say such things about Tillman and others who have given their lives -- which is more than you'd ever be willing to do for the country you supposedly love.

If you think Pakistan, Saudi, and Egypt are the targets we should have hit -- then that's fine. We can hit them next. But with the ridiculously small size of our standing Army -- thanks to cutbacks since the Vietnam era -- certainly you must be able to realize why we had to take out Afghanistan and Iraq first! It doesn't take the IQ of an Einstein to figure that out.

T. Johnson



Yeah, we HAD to take out Iraq and Afghanistan first. It only stands to reason.



From melissal.pezzuti@verizon.net:



YOU SUCK AND ALWAYS WILL



There's nothing like a fortune teller to ruin your day.



From dswartz2@cox.net:



YOUR COMMENTS ON FOX NEWS TELLS ME YOUR SICK IN THE HEAD!!!



From thunder1934@msn.com:



You are a piece of communist manure.



From BellMT@state.gov:



Dear Communist,

I am appalled that people like you are allowed to call yourself

American. I hold that title with great pride. When I see a man that gives up

all his fame and fortune to do his part by serving in the military, most

people would consider him a hero. I do. But there is always someone who

feels the need to criticize. You can say what you want about the war that

never should have happened, you can talk trash on Bush all you want, that's

fair game. But to make fun of a HERO that gave his life for the same right

that you, yourself, take for granted... That's just wrong, man. Whats the

matter, no inspiration? You and writing is like a blind man shopping for

porn. People like you give democrats a bad name.

PS I feel sorry for you mother.I am visiting New York soon. I suggest you

avoid that state.

They Never Learn



From today's New York Times...first the good news:

Under a barrage of international and domestic criticism, the top American commander in Iraq has barred virtually all coercive interrogation practices, like forcing prisoners to crouch for long periods or depriving them of sleep, the Pentagon said Friday.

The commander, Lt. Gen. Ricardo S. Sanchez, will still consider requests to hold prisoners in isolation for more than 30 days, according to a senior Central Command official who briefed reporters on Friday. The general has approved 25 such requests since October, the official said. But the official said that General Sanchez would deny requests to use other harsh methods.

"Simply, we will not even entertain a request, so don't even send it up for a review," the Central Command official said.

Then the bad:

The changes appear to affect only operations in Iraq, and would not change interrogation methods at the American base at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, or in Afghanistan.

Given that allegations of murder, mistreatment, beatings and torture go back to the start of the war in Afghanistan--remember the treatment Johnny Walker Lindh received?--it's not like our Afghan gulags should get a free pass. Ditto with Gitmo, where dozens of prisoners have already committed suicide after having been driven mad by U.S. interrogators. But the Bush Administration seems absolutely determined to stretch out the prison abuse scandal as long as possible.



The question is, will it make a difference in November? At this point, anyone who votes for George W. Bush tacitly admits they favor torture. Living next to such morality-deprived scum should make the skin of any red-blooded American patriot crawl.

Tillman Toon Original



Many people have written to ask about the price for the original artwork for last week's Tillman cartoon. Current high bid is $4,500; whoever is the high bidder as of Sunday night gets it.



For those who wonder, my originals normally sell for $500-$750.

It Gets Worse



According to today's New York Times, the CIA subjects its "high profile" torture victims to such medieval practices as "waterboarding"--strapping the subject to a board, then repeatedly dunking him under water to make him think he's going to drown. Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, one of the many #2 Al Qaeda guys we've captured, was apparently subjected to this treatment. The FBI, meanwhile, has been ordered to avoid such CIA torture sessions to avoid impugning their future prosecutions.



Anyone who knew about this, condoned it or allowed it to happen, Democrat or Republican, deserves the same treatment. The same goes for ordinary Americans who vote for these cretins this fall.

Cognitive Dissonance



"I share a deep disgust that those prisoners were treated the way they were treated. Their treatment does not reflect the nature of the American people."

—George W. Bush, May 4



"[The beheading of Nick Berg] shows the true nature of the enemies of freedom. They have no regard for the lives of innocent men, women and children."

—White House spokesman Scott McClellan, May 11



When we commit crimes, in other words, they're aberrations. When they commit them, they reveal exactly who they are and what they're about.



There I go again, talking treason!



