Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.
Posted on 02/03/2006 8:30:23 PM PST by infoguy
In an especially contentious exchange on this evening's Hannity and Colmes (Friday February 3, 2006), cantankerous cartoonist Ted Rall, a guest on the program, unbelievably declared, "We do not owe our liberties to the military." The topic was the recent Washington Post cartoon by Tom Toles that has outraged many. The cartoon prompted a letter to the editor (linked at Michelle Malkin) from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who tagged the the work as "beyond tasteless." Needless to say, Rall (who himself has created bigoted trash in the past) defended Toles' cruel piece. Here's the relevant exchange (audiotape on file, emphasis mine):
SEAN HANNITY: Here's what you're missing. The reason that you have the right to be mean, and you were mean to this guy [killed in Afghanistan, former NFL star Pat] Tillman, who gave up a football contract to save his country. The reason you have the right to be mean in your cartoons, and Toles has a right to mean and insensitive in his cartoons, is because of people like this (Sean holds up the WaPo cartoon) that literally put their lives on the line so you have the right for free expression. And you insult them and use them as props so you can make your left-wing political points.
RALL: Sean, you could not possibly be more wrong about the nature of this country. We do not owe our liberties to the military. We owe them to the Constitution. We have civilian rule in the United States --
HANNITY: The military preserves the Constitution. They put their lives on the line so that you have free speech. You do owe them.
RALL: The military doesn't give us free speech.
HANNITY: Yes, they do.
RALL: Thomas Jefferson and the Founding Fathers gave us free speech.
HANNITY: No. Because if they don't defend that Constitution, you don't have the right to be so wrong in your cartoons!
"We do not owe our liberties to our military"?? I'm sure George Washington would have had a few things to say about that, not to mention the generations of heroic young men who fought and died to protect and defend our precious liberties.
It was simply another pathetic display by Ted Rall. How ungrateful this man is. What a disgrace.
By the way, if Rall's comments weren't sad enough, co-host Alan Colmes claimed that the Joint Chiefs' letter to the Washington Post was "intimidating" and that there was a "chill of intimidation that goes right down the spine of the First Amendment." Puh-leeze, Alan.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.
I do not respond to threatening, obscene or completely negative (i.e., nothing but criticism) emails. This permits me to spend more time doing something constructive, like corresponding with people who understand and appreciate what I do.
F'n idiot!
Thanks for the ping!
What an idiot. The Constitution doesn't "grant" us any rights. The Constitution states our rights are God given, and limits the power of the government to infringe on those God-given rights. This moron obviously can't even read. And his claim that Jefferson (Jefferson?) "gave" us those rights? Where in the holy heck did that stupid idea come from? He's not worth one soldier's spit.
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my ‘miscellaneous’ ping list.
In short order, scum like Rall will relegated to the dustbin of history, and it's comforting to know this poem will be what lives on.
"I am a member of the US military, and was personally insulted by what he said."
You are certainly entitled to be, but please bear in mind Rall is just a stupid little man and this is the only way he can get any attention at all. Please know there are literally MILLIONS of us who appreciate and honor all that our military does to defend and protect the freedoms which make us the great country we are. We can survive the stupidity of that petty little fool; we couldn't survive without people like you.
HANNITY: No. Because if they don't defend that Constitution, you don't have the right to be so wrong in your cartoons!
That's exactly right, and Rall doesn't get it.
I've appeared on many television programs, including on Fox, and have made deals with producers prior to appearing. Before my appearance on "Hannity & Colmes" tonight, I negotiated the following terms: 1. No mention whatsoever of my cartoons, current or previous, or my work in general. I'm just there to discuss Tom Toles' cartoon and the Danish Mohammed cartoon series. 2. Mention my radio show. 3. Show images of my book. I know they did 3. They may have done 2. Number 1, on the other hand, they lied about. Halfway through the discussion, after only having discussed Toles (no Mohammed), Hannity began his simpleminded "you have no heart, you have no soul" routine while displaying a fuzzy version of my Pat Tillman cartoon. Boy, did I ever feel like Charlie Brown trying to kick the football while Lucy held it.
And Rall went ballistic (or was that a hissy fit?) when Sean brought up his Pat Tillman cartoon. Rall was screaming something like: That cartoon is 2 years old, it was not supposed to be discussed on this show! You promised! What a turd this guy is. I didn't realize he had a radio show. Yikes...
Anothing ping... Check out DesScorp's post #112!
There was a thread at DU a while back wherein they were ranting about the idea that the military protects the freedom of speech. They had the idea that it was the reporters and newsies who do that.
The Ralls and DUers of the world are certifiably and willfully ignorant.
#103 also is an excerpt from his own website. The most damning evidence comes from his own mouth.
LOL! He's probably gay... sounds like.
Inspired after meeting pop artist Keith Haring in a Manhattan subway station in 1986, Rall began posting his cartoons on New York City streets. He eventually picked up 12 clients through self-syndication. In 1990, he returned to Columbia, where he graduated with a bachelor of arts with honors in history in 1991. (His honors thesis was about American plans to occupy France as an enemy power at the end of World War II.) Later that year, Rall's cartoons were signed for national syndication. He moved to Universal Press Syndicate in 1996.
Ah, not to put too fine a point on it, but wasn't that AFTER the military fought for it?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.