And: Wisdom of the Ages

Don writes:

Dear Ted: I am a WW2 vet and have always been aware of the horrors of war after going to France and England at the end of the war.

From the very beginning of this Iraqi war, I have been extremely upset with the death and maiming of our young soldiers, plus the damage that has been done to the poor people of Iraq. I have never thought the war was worth it and our intentions were not what I have known as the reasons we have fought wars in my time. As time goes on, the polls reveal that I was right with my first impressions of our diplomacy, as more and more people are aligning with my assessment of this mess we find ourselves in.

I look forward to your column each week, so keep up the good work. You are doing a great job and exposing some of the lies and misleading information that has been going on since Bush got in office. I can’t get over how Americans have gone from being heros and liberators in WW2 to being hated and considered a bully by most of the world today. There is a lot wrong with the way we are running this great country and I hope your writings will help turn this thing around.
Keep up the good work.

God, I hope so.

Guilty Until Proven Innocent

And it’s pretty unlikely to happen.

FOR Izzy writes:

Re “Down The Spider Hole” and whether the capture of Saddam was staged…
At this point, the presumption–based on mountains of evidence–is that ANYTHING BushCo tells us is a lie. Like the quaint, used-to-be, Constitutional, pre-UnPatriot Act of presumption of innocence, this group has earned the presumption of lying.
I get the impression they now lie even when they don’t have to, just out of habit… or standard policy. So, my question would be not is it possible The Capture was staged, but why would we think it wasn’t?
As with everything else, you have to ask, “Why would they do this?”
And as always, the answer is to keep the sheep (51% of the country, plus the media) following them and distracted from the horror creeping up around us . These people are rotten to the core. Their sole objective is to increase their power–at any cost–and find a way to make it permanent (e,g, the stolen 2004 election, which I think was a completely successful trial for how to eliminate any semblance of democracy permanently.

Sadly I have nothing to take issue with here. At this point the Bushies have lied so often and to such a fantastic extent that everything they say should be assumed to be untrue until it can be checked out. To paraphrase Reagan: distrust, then verify if you feel like it.

Why mainstream media types don’t operate under the assumption that government officials and liars are liars is beyond me.

The Two 16-Year-Old Girls From Queens

He didn’t request it, but I’m granting anonymity to the following correspondent:

On behalf of the Muslim community, I want to thank you for your support for the Bangladeshi and Guinean girls. In these times when it is fashionable to bash Muslims and Arabs, you sir are indeed a breath of fresh air. Too bad the Washington Post gave up on a  great political cartoon. At least the Seattle PI has one of your cartoons every Saturday
Your cartoons do indeed have a very sharp message but they always get people to think, and that is the purpose of your work! Again, thanks a million and keep up the great work.

It was my pleasure. Nothing has made me more ashamed of my country than the disgusting way the current administration has scapegoated, detained and even murdered innocent people for rank political gain. Whatever little I can do to counterbalance these horrible, large-scale wrongs will never be enough, but please hang in there–America often loses its mind, and it takes many decades for sanity to be restored–but it usually happens eventually.

Classic Hate Mail Makes a Comeback

rjstrah@msn.com writes:

Finally saw you on TV. I had no idea you were a homo. That explains your limp-wristed, pre-emptive surrender, foriegn policy,……. but most gays I know are bright. You’re ignorance is somewhat unique.
You don’t think swallowing man-juice can affect intelligence?……..do you?

I know smart gays, I know dumb gays. I sincerely doubt that homosexuality is related to intelligence. Oh, and I’m not saying whether or not I’m gay because to even address the question is to accept the premise that being called gay is an insult–which I don’t consider it to be. What I will say, however, is that anyone who can find proof that I advocate “surrender” (to whom?) or pacificism would surprise me. One of my greatest criticisms of Bush’s GWOT is that it has yet to begin. The 9/11 perps are still out there in Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Pakistan–and Bush raised their allowance.

Everything else is just bullshit distraction.

Glorious, Glorious Sarcasm

David sarcastically notes that the Washington Post ran an Tillman expose on page one:

Regarding today’s “BLACK AND WHITE AND FULL OF CRAP: Lies Run Big, Facts
Small in U.S. Media”: I couldn’t agree more. The only reason I learned
that Tillman was killed by friendly fire was because of a (two-part) piece
the Washington Post burried (on page A1) on consecutive days:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A35717-2004Dec4.html
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A37679-2004Dec5.html
To be fair to the Post, they did include maps:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/daily/graphics/tillman_120504.html

Thing is, that December series wasn’t THE Tillman expose–the one that came out a week ago that quotes a US Army report about the deliberate COVER UP of Tillman’s death by friendly fire.