Oh, and here's an AP story that sheds new light on how Berg fell into the hands of his murderers. Bush's Colonial Provisional Authority, it seems, locked the guy up for nearly two weeks with nary a phone call:

FAMILY LASHES OUT AT BUSH OVER BEHEADING

May 12, 2004 - 9:22AM

The father of an American contractor whose beheading was shown on an Islamic militant website lashed out at the US military and Bush administration today, saying his son might still be alive had he not been detained by US officials in Iraq.

The video, posted today, showed Nick Berg, 26, slain by an al-Qaeda-affiliated group. The video said the killing was to avenge the abuse of Iraqi prisoners by American soldiers.

Berg, a small telecommunications business owner, spoke to his parents on March 24 and told them he would return home on March 30. But he was detained by Iraqi police at a checkpoint in Mosul on March 24.

Berg was turned over to US officials and detained for 13 days.

His father, Michael, said his son was not allowed to make phone calls or contact a lawyer.

FBI agents visited Berg's parents in West Chester on March 31 and told the family they were trying to confirm their son's identity. On April 5, the Bergs filed suit in federal court in Philadelphia, contending that their son was being held illegally by the US military. The next day Berg was released. He told his parents he had not been mistreated.

Michael Berg said he blamed the US government for creating circumstances that led to his son's death. He said if his son hadn't been detained for so long, he might have been able to leave Iraq before the violence worsened.

"I think a lot of people are fed up with the lack of civil rights this thing has caused," he said. "I don't think this administration is committed to democracy."

Berg's family said US State Department officials had told them yesterday that Berg's decapitated body was found on a highway overpass in Baghdad on Saturday.

When told about the website, Berg's father, brother and sister collapsed in their front yard.

"I knew he was decapitated before," Michael Berg said. "That manner is preferable to a long and torturous death. But I didn't want it to become public."

Berg's mother, Suzanne, said her son was in Iraq as an independent businessman to help rebuild communication antennas. Berg owned a communications equipment company, Prometheus Methods Tower Service Inc, she said.

The Bergs last heard from their son on April 9, when he told his parents he would come home via Jordan. Suzanne Berg said that the family had been trying for weeks to learn where their son was, but that US federal officials had not been helpful.

"I went through this with them for weeks," she said. "I basically ended up doing most of the investigating myself."

Berg had gone to Third World countries several times to help spread technology, his family said. He had previously been to Kenya and Ghana, where they said he had bought a $US900 ($A1,300) brick-making press for a poor village.

Michael Berg described himself as fervently anti-war, but said his son disagreed.

"He was a Bush supporter," Berg said. "He looked at it as bringing democracy to a country that didn't have it."

Suzanne Berg said she was told her son's body would be transported to Kuwait and then to Dover, Delaware.

- AP

Sure, Iraq was all lies...but Afghanistan?





Even conservatives have stopped defending the war in Iraq. The sane ones, anyway. Yet the belief persists, even among the thinking/liberal half of the population, that the war against the Taliban was somehow more just, more honest, a more logical reaction to the 9/11 attacks.



Nothing could be further from the truth.



As Bob Woodward writes in "Bush At War," Afghanistan was a dry run to Iraq in every respect--marketing, strategy, weaponry. The Bushies did Afghanistan first because they knew that, no matter how many mistakes they made, they could defeat the Taliban. At least at first.



The justifications for the war, however, were every bit as fraudulent as the WMD claims about Iraq. Pakistan, not Afghanistan, was and is the world's HQ for Al Qaeda. Osama bin Laden wasn't in Afghanistan at the start of the war. And the Taliban repeatedly offered to turn him over in exchange for evidence that he was involved in 9/11. Bush turned them down.



Like Iraq, there's an energy connection. The Trans-Afghanistan Pipeline project, as the industry trade journal Oil & Gas noted on May 3rd, is scheduled for groundbreaking in 2005:

Petroleum minister Nouraiz outlines foreign investment needs in Pakistan

 By an OGJ Correspondent

KARACHI, May 3 -- Pakistan's Federal Minister for Petroleum and Natural Resources Nouraiz Shakoor, at a press conference, invited foreign investors to participate in a $1 billion oil refinery proposed for Pakistan, in exploration blocks, and in gas storage facilities at Gwadar for Balochistan Province and in storage facilities for the hilly areas of the country.

Saying there was a need for both upstream and downstream investment in Pakistan's oil and gas sector, Nouraiz said he hoped in fiscal year 2004-05 to surpass the record $800 million provided by foreign investors in all sectors of oil and gas in Pakistan during fiscal year 2003-04.

