I think Ted Rall is a miserable prick. Do you agree?

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

Poll question: I think Ted Rall is a miserable prick. Do you agree?

I realize that I'm inviting a flame war here, but I think its pretty hateful and just plain mean to say the things he has said about Reagan and Pat Tillman. Look, politics is one thing, but for Christ's sake let the family grieve. We needn't tear down people that way. Pat Tillman gave his life for his country. Let's honor that. Anyway, do you agree with me? Or do you hate him that much?

[latebloomer]

1. What did he say?

jeez, you gotta haunt this place 24/7 just to keep up.

[Suspicious]

I'm assuming

this: http://www.uexpress.com/tedrall/ ?

[dobak]

6. This is what annoyed me...

http://www.ucomics.com/tedrall/

[latebloomer]

11. Why did it annoy you?

[RetroLounge]

21. Why were you annoyed?

Rall seems spot-on as usual...

RL

[Vladimir]

37. But its true n/t

[0007]

44. Ted it right on - perhaps you should .....................

I have no idea what your problem is!

[EdGy]

48. that particular toon is the best yet!!!

It is SO accurate! SO on target!

It says in a small cartoon what so many Americans just do not see or understand, or if they do, it reflects the racism that Americans harbor towards the rest of the world.

Thanks for pointing me to this toon, it's one of Rall's best!!

[latebloomer]

7. Thanks for the link!

Sounds about right to me.

[Suspicious]

13. You're welcome...

I thought it was pretty good, myself. :)

[Beaker]

5. it's about a remark he made in a cartoon several weeks back...

some people apparently can't just let it go :eyes:....

Ted Rall is a fan-fucking-tastic voice for our side, and just because he one time makes a cartoon that's a little clumsy in trying to say what he wanted to say, is no reason to throw him under the bus.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

9. Basically,

he said he hated Reagan then, and he hates him now. He also mocked Pat Tillman. As for Reagan, my concern was over the timing and hatefulness of it. There's no justification for his comments about Pat Tillman.

[RetroLounge]

22. "he hated Reagan then, and he hates him "

and your point is?

RL

[bicentennial_baby]

2. I love Ted Rall

I link to his stuff all the time on my blog. He's quite good.

ps I thought his Reagan piece was dead on...What's the problem? :shrug:

[InformedSource]

33. I'm reading his latest book "Wake Up ... You're Liberal"

And I think it's one of the better of the spate of books that are out there, and I try to read as many of them as I can afford to buy.

Some of the cartoons do go over the top, and I can see how others people could be offended. I'm not offended, but I like outrageous, over the top stuff.

The book, so far, has very little of that kind of stuff.

[dobak]

3. He has really turned me off the past couple weeks

I used to like him, but he seems to be trying to get attention by being crude and outrageous. His brand of humor reminds me of being yelled at.

I prefer subtle, biting humor.

[Az]

4. He is a borderline jerk

Sometimes he goes too far. But in truth if no one ever went too far we would still be talking about how risky that wheel invention thing was.

[Octafish]

8. The Reich-wing did a respectful job toward Sen. Wellstone.

Didn't they? I can't remember with all the scandals and treason going on. Oh well, must not have been all that important.

Remember Cliff Baxter? He wasn't dead an hour before the cops were saying, "It's suicide, all right, Mr. Lay."

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

16. The right-wingers act like jerks, but we ought not do the same

[AlCzervik]

17. So he should stifle himself?

i don't think so, life is hard, get a helmut. And he's right about Reagan, would you rather that Reagan's history be rewritten by the pundits, or would you rather have the truth? I'll stick with the truth thanks and if it offends you maybe you ought to really think about why it offends you. I'm sick to death of hearing "I'm offended'. we are exposed to horrible things every day and no matter what is said about Ray-gun it will never, ever be as "Offensive" as what Bush and the rightwing are doing to this country everyday.

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

26. Ok, what about Pat Tillman then?

My whole concern was over the timing of his remarks. Reagan made a lot a screw-ups, but he was just a man. His policies are fair game to critique, but I think we can separate the policies from the man. Sorry I'm not as cynical as you.

