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.
With full knowledge that we won't saw his head off, like the Muslims want done to the Danish Cartoonists.
Luckily he will not get within ax-handle range of me.
After viewing the H&C episode, I would not be shocked if evidence revealed "Ted" was a "Tess" prior to a certain Renee Richards-type surgical procedure.
who give a flying sh*t what Rall thinks about anything . He's a punk , immature , ill educated and not at all original or even slightly witty. A no talent if ever there was one. He says this crap to get attention . like the assh*le kid he is. He dosen't even think any of this through , just like most Leftist idiots. They try to be OVER the top for attention , for the sake of attention and ego. He is , and means nothing .
He's an idiot. I find most of the liberals I argue with have , at best a ,grammer school level history background . Very rarely do they have ANY sense of history or politics.
After the election, I had heard that Ted Rall was going to leave the country, and I found his email address somehow, so I sent him one:
Subject: Re: Are you leaving the country?
In a message dated 11/3/04 1:30:34 PM, rlmorel writes:
I heard you were going to leave if President Bush won re-election...is that true?
Never said it, never thought it.
I must admit I was surprised...but he didn't take the bait...:)
LOL!
Rall should draw a cartoon depicting Mohammed and wait to see what happens. I'm sure the USA military will not be there to protect his liberties, so I guess he'll be proven right.
-PJ
A pimple on the butt of a great nation.
"Don't shoot, torture, enslave, or molest me--can't you see I'm holding a constitution?"
Typically ignorant leftist. He was probably too interested in homosexual sex in high school to study US history.
I've always credited political cartoonists for my freedom...
"It Is The Soldier" was authored by Charles Michael Province
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Was it? I always saw it as authored by Father Denis Edward O'Brien, USMC.
I really don't know. But this is the first I heard of it being authored by Province.
Father Denis O'Brien was born in Dallas on October 8, 1923, and entered the seminary in 1941. But when Pearl Harbor was attacked, he quickly volunteered for the Marine Corps.
He served in the Pacific and participated in three campaigns; Café Gloucester, Peleliu and Okinawa. He often recalled the battle to take Peleliu as the bloodiest and most memorable — 1,336 Marines lost their lives and 6,032 were wounded. Later, as chaplain of the First Marine Division, he returned to Peleliu in 1994 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of that battle and to pray for all who died there. They were, as he described them, his brothers and all Marines. He often said, "We never left anyone behind."
He said it was on that battlefield that he felt God's call stronger than before. After he left the military service, he went into God's service by studying at the Maryknoll Seminary in New York.
Father Denis O'Brien went on to be a missionary to the poor, the needy, the terminally ill and the "unwanted" in East Africa and Mexico. Father O'Brien so impressed the leadership of the Mexican bishops' conference that he was appointed respect life director, a job he performed remarkably for 25 years. He trained doctors, taught medical students, spoke to high school and college groups, trained parents, and did it with a love for human beings and respect for the magisterium of the Church.
WEBMASTER'S NOTE: Information recently recieved via a 3rd party, (Toni A. Petty from Buffalo, NY - to whom I am indebted) from the administrator of the Catholic Community of Pius X, Dallas, TX, where Father O'Brien lived and worked from 1988 to his death in 2002 advises the following:
Fr. O'Brien used this [What is a Veteran?] and many other writings concerning veterans. The poem you are referring to seems to be the main piece of literature that people refer to. He was always quick to state that he was not the author, but did find the text poignant. I am sorry to say we do not know the original author,
Cordially,
Neely Kerr
Office Manager
August 8, 2005
Ted Ralls is insane...end of story.
Charles M. Province, a veteran of the US Army, is the sole and single Founder and President of The George S. Patton, Jr. Historical Society. He is the author of "The Unknown Patton", "Patton's Third Army", "Patton's One-Minute Messages" and "It Is The Soldier" ©Copyright 1970-2005 by Charles M. Province
Colmes has been so obnoxious lately that I can't even watch him. The minute he opens his mouth, I switch the channel.
"Mr Province has advised that Father O'Brien once sent a copy of the poem to "Dear Abby" and it was printed erroneously giving credit to Father O'Brien for writing it. It is at that point that the authorship became clouded..."
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Thanks for the information. I'll credit Mr. Province in the future -- but at an great number of websites O'Brien is credited as the author.
It's a wonderful poem.
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