He said the feasibility study for the $3 billion Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan oil pipeline would be completed by June, and the project would begin by yearend 2005. Nouraiz said that a consortium of companies would be formed later this year to fund the pipeline.

The consortium is said to be led by Unocal Corp., former employer of Afghan President Hamid Karzai and pet Bush Administration ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad.



Because the details are obscure and the story complex, I wrote a whole book--GAS WAR: THE TRUTH BEHIND THE AMERICAN OCCUPATION OF AFGHANISTAN--to tie it all together. And I vetted it the best way I know how: by sending it to all of the right-wing media that loves to to attack me. Interestingly, neither The Weekly Standard nor The National Review nor The Washington Times deemed this "consipiracy" title worthy of review, or trashing.



As Joe Bob Briggs says, check it out.

Why Fox News?



"Why do you even bother?" That's a question numerous Friends of Rall have asked me during the last few days. During the Pat Tillman cartoon controversy, I appeared on Fox TV's "O'Reilly Factor" and "Hannity and Colmes," as well as Hannity's and Colmes' syndicated radio talk shows to discuss the cartoon and the wars.



To be sure, I didn't get a fair hearing. A lot of people don't know that O'Reilly's show is taped a few hours earlier; any real zingers on the part of a liberal guest get edited out. And Hannity is partial to yammering on and on and on so long that you can't get a word in edgewise.



Still, I have to hand it to the conservatives: they're willing to confront ideas and people they find uncomfortable. Which is a lot more than I can say for the so-called liberal media, which generally has nothing to do with true progressives. I've been listening to Air America for the better part of a month, every day, and have yet to hear them interview anyone to the left of Al Gore. MoveOn.org didn't even invite me to their big shindig in New York City, where I live, a few months back. And I can't even get The Nation to review one of my books.



So there's the answer. I'm willing to be treated rudely by right-wing hosts for the chance to share progressive ideas with the American people. Liberals, after all, don't give other liberals exposure.

Return of the Neo-McCarthyite Censors



The same anti-American pro-war/Bush bloggers who led the charge to get me banned from The New York Times.com are at it again. Now they're deluging MSNBC.com with hate mail about my cartoons. Why? Because the last thing right-wingers want is someone who attacks them with the same ferocity as they attack Democrats.



I'll keep drawing cartoons whether or not MSNBC drops me, but it's important to send a message to these neo-McCarthyite censors that their campaign of intimidation won't work. Whether you agree with everything I write or not, please e-mail MSNBC to ask them to keep giving you the option of reading my work.



Send your email to:



GeneralComments@feedback.msnbc.com with a copy to letters@msnbc.com.



The right is on the ropes; they're terrified that they're about to lose big in November, so big that the Republican Party may never again be trusted with the White House. Until then they'll be more dangerous than ever. Hold firm for our endangered democracy!

GENERALISSIMO EL BUSHO: Essays and Cartoons from the Bush Years







Hot on the heels of my political wake up call to America and the Democrats WAKE UP, YOU'RE LIBERAL: HOW WE CAN TAKE AMERICA BACK FROM THE RIGHT comes my collection of essays and cartoons about George W. Bush, GENERALISSIMO EL BUSHO. I just received my first advance copy from the printer and it looks awesome!



Available in hardback and paperback, order now if you want to get yours within a few weeks, before it starts showing up in stores.

Unhinged We Stand



Worth noting, as another week of horrifying revelations of torture in American gulags in Iraq, Afghanistan, Cuba and here in der Homeland, is an interesting comparison.



Escaped hostage Thomas Hamill reports having been well treated, fed and "watered" throughout his captivity by Iraqi insurgents. At no time was he tortured; except for the captivity itself--admittedly terrifying--he was just fine.



Pfc. Jessica Lynch, despite spun Pentagon reports at the time, has also repeatedly said she was well treated, even given medical care in priority to Iraqis, by Iraqi doctors in a hospital during the war.



In other words, our treatment of POWs compares unfavorably with that given kidnapping victims and prisoners of both Saddam Hussein and the current Iraqi resistance movement.



[Start singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" now.]

Cool Mail



I received some great email from readers during last week's Tillman hubbub, and wanted to share it with you. Here's a small sample of the more than 4,000 positive emails I ultimately received. These people deserve anonymity from the right-wing blogger freaks, and so they shall have it from me.

