And we call the French cowards…
Not a Single Air Molecule
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication, WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a frequent contributor to The Wall Street Journal, a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "The Stringer."
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My fat American ass is quite a target.
"We’re the most captive nation of slaves that ever came along. The moral timidity of the average American is quite noticeable. Everybody’s afraid to be thought in any way different from everyone else."
–Gore Vidal
Actually, we don't call the French cowards, our corporate overlords do, and quite a few useful idiots in our media and government echo that slur. Why you might even see that kind of drivel expressed on blog comment threads in 3,2,1…
The first 2 panels are a good set-up, but there's no payoff in the last 2. Is that the joke?
So true, and so funny! I'm commiting the air molecule line to memory, I'm sure it will come in handy someday.
I really like the quote Grouchy posted. I think it starts young in the United States. . . .I think that we learn to bury our self expression so deeply that it takes something really extraordinary to get us out of that shell. We are so afraid to be self expressed to each other that we lock our own jail cell and forget that the key is in our pocket.
Then we hate and resent anybody who is self expressed. I've realized just in the past few months how pathological Americans really are.
classic coward, rush limbaugh, appears not to look in the mirror before he lashes out at those who don't have his 'reach.' he does look in the mirror and sees someone he hates with a vengeance. but a coward being a coward, he takes the easy money and continues to bash the French and i wonder if limbaugh would have the balls to travel to France and say the things he's said, safely, here, behind his electrified fence and thug bodyguards, in person to even a French child. never happen, because limbaugh knows if he did, the last thing he'd remember…well, he wouldn't, would he?
Wow, it can't be because our country was built on an ideology of capitalism as opposed to liberty and equality?? I appreciate the point but it is stating the obvious. How about solutions!
"Wow, it can't be because our country was built on an ideology of capitalism as opposed to liberty and equality?? I appreciate the point but it is stating the obvious. How about solutions!"
I definitely agree that it's obvious to you and me, but I don't think it's obvious to enough people yet.
Let's see, Rush is on the radio 3 hours a day and is hardly hiding from anyone. Love him or hate him, he's views are well know. However, if someone posted anonymously accusing someone of being a coward would be… well.. a coward.
Actually, Rush Limbaugh vacations in Paris. I think it's in a cigar magazine where he waxes on his love for the city.
All the Franco-bashing is for the rabble he panders to. His buffoonish radio personality is just his "act." Remember, he's only an entertainer…
Part of it is an act, Grouchy, but I have a colleague who's actually related to him (by both blood and marriage, because it Missourahhh!!!!), and she's a feminist from the Women's Studies program at THE Ohio State University. She says he definitely is somewhat who he claims to be on air, although in person he's not so confrontational.
Calling him "just an entertainer" is playing his game and the GOP's game. Anyone who headlines at CPAC is NOT 'just' an entertainer. You don't see John Stewart fundraising for the DNC and speaking at their major conventions, do you? Rush Limbaugh is not 'just' an entertainer, he represents the straight line GOP mentality of the past 40 years, started by Nixon.
That he loves Paris is part of the white male privilege that he would deny exists…the fact that he CAN BE that arrogant, that vicious and degrading to others, and then go enjoy the fruits of their hospitality without any shame. It is the epitome of Colonial arrogance, and to be like that plays into his persona perfectly.
Shady Pines: Rush actually doesn't give his real opinion much. He very rarely toes the line with an actual position, he is defined by who he assails more than what he stands for. Furthermore, any time he does take a position, he is usually shown to be completely wrong very shortly thereafter, and simply acts like he never took that position in the first place, or just insults and berates those who have demonstrated him to be wrong.
So no, he doesn't actually represent courage, he is the epitome of a coward. Namely for always speaking from a position of domination and ignoring the consequences of his acts, for being a fraud when it comes to his Oxycontin usage vs. the hard line he takes against others, for smoking cigars and at the same time berating people who have trouble kicking their smoking habit, as though he is not STILL impacted by nicotine through the smoking of cigars.
