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Oct. 2, 2004 I received a letter commenting on my May 6th (!) column concerning Ted Rall and Pat Tillman. Here is the heart of the column that I wrote, although hopefully you will revisit the column itself: “Ted Rall produced a cartoon in which he defamed one Pat Tillman, a star football player for the Arizona Cardinals who walked away from a multi- million dollar contract to serve his country. Tillman, who was greatly moved by the events of 9/11, decided that his country needed him and he was going to answer the call. He was killed in action in Afghanistan while on a mission to rescue other soldiers. He has since been awarded the Silver Star. In this cartoon, Rall has one of the characters stating that Tillman "falsely believed Bush's wars against Iraq and Afghanistan had something to do with 9/11. Actually, he was a cog in a low-rent occupation Army that shot more innocent civilians than terrorists to prop up puppet rulers and exploit gas and oil resources. So when Tillman got killed by the Afghan resistance, one word naturally came to mind: 'Uh -- idiot?' [says one person in the cartoon's final panel]. 'Sap?' [says another]. 'Hero!' [says an editor]." (Quote courtesy of Editor & Publisher.com)” Here is the heart of the letter written to me: “*name withheld*, You write in your article "I say that were we a nation of Ted Ralls, we would never have broken free from England". It wasn't the "products of the system" (also known as people who do not think for themselves but let the system think for them) that are responsible for the nation we live in today. It was the heretics, who dared to question the system, that we owe such gratitude. If you grew up in this country then you were raised by a system that taught you "thou shall not kill..unless it's the government that is doing the killing". Perhaps instead of just continuing to believe what you've been taught to believe, you might come to a more humane way of looking at the world and how we deal with one another. And not be quite so critical of those who don't just automatically validate the masses common consensus of what is the "truth". Oh, I am quite sure the terrorists who took down the Twin Towers have a different world view than mine. I suspect the scum who murdered the Russian schoolkids would differ as well. Do you suppose the legion of Islamic suicide bombers might have a world view a bit closer to Ted Rall’s than to mine? I just had to reply: I have to thank you! I had neglected the Useless site and should post an article there before long. In fact, I may make this letter the basis for my next post! I have no problem with questioning. My problem is with Ted Rall, first of all, a media wonk who has no problem denigrating men who are willing to lay their lives on the line for their country. It is far too easy for him to sit there and call for a return to the status quo, return to the days of pre-9/11 America. I believe Ted Rall would have been amongst the naysayers vilifying Paul Revere, George Washington and their like when the Revolution was at hand. He would have applauded Neville Chamberlain in 1938 and made a mockery of Churchill's appearance and speeches. He is the kind that sits on the sidelines complaining but never gets up to get in the game. My second problem is with the Ivory Tower liberals of this world that think that reading Thomas Paine makes them smarter than the rest of mankind. They call themselves "Progressives" while basically trying to push the secular humanist/socialist agenda in this country, the same ideas that failed the Communists in Europe and will die out in Asia within the next fifty years. Such people tend to be isolationists when it comes to defending our nation, but globalists otherwise. John Kerry is a very scary example of such thinking. Vince Lombardi said, "The best defense is a good offense." While we are working to rid Afghanistan and Iraq of terrorists, they sure don't seem to be doing much over here. Do you suppose there might be a tiny little connection there? My oldest son is in Afghanistan, training nationals to be effective police officers (he is an Army MP). His best friend is preparing to go to Iraq after Thanksgiving. Both of them believe in this country and willingly signed on to defend it. The vast majority of the troops rotating home are saying they are glad they are back, but they also believe in the mission. Read the blogs written by Iraqi and Afghani nationals and find out what is really going on over there without the liberal media spin. But only do so if you want to find truth. If you are happy in your liberal mindset and would prefer not to know, it is your loss. The true seeker of truth never turns from the opportunity for knowledge. Have I read Paine? Yes and a thousand other authors. I have read Skinner and Rand, people I disagree with but I was glad to know their viewpoints. Pat Tillman has been honored by the NFL and his name will be associated with bravery, manhood and honor for decades to come. Ted Rall? He will remain a niche cartoonist, playing to the far liberal wing of politics, to the elitist masses, to the remarkably uninformed Hollywood herds and apparently, to you. Kimbal” ------------ About the author: Kimbal Ross Binder is a husband of one wife and parent of six child units of various sizes. He is a tennis bum, karaoke singer, punster and a reformed liberal who now admires Rush Limbaugh and hates to miss Fox News in the evening. You can pass along plaudits and invectives to: radarbinder@comcast.net ------------ |
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