[Vladimir]

38. He was right about Tillman too n/t

[K-W]

41. ignore, mispost, EOM

[RetroLounge]

23. Why not?

What has your brand of being nice gotten us in the last 25 years?

Well? I'm waiting...

RL

[MikeG]

10. Just once, can a liberal guest haul off and cold cock Hannity?

[johnfunk]

12. He was right about Reagan -- let me give you 66 reasons:

the firing of the air traffic controllers
winnable nuclear war
recallable nuclear missiles
trees that cause pollution
Elliott Abrams lying to Congress
ketchup as a vegetable
colluding with Guatemalan thugs
pardons for F.B.I. lawbreakers
voodoo economics
budget deficits
toasts to Ferdinand Marcos
public housing cutbacks
redbaiting the nuclear freeze movement
James Watt
getting cozy with Argentine fascist generals
tax credits for segregated schools
disinformation campaigns
"homeless by choice"
Manuel Noriega
falling wages
the HUD scandal
air raids on Libya
"constructive engagement" with apartheid South Africa
United States Information Agency blacklists of liberal speakers
attacks on OSHA and workplace safety
the invasion of Grenada
assassination manuals
Nancy's astrologer
drug tests
lie detector tests
Fawn Hall
female appointees (8 percent)
mining harbors
the S&L scandal
239 dead U.S. troops in Beirut
Al Haig "in control"
silence on AIDS
food-stamp reductions
Debategate
White House shredding
Jonas Savimbi
tax cuts for the rich
"mistakes were made"
Michael Deaver's conviction for influence peddling
Lyn Nofziger's conviction for influence peddling
Caspar Weinberger's five-count indictment
Ed Meese ("You don't have many suspects who are innocent of a crime")
Donald Regan (women don't "understand throw-weights")
education cuts
massacres in El Salvador
"The bombing begins in five minutes"
$640 Pentagon toilet seats
African-American judicial appointees (1.9 percent)
Reader's Digest
C.I.A.-sponsored car-bombing in Lebanon (more than eighty civilians killed)
200 officials accused of wrongdoing
William Casey
Iran/contra
"Facts are stupid things," three-by-five cards
the MX missile
Bitburg
S.D.I.
Robert Bork
naps
Teflon

(courtesy David Corn, The Nation)

[kentuck]

14. Trying to change the subject huh?

Still think Reagan was a pretty nice guy, huh?

[Bombtrack]

15. Hell Yes

Implying Pat Tillman is a stupid racist with absolutely no evidence, among dozens of other things, the guy is a scary bastard.

[ScreamingMeemie]

19. I have to agree. More than a bit over the top.

And call me old school in my thoughts, but I still believe in civility and respect for the dead. Politics will never cloud decency for me. :hi:

[0007]

45. Three cheers for Rall

Screw junior and the kind that follow him into the lifeless life.

[DrWeird]

18. Rall's great.

One of my favorite cartoons, not Rall's but somebody elses, shows this veteran father with a gun walk in on his son's bedroom. The son is a columbine shooter type kid with swastikas on the wall, shaved head, white supremacist rock music, etc. The caption read, "I'm sorry, son, but back during WWII we used to shoot nazis like you."

So I don't have a problem when cartoonists make fun of nazis, even Rall.

[Suspicious]

20. With respect to his column on Reagan:

Ronald Reagan is dead. He lived a very long life. During his lifetime, he voluntarily participated in a machine that has systematically destroyed much of what was good and right in this country and many other areas of the world.

I think the real disgrace here is the 24/7 propaganda campaign on our televisions and radios - not Ted Rall telling it like it is. The truly hateful people are the talking heads and pundits and their relentless lies to the American public about who these people are and what they are responsible for.

[Forkboy]

24. You call someone a "miserable prick" to complain about his meanness?

k :silly:

[Lone_Wolf_Moderate]

25. Fighting fire with fire.

Although, in the interest of not stooping to his level, I'll juat say he's a hateful man, or at least acting like one.