He's a cruel, petty, small-minded person who uses his position and power to deliberately and purposely humiliate and berate others. That is by definition a coward.
That makes him qualitatively very American. I am also American, but I choose to refer to myself as a 'neo-classical' coward, as opposed to the 'classic coward' that Grouchy alluded to.
When does Rush bash France? And I don't mean when you think Rush bashes France, or when your Statist friends told you Rush bashes France, or when you infer Rush is bashing France, or the previous poster wasn't literal in saying Rush bashes France. I mean when have you actually heard Rush bashing France?
It served Bush's goals to equate France's half-hearted resistance to the Nazi takeover in 1940 to their objections to the Iraq war in 2003. The former was embarrassing, but old news. The latter turned out to be simply good judgment.
Its been a few years and the cowardly French meme still has traction in the U.S. That made it all the more appropriate when Sarkozy scolded Obama for a lack of testicular fortitude in dealing with the financial mess.
Capitalism is a result of personal liberty. Each individual creates a product or delivers a service and is paid for that product or service. unless you are a Statist. A Statist doesn't produce anything of worth. A Statist validates his/her low income by blaming "the system"; the rich are stealing from him. The smart Statist goes to work for the government or if he is really lazy, he get's tenure in a liberal college and sucks the tax payer dry with his generous retirement plan. Either way the Statist demands from others using the force and power of the government. The capitalist and conservative gives generously to charity (twice as much as liberals) and expects the government to stay out of his way.
Ow! OWWW!!! You're hurting me, Shady!
Actually, our country was founded on a new-feudalism system in the South and a caste system in the North. The corporate state didn't arise until after the Civil War.
Shady Pines, of course, is a liar. A statist is an advocate of statism (neither is capitalized, of course; trolls distract from their paucity of arguments with bad grammar). Statism is defined as "the principle or policy of concentrating extensive economic, political, and related controls in the state at the cost of individual liberty."
Right: that's a Republican. See also: Patriot Act.
Capitalism requires one to have capital. Our system is oligarchy, not capitalistic, and creates artificial barriers to keep wages and employment low — all at the expense of personal liberty. Shady is actually advocating fascism in his attacks against liberalism (I'm not sure he or she even knows what liberalism is), because s/he ignores salient aspects of capitalism and attacks the most potent philosophy in the U.S. arguing for a check on government power over common citizens.
I agree with much of what you said about Rush, Aggie.
I was being sarcastic when I said he was an entertainer.
I think you're also right about him being not so confrontational in person. There's archival video footage of him from the '90s (back when he actual talked to anyone who disagreed with him), and it proves that at least once he was capable of being civil, offering a positive stance and conceding his opponents' valid arguments…
Hi Grouchy,
My fault for not getting the sarcasm. . .I really think it's disgusting that Rush Limbaugh is not completely ridiculed as a David Duke type character. I think the reason why he has changed since the 90s is because the cognitive dissonance has got to be overwhelming. His party was in power….totally…..and he got to a point where he couldn't even feign intellectualism in defense of what was happening.
Shady Pines is completely unworthy of even acknowledging, so no comment on his tirade.
Right: that's a Republican. See also: Patriot Act. is not a properly constructed paragraph. You really want to get into a debate about grammer again?
Our system is oligarchy
— is not proper grammar.
When you are ready to exchange ideas instead of comments on grammar let me know.
That makes him qualitatively very American. I am also American, but I choose to refer to myself as a 'neo-classical' coward, as opposed to the 'classic coward' that Grouchy alluded to.
Oh I don't know Aggie, when you described Rush you did an eloquent job of describing yourself. I find you to be extremely arrogant, insulting and condescending.
I find it hard to believe that you actually spend any of your time listening to Rush. Really, be honest, how much do you listen to him?
. . . is not a properly constructed paragraph. You really want to get into a debate about grammer again?
I don’t think I can enter a debate about the niceties of English construction with a person that cannot spell “grammar.” And the quotation above was not only wrong on the definition of a paragraph, but the elipsis used replaced an improper quotation. Complete fail there.