More to the point, though: the way the American media in general handled both the December ’04 and May ’05 stories–hardly at all. The New York “Newspaper of Record” Times ran the latest cover-up story as a single paragraph as part of a national news round-up buried deep inside the paper, and they were hardly alone. Ask most Americans how Tillman died, and I guarantee you a majority still believe the original, played up lie over the subseqeueny played-down truth.

Stinky Website

Rob writes:

Your website provider stinks! Your server is down all the time. Very
frustrating.

No one finds this more annoying than I. Anyway, it’s Matt Drudge’s fault. When he began linking to my site last year, it started crashing not only my site but other people’s unrelated sites housed on the same server. To avoid this we instituted a policy which limits the number of people who can simultaneously view anything at Ted Rall Online. That means that off hours tend to be pretty easy to get in while peak surfing hours (while slacking on the job, let’s face it) can be dicey.

The best solution would be for me to change servers to a bigger, more expensive, company. But like my other cartoonists and writers, I’m already ambivalent about the effect of this site and therefore reluctant to spend even more money on it. On the one hand, it allows millions of people who don’t live in cities that publish my work in newspapers to read it. But it doesn’t generate much revenue, except when I have a new book out and need to publicize tour dates, etc. Moreover, it may even cost me more money because readers who live in the cities that don’t publish me have zero incentive to write their editors to ask that they pick me up. It’s not just me–cartoons and columns are being read more widely than ever before thanks to the Internet–and paying their creators less than ever. (Believe me, you’d be shocked shocked shocked to learn how little this work pays.)

The bottom line: until this site starts generating more revenue or some angel comes along with a stipend to keep it going, I’m keeping the old cheapie server. And I’m keeping the old 1997-style design until I find an extra $4000 to do a redesign.

Down the Spider Hole

C. Rowe reminds me:

I’m glad you keep writing about this issue.
Regarding one comment: “So many of the Administration’s “triumphs” have been exposed as frauds that one has to wonder whether that was really Saddam in the spider hole.”
I thought I read it first on your site but I guess not… Anyway I read somewhere that Saddam was not found in that hole; he was found in his house relaxing. If I remember correctly, they staged that hole thing after the capture.

He’s almost right. A former U.S. soldier swears Saddam was captured not in the supposed spider hole, but at a friend’s home where he fought ferociously until running out of ammo. Sounds more likely, to be sure. Definitive proof is still lacking, but one has to wonder about the apparently drugged condition the Iraqi dictator was in when he was captured on video.

Pope Benedict XVI

Keith writes:

Sorry your man didn’t get elected pope, but I think this is definitely a step in the right direction for the catholic church. The greatest danger facing Christianity in America and most of the civilized world is not persecution but influence of the so-called “secular progressives”, those people who do not believe in the bible and think the church should change what it believes to match what society believes.

I don’t know if there are really ANY dangers facing Christianity in American today except that most so-called Christians don’t practice what they preach. Hypocrisy undermines every belief system in the end, but you’d be hard-pressed to find a historical precedent with greater hypocrisy than a nation whose religion considers its most pestilential greedheads virtuous.

The main issues constantly brought up are abortion,
birth control, homosexuality, priest celibacy, and women priests. As I said in my previous email, I disagree that there is no scriptural basis for the lack of women priests (I think 1 Timothy says that there should not be women priests) and priest celibacy (again according to 1 Timothy I believe priest celibacy is specifically prohibited).

Quoting the Bible doesn’t mean much to me—after all, the Old Testament permits human sacrifice while the New Testament quotes Jesus’ admonition that only the sinless may pass punishment and we ignore both—but the Christianists should at least get their Scriptures right. In fact, that quote in Timothy doesn’t say anything about women priests and you have to stretch absurdly far to even see the relationship between the two topics.

About homosexuality the bible is clear again and again, there is no debate on the bibles stand on homosexuality. The church should not accept openly homosexual priests any more then it should accept priests who openly use illegal drugs, engage in adultery, or any other behavior which brings discredit about their office. It is not that homosexuality is any better or any worse than other sins, but it is still a sin, and a congregation should not openly tolerate a priest who is living in sin.