I just read through your selection of emails concerning the death of Mr. Pat Tillman.

My thoughts on his death mirrored what you described in your cartoon even before reading what you had created. My opinion at the time was that the right wing morons and mainstream press, including ESPN would make this idiot out to be the greatest hero since Audie Murphy. And they did, while totally ignoring the 700 or more other soldiers killed in the Middle East. To top it all off when Nightline dicided to honor the soldiers Ted Koppel was made out to be a traitor!

Having read some of the thought provoking missives from your fellow countrymen; who make up roughly 50% of the population, I find that I am more worried about Bush and his followers than I am of any terrorist. The odds of Bin Laden or some other Arab striking me is quite remote, but the odds of Bush and his crew causing great harm to my freedom and my way of life is exactly at 50%, plus or minus 3%.

Keep up the good work.



Yo Ted! I've seen you on Bill Maher's HBO show, and I have enjoyed your

work on the (Washington DC) City Paper for years. Great stuff, always!

The writing is vicious (like I like it) and funny as hell, and your

drawing style is raw, but stylized, and I dig it immensely.

I was just checking out your blog, and the emails you've gotten from

the angry right-wingers. Some of those are hilarious, or WOULD be, if

they weren't so scary! How can people be so freakin' misguided? I am no

Noam Chomsky, but I am somewhat literate and educated. These people, on

the other hand, are just out of their minds!

Is this how life is going to be in Bush's "post-9/11-era", life in

complete and utter denial, an absolute refusal to even GLANCE at what

is really going on? Thanks so much, Ted, for having the nerve, the

guts, the balls to speak up!



We know you are getting a lot of heat for the Tillman cartoon, but please know that some of us understand the purpose of political commentary and completely agree that the HERO label now means nothing. From the thinking half of the American public, keep up the good work!



Thank you for saying what many of us know and try to say, but can't, due to

censorship. In particular, your column of May 4, 2004 was excellent. In

fact, America HAS committed genocide, but the American people have been

indoctrinated into dismissing as "Marxist lies" any and all evidence of

American war crimes.

Keep up the good work, Ted.



I think you cartoon about Tillman was disturbingly accurate. Keep up the

good work.

Air America Follow-up



Air America, the almost left-of-center radio network originally meant to challenge the hegemony of the right on AM, is in trouble. This from the AP:

Air America Radio Chairman Resigns



Fri May 7, 1:06 PM ET





By SETH SUTEL, AP Business Writer



NEW YORK - The chairman and vice chairman of Air America Radio have resigned, dealing the latest setback to the fledgling liberal radio network headlined by comedian and author Al Franken.

The departures of Evan Cohen and his investment partner Rex Sorensen came just one week after the company said that co-founder Mark Walsh had stepped down as CEO to take a smaller role at the company. Last week the company also said it had forced out David Logan as head of programming.

Cohen declined to discuss the reasons for his departure Friday but confirmed that he was stepping down both as chairman and as a member of the company's board. News of the departures, which occurred Thursday, was first reported in the Chicago Tribune.

Cohen also said Sorensen was leaving the company's board. He declined to say what he and Sorensen planned to do with their stakes in the venture. Jon Sinton, president of the company, did not immediately return calls seeking comment.

The continued management turmoil marked the latest growing pains for Air America Radio, which launched on March 31 with a slate of left-leaning political satire and current affairs commentary.

Just two weeks after the network went on the air, a dispute with a business partner led to the network's signal being pulled from stations in Chicago and Los Angeles. The signal was later restored in Chicago, but the company said it was looking for a new business partner there.

In addition to Franken's show, which is dubbed "The O'Franken Factor" in a jab at Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, the network also carries shows hosted by Janeane Garofalo (news), Florida radio personality Randi Rhodes and Lizz Winstead, a co-creator of "The Daily Show."

As something of a pioneer of leftie talk radio (on KFI Los Angeles from 1998 to 2000, and then again during the fall of 2001), I've taken more of an interest in most in what I feel to be a much needed idea and, if carried out correctly, a potentially profitable business. I've spent the last few weeks listening to Air America pretty much every day, and I think I know what ails them.