[Forkboy]

27. no,being a hypocrite

[Ms. Clio]

29. Yeah, don't be hateful and show some compassion

You vile, miserable, disgusting, hope-you-die-screaming subhumans.

[JNelson6563]

39. do as I say, not as I do

double-think, gotta love it.

[quinnox]

28. Don't read his comics

The only thing I know about him is some have said he is the Ann Coulter of the left and that he has done a couple of cartoons that people have said are in really bad taste.

But as for the main point about respect and having compassion, I agree completely with the sentiment.

[Simeon Salus]

30. It takes far more courage to take public positions in one's own name...

than it does to criticize positions under the protection of demi-anonymous screen names on a well-moderated message board.

I don't always agree with Rall, but he has the integrity of his public convictions.

[lojasmo]

31. He's a political cartoonist/author

His job is to make people Think and Feel. He's doing his job, even if it pisses some people off. At least he's being openly critical of the government, and other right wing pricks. I'm opposed to soldiers fighting in an illegal war. Also, the war in Iraq, and even the war on terra are straw men. we might as well say Pat Tillman died in order to secure another 4 years of a * regime. How honorable is that?

[jpgray]

32. He lost all my respect when he advocated cancelling the primaries

He is well-educated, but comes off as a naive flake.

[thebigidea]

34. well, apparently he's doing his job by the looks of this thread

good work, Mr. Rall!

He's always fun when he shows up on FOX, telling Hannity he was "shamelessly pimping" the war.

[Delano]

35. A little of both.

Ted Rall lashes out like a spoiled teenager who's just had his white-bread illusions of the way of the world destroyed for the first time.

I thought he went way overboard for no good reason against Tillman. He was a prick on that day, and on a few other days, too. But there are many more days when his insight is right on target and his wit is hilarious. Right now Rall is on probation as far as I'm concerned. I'm hoping he'll grow up a bit...

[Vladimir]

36. On Reagan he couldn't be more right

if he tried. I disagree with Rall on a lot of things, but he nailed St. Ronnie the Butcher right and proper.

[K-W]

40. He doesnt share your values. But he is right.

and dying or killing for ones country is not honorable.

[Kickin_Donkey]

42. Ted Rall has the guts and talent ...

to tell it like it is. He's the man.

[Skittles]

43. I think Ted Rall is wonderful

he says it like it is; it's your problem if it's not what you want to hear.

[EdGy]

46. Rall is fantastic

His stuff is so on target. His toons and columns are so important especially now when the crazies are trying to silence dissent, including by calling dissent "incivility" and BS like that.

Rall is great. I have to find the Reagan column, I had not seen it yet and I'm sure it's just what I need to read right now.

[fujiyama]

47. .

[CWebster]

49. Ted Rall is a hero

who speaks the unvarnished truth.

Too bad it hurts, someone has to say it, because people fall for this maudilin sentimentality and they are lured into "supporting the troops", for example, through emotional appeals that lend credibility to criminal actions like the invasion of Iraq.

Tell it like it is, Ted Rall!

[Texican]

50. Great American

Ted not only speaks the truth, he does it whem it may not be popular. He can speak for me anytime. I am often hated by those that hate the truth. Fuck Em.

[sendero]

51. When I see the mainstream right...

... condemning Ann Coulter, then I'll be ready to criticize Ted Rall.

[kodi]

52. is the army going to take back tillman's silver star?

i never heard of an american soldier getting a medal for being shot to death by his own troops.

[scrotim]

53. He occasionally makes me cringe, but that's OK.

It's generally good that some people are out there in the discussion pushing buttons and the envelope.

I think Rall is a complicated human being; and in some ways a genius.

[paulk]

54. He can be as mean, hateful, and viscious as any right winger

which, IMHO detracts from the times when he is right - 'cause when he's wrong, he's over the top, way out of bounds, really wrong.

The vitriol that runs through his work is a distraction, and makes him an unreliable pundit.