The Night Before Christmas

That’s what it feels like across the land, as special prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald readies what with luck will be a set of indictments against Karl Rove, Scooter Libby and other members of the illegitimate Bush junta that has occupied the White House since stealing it via judicial corruption in 2000. Already the right wing is preparing its stupid-ass arguments, but they won’t stick any more. The American public is slow-witted but finally clued in to what has been done under their name, and they know that outing a CIA agent is treason plain and simple.

The next question, assuming that Rove and Libby get the frog-marching each richly deserves, is what happens to Bush and Cheney. Cheney, as the New York Times reported, was Libby’s original source for the information about Valerie Plame. And Bush knew that Rove was covering up the leak investigation from the start. That both men are traitors is plain to see for anyone who cares to take notice. The question is, will the GOP Congress fulfill their Constitutional obligation to impeach them or will the political pressure build via the media to the point where both mass murderers are forced to resign? I suspect rather the latter, with the scandal and its inevitable denouement–President Hastert, anyone?–unfolding sometime next year. Although, with this gang, anything is possible.

There are those who will point out that it’s a little strange to see a special prosecutor with the power to bring down a president, and those commentators will be correct. As I wrote in my column this week, however, the system is broken. All we have, the last hope of the republic, is this special prosecutor. If and when we rid ourselves of the Bush plague, one hopes that we won’t just “move on” but will take stock of what went wrong with our system of checks and balances and take action, including amending the Constitution to allow minority political parties to bring up impeachment procedings or setting up an independenty judicial means of removing a law-breaking president, to prevent such a disaster from again befalling the world.

Geek Love

Now that Wish Lists have become a way for people to support cartoonists, at long last I’ve come up with one of my own. You may have noticed that some of these items are pretty expensive. Well, duh! If they were cheap I could afford to buy them myself. Like a certain orange credit card, therefore, I’ve developed a kickback scheme to sweeten the pot for those interested in improving my quality of life: Depending on how much you spend, you get everything from signed books to originals to, well, me.
Here’s the deal:
Under $50: I love you. Love is cheap!
$50 to $100: You get a signed Ted Rall book of your choice (assuming it’s in print).
$100 to $200: A small sketch of my choice.
$200 to $400: An original cartoon of your choice, from the last three months (assuming I still have it).
$400 to $600: An original cartoon of your choice, from any time (assuming I still have it).
$600 to $800: Two original cartoons
$800 to $1000: I will draw a custom cartoon to your personal specifications (provided that your idea isn’t totally embarrassing)
$1000 to $2000: One custom cartoon plus a complete set of every Ted Rall book ever published, including foreign editions, and out-of-print titles, signed
$2000 and up: We’ll hang out for coffee and/or drinks. You can take my photo, bring your friends, be fun and/or boring. Even Republicans will be accomodated. Caveat: Said event must occur in New York City or a city where I happen to be visiting, or a place that I agree to and that you’re willing to fly me to. The night’s on you. Added bonus: an original cartoon to remember me by.

Email me at chet@rall.com if you want to play.

Count Down

I’m returning to the airwaves…sooner than you think!

Watch this space.

Watch this Space

FOR Tom advises one to watch this website for glad tidings in the coming week:

http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/iln/osc/index.html

Tom DeLay to be Arrested

And so it begins. The thug who hired DC goons to shut down the Florida recount by acts of violence at a planned riot is being arrested today in Texas: fingerprints, mug shot, maybe (pleeeeeeease) even a perp walk. Let Tom DeLay be the first of many such arrests in coming days and weeks as the illegitimate Bush regime rightly falls upon the scrap heap of history.

Better late than never.

New York Daily News: Could Bush Go Down in Treasongate?

When Treasongate broke last summer, right-wing psychos online and on TV lambasted my assertion that this was serious business that could lead all the way to the Oval Office. Now the New York Daily News has an exclusive story indicating that Piehole himself knew all along. If true, Bush should be arrested immediately since he is a traitor to the United States and thus possibly in the employ of foreign agents:

Courtesy of FOR Dave:

As you stated in your Blog, you called it. Found this on Drudge. If it’s true, then it shows that Bush knew
of Rove’s involvement in the Plame Affair TWO YEARS AGO. Which proves that he’s been lying all along.
Keep up the great work,
Dave
http://nydailynews.com/front/story/357107p-304312c.html

Did I Call It Or What?

DC gossipmongers are focusing on Dick Cheney as a possible indictee (please…please…pleeeeeeease?) in Treasongate. The biggest bastard in the nest of vipers currently running America in the ground, CNN is reporting, could be indicted as early as tomorrow.

As usual, right-wingers mocked me for writing this in my July 5 column:

How far up the White House food chain does the rot of treason go? “Bush has always known how to keep Rove in his place,” wrote Time in 2002 about a “symbiotic relationship” that dates to 1973. This isn’t some rogue “plumbers” operation. Rove would never go it alone on a high-stakes action like Valerie Plame. It’s a safe bet that other, higher-ranking figures in the Bush cabal–almost certainly Dick Cheney and possibly Bush himself–signed off before Rove called Novak. For the sake of national security, those involved should be removed from office at once.

And as usual, I was right and they were wrong.

ATTITUDE Presents: Stephanie McMillan’s MINIMUM SECURITY

It’s right here in front of me, and it’s a beautiful thing: outrageous and outraged cartoonist Stephanie McMillan’s book! Fresh off the press from NBM, this third volume in the “Attitude Presents:” series (following Andy Singer’s “No Exit” and Neil Swaab’s “Rehabilitating Mr. Wiggles,” both of which are still available) is exactly what fans of the series and alternative comics lust for: a batch of high-quality work by an artist that most people haven’t yet discovered.

You can check out Stephanie’s cartoons at www.minimumsecurity.net, and you should. But the book is 160 pages, barely more than ten bucks on Amazon, and absolutely delicious. From politics to relationships, from Bush-bashing to global warming, Stephanie delivers the goods in piece after piece. If you’re a Ted Rall fan, you’ll love Stephanie McMillan. Please take my word for this and drop ten bucks on this.

Then send me an email to tell me what you thought. I’ll post the interesting ones here.

America 2008

Several people ask:

hi im a big fan and i know you’re busy, but i was wondering if you could briefly explain to me your latest comic ‘america 2008’. maybe im not keeping up with the latest news but why would america look like that in 3 years? what is this a commentary on?

The militarizing of government functions domestically, recently exemplified by Bush’s proposal to suspend Posse Comitatus to allow the military to respond to a possible avian flu epidemic (by setting up internment camps for victims).

Meatcake

Dawn asks:

Dear Mr. Rall,

I love your cartoons! But I have a question about the last frame of your cartoon of 9-22-05. What is “meatcake?”

It’s a reference to an old George Carlin record. Meatcake is whatever you want it to be, really. Like winning the war in Iraq.