First and foremost, the central conceit of using comedy to counter right-wing vitriol doesn't work. When I started on KFI, I wanted to do comedy bits too, and I did have segments--Brooklyn Traffic with Dave Eggers (for a station in L.A.), the San Francisco Fog Report with Jesse Kalisher, Cinema is Dead with Cole Smithey, Wade Hamilton's Celebrity Watch with Ruben Bolling--but I quickly learned that on radio humor is the icing on the cake, not the main meal. People listen to feel informed, to hear ideas and arguments they can use at work the next day around the water cooler. You don't get that stuff on Air America.



Second, most of the hosts have no talk radio experience. It's embarrassing beyond belief for a talent the caliber of Al Franken to have to have a co-host to push the buttons and issue formatics ("This is the O'Franken Factor..."). Franken should have gone it alone after training at small station somewhere first.



Third, Air America is reacting to what the Republicans and the right does and says. They don't set their own agenda. Successful political talk requires men and women who, were they appointed president by a rogue Supreme Court, would already have a list of policies to enforce and cabinet members to appoint. You don't get that sense on Air America.



Finally, the editorial content is mushy. A few days ago, I heard Franken try to defend John Kerry on charges of waffling. Look, Kerry IS a waffler. It goes back to Vietnam, when he tried to be a war hero AND a peacenik, a game he's still playing. My old program director David Hall, who has forgotten more about talk radio than I'll ever know, used to harp on credibility. A host without credibility won't be listened to. Anyone who tries to defend Kerry as a man of integrity is kidding himself but nobody else.



It sounds like AA is reshuffling its management. That's good, if it leads to a clean sweep on the programming side. The only host I'd keep is Randi Rhodes, a veteran of San Francisco talk radio. I'd hire hosts ranging from radical left to centrist Democrat, all with balls out personnas and credible arguments to defend their points of view. And I'd lose the whole Comedy Central thing. It sucks and it's boring.

Hannity & Colmes



For those who are interested, I'll be discussing the Pat Tillman cartoon tonight on Fox News in the 9 o'clock hour, on the show "Hannity & Colmes."



Also, thanks to the thousands of you who wrote to express your support and condemn the right-wing hatred. If the conservative base is represented by the reprehensible curs I heard from during the last few days, there's hope for the future. The future, after all, belongs to those who can spell.

Hate Mail



My mail is mostly running pro right now, but I'd like to give the curious a peek at what typical correspondence from right-wing pro-war Republicans looks like: inarticulate, unable to speak English properly (and these are the folks who criticize immigrants!), violent, illogical. If we are defined by our enemies, I am proud to be disliked be the likes of these "Americans":



From kmdg2@yahoo.com:



Sleep tight. I'm coming to kill you.



From matthew@intouchone.com:



Fuck you you anti American son of a bitch. Get the fuck out of my country now! Call me you bitch if you have the balls to withstand justified criticism for your less than respectful comments about Mr. Tilman. You suck and I hope crowds chase your liberal ass out of this country. Give me a number to call you you fucking pussy ass cunt.

Matthew

602.XXX.XXXX

PS: Fuck you and leave my country BITCH



From cmiele@bglco.com:



Making fun of a man who gave him life defending the freedoms you live under!

You fucking cocksucker!

Cameron S. Miele | Senior Associate

BROWN GIBBONS LANG & COMPANY | INVESTMENT BANKERS

From brookshirelarry@hotmail.com:



Your a nim com poot and and idiot!

Larry Brookshire who served his county while you ran off to Canada or sit you fat ass behind a desk!

Larry Brookshire



From erslo@comcast.net:



You are one fucked up piece of shit. I hope someone blows your head off, you filthy cocksucker.

Fortunately assholes like you don't live long.

FUCK YOU!



From jfeick@sc.rr.com:



Wow what dick, it is fine to say that you don?t agree with the president but to call a hero like Sgt Tillman an idiot that is just uncalled for. I am going to take a guess that you have never served in the military and that you don?t what it is like to be fired at. You are a piece of shit and Mr. O?Reily was right when you should be ashamed of what you did to Tillman. I hope you burn in hell.



From a cowardly remailer:



Ted has a small Penis. He plays with it all day long. Thats funny isnt it?