Tell you what: I’ll tell all my gay friends that they’re sinners when you tell all your rich friends that they’re sinners. While there is one fairly obscure Old Testament citation about homosexuality, Jesus repeatedly says that those who seek material wealth are scum and doomed to eternal hellfire. Oh, and while we’re at it: the Old Testament also prohibits onanism, a.k.a. ejaculating for purposes other than procreation. So hold it in, horny Christianist soldiers.

On birth control, this is a touchy issue. Until such
time as it can be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt when life begins (I don’t think this will ever be possible but who knows) then I am going to assume, based on scripture (I forget the exact reference but it talks about God knowing and forming you in the womb), that life begins at the instant of conception. Because I believe this I cannot condone the use of any birth control measure that allows the egg to be fertilized but does not allow the fertilized egg to implant in the uterine walls and fully develop. Abortion obviously falls into this category but so does the so called abortion pill, the Inter-uterine device (IUD) and even the progesterone only pill (note, this is different from the normal “pill” which is actually a combination of progesterone and estrogen). Other methods such as the combination pill which works by preventing ovulation, or the so-called barrier methods such as condoms, diaphragms, etc, etc, are perfectly acceptable because they function by preventing fertilization.

I assume you’ll let the new Pope know that condoms are A-OK, then. There are lots of Africans who’ll be happy to know that.

I applaud the catholic church for standing up for what is right and for electing a pope who will (hopefully) stand for the things of God without caving in to public opinion.

Of course, Catholicism is notable for its willingness to adapt to changing times (albeit a few centuries late). We’ll have women priests sooner than you think—as the early church did for centuries.

Frequent correspondent Fred says:

Everytime you call Reagan evil you…. oh why bother? You’re not going to change my mind on him and I’m not going to change yours.

Reagan admitted that his invasion of Grenada was done for purely geopolitical purposes, to flex muscle in a proxy war against the Soviet Union, and that the country was no threat to the US or its allies. So he ordered US troops to kill people anyway. That makes him an evil murdering motherfucker. And if murdering people doesn’t make you evil, what does?

On the new Pope bveing a Nazi…. while I’m not wild about the choice I find it very funny how liberals, who hate being labeled and repuduged themselves, are always among the first to fling out unfounded and largely unfair accusations without a shred of proof or a hint of compassion.

Compassion? Fuck that. Germans like him had a choice—they could have fled and joined the partisans. Many did; teenagers were the base of the resistance throughout Europe. In the New York Times a puff piece notes that he joined the Nazi party for careerist reasons. I don’t doubt that it was difficult to do the right thing back then and I’m not saying those who didn’t should be pilloried for life, but forgiveness shouldn’t extend to elevating such colossal sinners to the papacy.

Yes, Ratzinger/Benedict is a conservative hard-liner, but then so was John Paul II. If you don’t believe me, as the huge number of priests he had removed from teaching posts around the world for prewaching about boirth control, abortion, gay issues, and the like. Benedict, who is 78 after all, won’t be around as long as JP II, but he’ll likely be no better or worse either.

Who knows? He may turn out fine. Right now we’re all guessing based on past behavior that may or may not translate to future actions.

Media Labels

Andy writes:

“Controversial cartoonist Ted Rall,” I never thought about it but I guess that is pretty silly. Still there are plenty of liberals and conservatives alike who enjoy wrapping themselves in the word controversial or radical. Wasn’t it Goldwater with that extremism quote. That’s sort of the same thing. Maybe the media should say: America’s BS detector Ted Rall, or hard-hitting editorial cartoonist Ted Rall, HAHA, the vultures will use that… when pigs fly.
Question: did any of the conservatives who responded to your column address you as “Controversial Cartoonist Ted Rall” as in “Dear Controversial Cartoonists Ted Rall?” I suppose that would be a bit of an improvement over, “Dear Homophobic Curse Word.”

No, but a bunch of liberals did. There are some funny conservatives out there, but by and large humor belongs to the left.

Lying Cops

Dave writes:

Thanks for the great column. As a footnote to your expose on police misconduct, let the record state that NO ONE OF IMPORTANCE was held accountable for the Los Angeles Rampart scandal. Only a couple of grunts received minor punishments. Most charges were quietly dismissed. As a reference:
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/printme.php?eid=40403
and
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/lapd/later/outcome.html
LAPD continues to be one of the least looked after and unaccountable police forces in the country.

Lovely.

