Yesterday, the always abominable Ted Rall raised quite a stink with his disgusting cartoon portraying the victim’s wives of 9/11 as greedy and attention seeking. The cartoon, I think we can agree, was the humor equivalent of feces-smearing, although this is not altogether surprising, as Mr. Rall leaves a trail of slime everywhere he goes. Rall has had venom heaped upon him for his latest offering, most notably in cartoon form. One can be found here, at Protein Wisdom. Jim Treacher offers one up here. Thousands of bloggers and other concerned and disturbed HUMANS apparently wrote and phoned in to the NY Times, as well as mainstream media attention in New York, and the ‘artistic’ dung-heap was eventually pulled.

Rall got beat up, had his strip pulled from the Gray Lady, then mumbled something incoherent about ‘free speech.’ But this all missed the point, because Mr. Rall also published this gem yesterday (NOTHING CHANGED AFTER 9-11: Our Smoke and Mirrors War on Terror), and because it was not as overtly and viscerally offensive, it appears to have slipped under the radar. Go check it out in all of its disgusting tedium. Andrew Sullivan calls Rall an America-hating sicko, and I think he is too kind. While this appears to be a commentary on security measures put in place since 9/11, let’s look at a little of what Rall really thinks. I am too disgusted to talk through all of the inanities and grotesque innacuracies, so I will just highlight a few.

Americans cannot defeat terrorism without addressing its underlying causes:

Ahh.. those root causes again. Wanna bet Rall was a Clinton voter?

our aggressive, clumsy, bomb-first-ask-questions-later foreign policy;

Like in Afghanistan, I guess.

our spectacularly arrogant attitude of cultural and economic expansionism;

Damn free markets.

our unquestioned support of oppressive regimes around the world.

Israel.

Fanatics will always be willing to kill themselves to take on the Great Satan.

Unless we kill them first. See ‘Daisycutter.’

A nicer and smarter America would deprive those nuts of the widespread financial support they require in order to fund large-scale attacks.

America, land of mean dummies who serve as a proxy military for Jews.

Unfortunately, unless there is a major intellectual breakthrough, we Americans are likely to continue the provocations that got us into such trouble in the first place.

We were attacked because we were stupid, a recurring theme.

Ted Rall is a lunatic; a self-loathing twerp of Fiskian proportions. If you know what he looks like, you are duly obligated to spit on him should you walk by him. Maybe he will get tired of it eventually and move abroad with Alec Baldwin.

Yesterday, the always abominable TedPost + Comments

Josh Marshall responds in a great post to Natalija (this is why blogs are so wonderful).

Josh Marshall responds in aPost + Comments

Jesse Jackson is a vile race-baiter, despicable con-artist, sire of who knows how many bastard children, sycophant apologist for the Clintons; a hypocritical amoral wart who by many accounts has broken every IRS regulation while preaching poison politics and shaking down Wall Street.

There. I just saved you several hours and $21.00, although I fully intend to read the book in all its gory detail.

Jesse Jackson is a vilePost + Comments (1)

I haven’t been linking to Sgt. Stryker lately, not because he has not had anything to say, but because all of his posts lately have been so good that it seems unfair to call particular attention to any of them. Instead, I will just recommend that you go read him every day.

When you visit his site, I want you to recognize that he is a very fair representation of the men and women who serve in our modern military- thoughtful, fair-minded, and articulate, putting their lives on the line on a daily basis so that we don’t have to do the same. Consider yourself very lucky to live in the United States.

I haven’t been linking toPost + Comments

It is 65 degrees outside with a slight breeze, blue skies as far as the eye can see. I spent an hour on the deck grading papers with a bottle of SANCERRE SELECTION PREMIERE 1999/2000 chilled just below room temperature.

If this is global warming, I say bring it on.

It is 65 degrees outsidePost + Comments

Matt Welch is back from his bi-monthly vacation and has a lengthy discussion of the Riordan/Simon primary.

Matt Welch is back fromPost + Comments

Tom Daschle, Mainstream Media’s Mild-Mannered Moron, while discussing the government contingency plans stated that “we were left in the shadow, so to speak,” said Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle. “We don’t know what the role is, what their current authority is, what their purpose is at this point, other than to be prepared if an emergency of some kind would take place,” he said.

It appears that not only were the Democrats who needed to know about this plan informed, but that they knew so much that they turned down an invitation for a briefing.

Byrd, D-W.V., Tuesday confirmed that White House officials offered to update him on the administration’s government contingency plans but he turned them down, saying he knew all about the program from an earlier stint as a Senate leader.

House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., was inadvertently not invited to the briefing, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said. Gephardt’s spokesman said Gephardt was “disappointed” about being overlooked.

Let’s get up to speed: Daschle is an idiot, Byrd is senile, and Gephardt’s feelings are hurt. But wait, there is more. The rest of congress must have overlooked this:

And members who claim they are being kept in the dark apparently missed press accounts in October as well as federal documents urging various agencies to make ready their emergency plans.

On Oct. 4, for example, the U.S. Archivist issued a memo to the heads of all federal agencies urging them to “be prepared for even the most unlikely threat.

“To ensure that the Government can respond immediately following a disaster, it is essential that your agency have an active disaster preparedness and recovery program for the records needed to provide essential government services and protect legal rights,” the memo said.

On Oct. 29, U.S. News & World Report reported that in order to preserve “continuity of operations” should the country’s capital be attacked, executive branch officials were deployed to bunkers outside of Washington. And Oct. 17, the The Cleveland Plain Dealer reported that more than a dozen Interior Department officials were holed up in bunkers outside D.C.

After all this was pointed out to him, Daschle said he was satisfied the administration was not trying to create a “secret” or shadow government. Gee, thanks.

Was anyone really surprised that someone who would vote for these dolts might have a difficult time filling out a ballot in the last election? The LEADERS are drooling idiots.

Tom Daschle, Mainstream Media’s Mild-ManneredPost + Comments