From rlm@havilandtelco.com:



This man and many others have died so you can have YOUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH SO YOU CAN DRAW SHIT LIKE THIS.I BET YOUR PARENTS ARE REAL PROUD OF THE JOB YOU DO! IF YOU HAVE KIDS DO THEY GO TO SCHOOL AND HAVE TO DEFEND YOUR NAME OR DO THEY THINK YOUR A DICK LIKE MOST PEOPLE IN THIS COUNTRY . THANKS AMERICA FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BECAUSE I TO AS A VETERAN HAVE THE FREEDOM OF SPEECH.GOD BLESS PAT TILLMAN



From rancher@kans.com:



You sir are a left wing scallywag. How dare you insult an American hero like Tillman. I want to tell you something! I did not believe in the viet Nam war, but went anyway. Because it was the proper thing to do for me ,my parents, and you, you little fuck!!!! You have had a very good life I under stand! So how about start paying those people back that you so disagree with. Perhaps they know the truth, that there are factions who want to blow away your life as you know it... Please think!

If you wish to reply my name is: Carroll Jungel see E-address above



From brianroou@i-mnet.com:



Hey you punk, Rall, I'd love to see you make fun of Pat Tillman in front of

his Ranger buddies, or any military member for that matter. I'll bet you

wouldn't be able to pen another cartoon like that, you total leftie loser.

Brian Roou



From NY1962@webtv.net:



idiot. sap.



From DLFul0531@aol.com:



The Tillman piece was disgusting. Have you considered moving to another country? China might be nice.

DLF



From lburchf@adelphia.net:



You are an insensitive, f&%$#@ idiot who doesn't deserve to live in the USA. You are someone who cowards behind your cartoons instead of standing up and supporting your country's fallen...........whether or not you believe in the war, Pat Tillman died for you.



From jpresley@post.harvard.edu:



I hope the syndicate fires you.



From bhahn777@yahoo.com (note: I have never appeared on Chris Matthews' show):

Ted Rall,

You are a fucking idiot. I saw you on Chris Mathews and you are a flaming Gay liberal communist. I do not care about your email guidelines.This is a threat. If you ever show your scawny GAY communist ass in San Jose, CA you won't live to regret it. What you said about Pat Tillman is way past offensive. I worked in the same office as his father for several years and was very upset with his death. You, on the other hand think it is a joke that Pat Tillman or anyone of thousands of soldiers would put their life on the line to save your scrawny, GAY, communist ass from another terrorist attack. Pat Tillman was a hero and died a hero. However, you will die as a coward, liberal, GAY, communist. I doubt if any law enforcement officer in the USA would come to your defense if someone was cramming a Cadilac(made in the USA) up your ass. Like the New York fire fighter said at the 9/11 memorial concert. I live in San Jose, CA and if you know where to find me.



From mayj@ncr.disa.mil:



You are a LOSER! Ted Rall makes me sick! The same military that protects

your ass, he has the nerve to criticize! You need to move out of this

country! Leave! If you hate this country so much, move to Yemen! Your on

Pat Tillman was disgusting. Why don't you take your panzie ass and join

the military?! You wouln't last, you big baby! You have never served this

country in any capacity, have you? You are jerk. A simple liberal idiot!

You make me puke!

Ted, do us all a favor and LEAVE! Move to another country pal, and see how

you like it there. To never serve this country, and have the audacity to

criticize somebody who gave their life for this country is despicable!

You make me puke! I can I can tell you of another 1.5 million you make sick

in our armed forces!

Oh, and come on down to Ft Benning, Ft Bragg, Ft Carson, Camp Lejuene, or

any other military base, and write this article! Stand out in front of the

base and read it, you dickhead! We would love to kick your spindly ass!

It is losers like you that need to move to another country, you idiot! You

hate our Government, but, you love the money you make writing stupid comic

articles that mean NOTHING! LOSER!

LTC Jeffrey May

From omelekie2@hotmail.com:



I recently saw your strip regarding Pat Tillman. I get that you are against

the war but do not degrade the name of a hero. You are an ASSHOLE!!!!!!!



From gmfalls@hagemeyerna.com:



A$$hole..how dare you critisize Pat Tillman..it's people like him that give

you your right to spoof.



From Jsheridan5@aol.com:



Good thing those American War Criminals are on the front lines defending your right to be an obnoxious twit.

I do hope you meet a couple of Marines in a dark alley



From foxsb@verizon.net:



Fooled you....you are an arrogant Bastard desrespecting Tillman the way you did....but of course you probably didn't have anyone die that you knew in the 9/11 attacks did you...I hope you get what is coming to you bastard



From marty@teamsavage.tv:



If I ever see you in person I will kick your ass.