When you are ready to exchange ideas instead of comments on grammar let me know.
Shady made comments on grammar initially, not I. Read Shady’s post. How incompetent can he possibly be? Contridicting oneself within one sentence of a previously-made fallacy is a level of idiocy that would be hilarious irl; it’s just sad on the web.
Of course, Shady has no substantive comments to make. He’s a liar and relies on obfuscation and distraction. Note he comments on Grouchy’s position without evidence, insults Grouchy, and ignores Grouchy’s own evidence. Shady is using run-of-the-mill right-wing slime tactics. If only his trolling had at least some substance: then he’d at least offer entertainment value.
"Of course, Shady has no substantive comments to make. He’s a liar and relies on obfuscation and distraction."
This is precisely why I refuse to engage in any attempted dialogue with "shady"….note that his barbs at me assume that I'd addressed him directly, which I did not. What's remarkable is that the writing style and tactics are extremely similar to a host of other quasi-anonymous posters here.
I still wonder if all this is Ted's doing, just to keep his peanut gallery lively. I conclude that it's not Ted though, because I think Ted would be a lot more entertaining about it.
And about the Patriot Act… The Patriot Act is not "Republican". It was widely supported by both parties. Barry even voted for it.
Sorry but I didn't read your diatribe to my response. I love coming here and having a spirited debate with you Statists, but I won't be bothered with postings about grammatical errors. I'm sure it was great read though!
Shady Pines, so long as we're making broad, general statements of opinion, I thought I'd take a turn:
Liberalism is a foundation and protector of personal liberty. Each individual creates a product or delivers a service and is paid fairly for that product or service. Unless you are a Conservative. A Conservative doesn't produce anything of worth. A Conservative validates his/her high income by defending "the system" (Thatcher/Reagan 'trickle-down' theory); the poor are stealing from him (through taxation for public services). The smart Conservative owns the means of production or if he is really lazy, he works the stock and commodity market with other people's money, and sucks the tax payer dry demanding bailouts to regain the capital lost through his own poor investing. Either way the Conservative demands from others using the force and power of the government. The capitalist and conservative gives generously to churches (twice as much as liberals), who will use the money for bigger buildings made of glass and $200,000 speaker-systems, while children die of curable diseases, and expects the government to reinforce his position and prestige through legislative, social and military means.
There, I fixed it. You mixed up a bit of the terminology, and I had to capitalize in a few places, but on the whole you were fairly on the mark 🙂
I really think it's disgusting that Rush Limbaugh is not completely ridiculed as a David Duke type character.
…and that the media classifies him as an equivalent to Micheal Moore or Al Franken.
Said Anon:
Wow, it can't be because our country was built on an ideology of capitalism as opposed to liberty and equality?
Actually, the USofA was founded on an ideology of liberty, albeit precarious when you look at the slavery issue. Capitalism was a term coined by Marxists much later, to qualify what they did not understand. Hipocrisy wise, "liberté, egalité et fraternité" may have been a nice slogan for the Revolution, but look how long it took for Terror to cast a dark shadow over all that supposed brotherhood.
Anyways, liberty and equality are often at odds as political goals.
Nietz,
You are correct about classical liberalism. However that is not today's Democrat party. Today's conservative movement is more aligned with classical liberalism then Democrats. It is not a conservative position to expect the central government to bail out anyone.
One is not required to give their money to a mega-church. They can donate to any charity they choose, and most do. In the universe of Christians, very few belong to mega-churches.
Incitatus is my hero….
Snotty Pines has mistaken the for somebody who gives a shit. Everybody else, please don't feed the trolls.
Back to the matter at hand: "We," as in American businessmen and their media spokespeople, call "the French" cowards.
That is, American businessmen think French businessmen are cowards.
Which is, as you can see in this very cartoon, true. Real courageous manly businessmen would slaughter the uppity workers. Millions for defense, not a penny for tribute, all that.