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.

Biographical Info

Jim from Costa Rica asks:

I thought this paragraph from your Slate biography was both funny and intriguing:

In 1984, Rall was expelled from Columbia Engineering for disciplinary and academic reasons. He gave up drawing cartoons during the mid-’80s, instead devoting himself to his work as a trader/trainee at Bear Stearns brokerage firm and a loan officer at the Industrial Bank of Japan. He moonlighted as a telemarketer and taxi driver.

My question is why is this most wonderfully ironic passage not included on your website?

I haven’t worked for Slate in years (but I would if they were interested in having me back!), so they’re using an outdated form of my bio. I remain unashamed of my past as a college dropout/expellee. It should also be noted that I eventually graduated from Columbia, with honors in history.

Today’s Email from a Real Republican Voter

Courtesy of Rader:

i would first like to say that i fully support the first amendment, and i support your expressing your opinion. however, i must know, where on EARTH do you come up with the things you express? the negatives towards our presidential administration are unprecedented, wild, and i fail to find anything anywhere to corroborate what you say. do you use sources along with actual news and events or do you just randomly imagine the president screws things up and attempt to make lame jokes about it? please regard my first amendment to also say what i like. on that note i would like to say that you disgust me. thank you for your time.

I love my country and its president,

Well, I like Al Gore even if I don’t love him exactly. Still, it’s always good to hear from guys like Rader. Right-wingers have become pretty quiet lately; even the death threats have dried up as of late now that every single utterance of the post-9/11 era has turned out to be dead wrong.

Martial Law? It’s Already here

Russ writes:

You’re about 4 years late – we’ve been living under martial law since passage of Patriot Act.
In fact some Constitutional scholars hold that suspension of habeas corpus equates with martial law.
The Patriot Act effectively provides for this, allowing President to declare ANYONE an ‘enemy combatant’ who can be held incommuicado indefinitely.
“The martial law concept in the U.S. is closely tied with the Writ of habeas corpus, which is in essence the right to a hearing on lawful imprisonment, or more broadly, the supervision of law enforcement by the judiciary. The ability to suspend habeas corpus is often equated with martial law. Article 1, Section 9 of the U.S. Constitution states, “The privilege of the Writ of Habeas Corpus shall not be suspended, unless when in Cases of Rebellion or Invasion the public Safety may require it.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_law#United_States_of_America… Okay, Wikipedia isn’t scholarly source, but it’s probably accurate.)

Russ makes an excellent point. Moreover, Bush signed a secret executive order granting him the write to execute anyone, including American citizens, he declares to be an “enemy combattant.”

Bloggers Can’t Make up Their Minds

A blog called bloggledygook references me as someone who puts down people who voted for Bush:

Those lefty bloggers can now sit back and sneer I-told-you-sos and in true Ted Rall fashion, portray Bush voters as stupid and sinister all at the same time.

Well, far be it from me to shy away from the characterization someone who doesn’t read much of my work has for me. So yes, I’ll fess up: Anyone who voted for Bush is a Goddamned fucking idiot. Fuck them. Why progressives should suck up to such morons instead of ridiculing them as they well deserve–which, incidentally, might remind them to think more carefully the next time they exercise their franchise–is beyond me.

On the other hand, Bernard Weiner lists me as a “journalistic hero” for standing up to the Bush regime’s attempt to loot the treasury while destroying American democracy and personal freedom.

Oh, well. Back to the Bush voter-bashing cartoons for this week.

UK Independent: Bush Claims God Told Him to Murder 100,000 People

Courtesy of Ken:

I am a devoted fan of your work and when I read this article I thought “Wow , this is great! Almost as good as something Ted Rall would come up with”. Only its for real. I’ve read some snippets of Bush getting messages from God, but nothing this well documented.
If you haven’t read it already please do check it out.
From: The Independent on line.
Bush: God told me to invade Iraq
President ‘revealed reasons for war in private meeting’
By Rupert Cornwell in Washington
Published: 07 October 2005
….. Palestinian foreign minister Nabil Shaath says Mr Bush told him and Mahmoud Abbas, former prime minister and now Palestinian President: “I’m driven with a mission from God. God would tell me, ‘George, go and fight those terrorists in Afghanistan.’ And I did, and then God would tell me, ‘George go and end the tyranny in Iraq,’ and I did.”…
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/article317805.ece