Tell the authorities you spineless weasel.

Your arrogance is inversely proportionate

to your lack of intelligence



From bbmesq@earthlink.net:



Ted Rall - dead man walking . . . .



From rjohns9797@sbcglobal.net:



United States Attorney General John Ashcroft

U.S. Department of Justice

950 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW

Washington, DC 20530-0001

Re: Witness to Treason against the United States

Dear Mr. Attorney General:



I have witnessed an act of Treason against the United States of America as defined in the Constitution of the United States, Art. III, Section 3, which states "Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort. No Person shall be convicted of Treason unless on the Testimony of two Witnesses to the same overt Act, or on Confession in open Court."

The meaning of Article III, Section 3 cannot be interpreted any other way except that Treason is clearly defined as:

1.) going to war against the United States

or

2.) giving aid and comfort to the enemies of

the United States.

To be convicted of treason, the accused must either

a.) confess to treason

or

b.) be accused of treason by two direct witnesses

of the act of treason.

The act of Treason which I, and millions of other Americans have witnessed was committed on 11 November 2003 by a United States citizen identified as Mr. Ted Rall, a native of the State of Massachusetts upon which United States citizenship was acquired by birthright.

On 11 November 2003, Mr. Rall committed an Act of Treason with the publication of statements clearly giving aid and comfort to the enemies of the United States and encouraging those enemies to take up arms against the military forces of the United States currently occupying the nation of Iraq. Mr. Rall's Treason was aided and abetted by a business entity identified as Universal Press Syndicate...

Mr. Attorney General, I strongly urge you to seek an indictment charging the above parties with the crime of Treason, and to prosecute them to the fullest extent of the law. I further urge you to seek a court injunction to immediately prohibit further original publication of such articles by the parties above which are in violation of the United States Constitution Article III, Section 3.

I ask also that the individual identified as Mr. Ted Rall be immediately classified as a potential security risk with the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Transportation Security Administration and that he be subject to additional screening should he seek to travel upon any commercial aircraft within the confines of the United States.



Respectfully Submitted



From mreese@sdcoe.k12.ca.us:



Well, Ive always considered you a commie, now you have proved it.



Eat Shit traitor.



From dlowry@saanet.com:



You should be put in prison, one for not being willing to serve your country and then have the audacity to critize those who do.

You don't belong in America. You have no idea of civility and when it is appropriate or how to be appropriate when expressing your views. You are a shame to this country.

David Lowry



From News6809@aol.com:



Rall you are the king of scum, I know if there is a hell you will def be there suffering like you made Pat tillmans family suffer. I hope you are No 1 when the next terrorist attack comes Have a Great day scumbag If I ever see you I will gladly spit in your face !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's Out Today!







My lovely author's copies of my long-awaited book WAKE UP, YOU'RE LIBERAL: HOW WE CAN TAKE AMERICA BACK FROM THE RIGHT, arrived at Ted Rall HQ this very day. And what beautiful tomes they are, too--thick, nice print, great cover, definitely the best looking and most ambitious book I've done so far. At 336 pages of all prose, with an introduction by none other than George S. McGovern, no home should be without this attempt to fix what's ailing the American left ideologically, tactically and otherwise!

More on Tillman



This post will be my last word on my cartoon about Pat Tillman. Having read more than 6,000 emails about it, a number of random thoughts cross my mind.



First and foremost, this country is in the throes of a militarism that is frightening. Militarism is an ideology that sees war not as a means to an end, but rather as a self-perpetuating purpose in and of itself. The excitement of the waving flags, the sense of common purpose, the thrill of risking lives--ours and our fellow citizens'--in a grand crusade to expand our nation's influence, avenge some slight, whatever.



Even what passes for the "left" in this country insists that we "support our troops." Why? Because during Vietnam, some veterans reported having been insulted as "baby killers." These stories are largely fictional, but whatever--let's take them at their word. What irony! Vietnam vets, many of whom were drafted, were insulted. Now our army is 100% volunteer--and we're not allowed to point out that picking up a gun and shooting people they tell you to shoot is a choice.



Others on the left point out that poor people from rural areas with high unemployment see joining the military as a means of overcoming economic disadvantage. At a starting salary of $12,000, however, your average private would do better taking a job at McDonald's, where the pay is the same and nobody's shooting at you.



Obviously the lion's share of the blame for our current atmosphere of warmongering based on lies must be placed on the disgusting creature named George W. Bush as well as his demented greedhead cronies in the Administration. After that comes the media, which lionizes people like Tillman because they gave up everything--money, a bright future, even their life!--to serve their coun--well, to fight in Afghanistan and Iraq. (Tillman fought first in Iraq, then Afghanistan.) It's the same sales pitch used by Hezbollah and Hamas to recruit suicide bombers: die for the greater good. Except these wars are not good. They're not defending us from terrorists; they're recruiting them. And the 9/11 terror attacks remain utterly unavenged.



Even so it's time for Americans to start boycotting the military. If there hadn't been a spike in recruitment after 9/11, the Pentagon would not have had the ability to wage war in Iraq, where even now they are so shorthanded that they sent for another 47,000 troops. The last thing anyone should do with their life is sign it away as a blank check to George W. Bush--a man who did everything in his power to dodge the draft when he had his chance to fight in Vietnam, a war that he supported as long as other guys were doing the dying.



I've been asked what I would have done, as president, after 9/11. I've written about this extensively, in books and essays, but to summarize:



I would have leaned on Egypt, which receives $2 billion annually in US foreign aid, to track down the masterminds of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. IJ is the group that killed Anwar Sadat, and all 19 hijackers were members. They were also all Egyptian--the 15 "Saudis" merely held Saudi passports. I would have demanded that those leaders be prosecuted for mass murder on 9/11.



Regime change, if necessary, should have focused on Saudi Arabia, which funded the attacks, and Pakistan, which is--contrary to media myth--Al Qaeda HQ. General Musharraf's ISI intelligence agency created the Taliban and spread militant anti-American Wahhabiism throughout South and Central Asia. Get rid of him, and you eliminate funding for the camps in Afghanistan, a nation that was before 9/11 nothing more than a back lot for Pakistan's misdeeds.



There's more--much, much more--but as I said, I've written about all this before and I am seriously tired.



Pat Tillman died for nothing. He may have been an admirable person in many respects--we're all complicated--but he made a terrible decision by joining Bush's mercenary military after 9/11. If someone dies because they screw up behind the wheel of their car, it's a tragic accident. It's awful and we're sad--but it ain't heroism, folks.



Heroism? That's pretty damned rare. Shooting at people for pay, unless you're defending your country, surely ain't that particular bird. And America has never been endangered by Iraq or Afghanistan. North Korea, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia, on the other hand...

Pat Tillman



Today's cartoon is getting a lot of coverage from right-wing media outlets as well as more legitimate ones like Editor & Publisher. As is often the case in these situations, it's impossible to reply to each email individually, so I'll just say what I have to say here.



My cartoon is a reaction to the extraordinary lionizing of Mr. Tillman as a national hero. First of all, the media's decision to genuflect to a cult of death is terrifyingly similar to the cult of Palestinian suicide bombers in the Middle East and the glorious coverage given by the Japanese during World War II to fallen kamikaze fighters. Nowhere has this excessive praise for the act of voluntary death been more extreme than in Mr. Tillman's case.



The purpose of a political cartoon is to stimulate discussion, and there was no discussion about America's post-9/11 death cult.



Second, Mr. Tillman served an evil president and an evil cause. Anyone with an open mind after 9/11 could easily have learned the truth, that the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq occured instead of a war on terror, not as part of one. A person who planned to risk his life in combat should reasonably be expected to dig a little deeper rather than to fall for Bush's transparent lies. We all judge each other, and while Tillman's decision to sacrifice millions of dollars for his beliefs is admirable, his belief that killing the citizens of Iraq and Afghanistan had something to do with defending America was not. At best, Tillman was foolish and misguided.



Finally, it's time for troops who signed up post-9/11 to take a little personal responsibility. It's one thing for a career soldier to go where the politicians tell him or her to go, but quite another to join the military when the "president" is an illegal usurper occupying the White House, he's an out-of-control warmonger using the deaths in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania to promote a partisan political agenda and his wars are nothing more than grabs for control of oil and gas resources and pipeline routes. Liberals tend to let volunteer soldiers off the hook, but let's not forget the hard, cold truth:



If no one had enlisted after 9/11, we wouldn't be fighting these immoral wars based on lies and greed now.



Update as of Tuesday: I'll be the lead on tonight's O'Reilly Factor, on Fox News, 8 pm Eastern time.