Sherri about Tulia, a topic I omitted from my column because it’s so extreme. I chose to focus on the incredibly common phenomenon of prevaricating policemen:

I agree with you about problems with the police. Yes, I am a generally a big supporter of law and order, but I think recent, serious cases of police misconduct point to a need for renewed vigilance by good people in communities throughout the country.
I am also surprised you didn’t mention the false drug arrests in Tulia and Dallas, Texas.
First, there was the infamous Tulia sting of 1997 where a large number of the town’s black population were rounded up and arrested in an early morning raid that netted ZERO drugs and ZERO evidence of drug dealing. Yet, incredibly, on the testimony of an undercover officer with no corroborating evidence like written notes or surveillance tapes, a Tulia jury found many guilty and sentenced them to lengthy prison terms. It was only overturned after a concerted grassroots effort forced the hand of the Lieutenant Governor – and that was after four years in jail for some! A subsequent inquiry found the undercover officer to be untrustworthy and charges were eventually dismissed against the defendants. Essentially, this undercover officer fabricated evidence to justify his job. And a racist town like Tulia was only too willing to help.
Second, Dallas is still reeling from false drug charges made a couple of years ago against another minority group, Mexican immigrants. Incredibly, drug specimens offered as evidence turned out to be a harmless substance. It was all a scam with many officers sacrificing the reputations and livelihoods of innocent men — not to mention their personal integrity — to fatten their arrest records.
I don’t have all the fact at my fingertips, but suffice to say, Texas has had some glaring example of police misconduct. The guy involved with the Tulia sting, Tom Coleman, was named Law Enforcement Officer of the Year in 1997. And even though he eventually fell from grace, I don’t think this award has ever been publicly retracted.

Dan writes:

Simply a superb article on cops lying. What is so invidious about this issue is how cops’ testimony is weighed in court. Judges give more credence to the testimony of cops than they do other witnesses, and especially more compared to the testimony of defendants. ‘scuse me, but I could have sworn the reason we have a judicial branch is to provide the citizenry some buffer from the executive branch. All too often, judges see cops routinely in their courtrooms and so become buddies with them. This makes it awkward to reprimand them or call them liars or anything else. What can we as the citizenry do? Cops have a vested interest in seeing people convicted. They think of themselves as the good guys and the rest of us as either bad guys or potentially bad guys.
In there somewhere, there has to be a mention of the IQ of cops, which is not high on average. What happens when a cop stops someone more intelligent than them? They get all self-conscious and go into their power trip – evidence your examples of jaywalking and speeding. They’ll lie so fast and so often that it becomes routine.

All sad. All true.

John Bolton

Lucas asks:

Why haven’t you stated your opinion (or danced around this issue like in your eminent domain article 😉 just kiddin) on the whole Bolton for UN Ambassador deal? Unimportant? There’s gotta be something to say on this topic!

I did at least one cartoon about the Bush Administration’s habit of appointing extremely unsuitable candidates for sensitive posts and kind of figured that Bolton was covered by it. Also, I’m not sure whether it’s that big a deal that we’re sending an asshole to insult the UN. After all, US policy has long been so unilateralist that even the most diplomatic choice wouldn’t be able to make friends abroad.

But while we’re here: Bolton is not only an appalling choice for UN ambassador, he is clearly in inferior intellect who should never have been elevated to any position of responsibility in government or business. The man is a fucking moron who holds opinions that collapse upon the slightest rapid-fire inspection. The fact that he is a mean moron merely adds to the lunacy.

Sad News for the World’s Catholics

Growing up in a predominantly Republican Ohio suburb during the 1970s, one respite from the constant onslaught of capital-C conservatism on the political scene and small-c conservatism in local culture was the church. I served mass for priests who believed–nay, knew–that Christ had enjoined them to defend the poor and weak against the wealthy and powerful. The bourgeous faithful might spend their weeks fucking over their employees and cast reprehensible votes for evil curs like Ronald Reagan, but on Sunday they had to sit in their pews and suck up the sweet truth that their lives were totally incompatible with the basic tenets of their supposed faith.

That activism took a beating under Pope John Paul II, although like so many US Supreme Court justices who start out as conservatives and move to the left, his experience dealing with the real world transformed him towards his eminently progressive “culture of life” during the late 1990s.

Now they’ve elected a Nazi pope.

OK, an ex-Nazi pope.

Yeah, yeah, I know–they forced him to man that anti-aircraft gun. Like they didn’t all say that.

Dubious wartime past aside, Benedict XVI’s present is nothing short of horrifying. All Catholics worthy of their faith, and men and women of good conscience, mourn. But look at the bright side: the Catholic Church has survived the Inquisition. It will survive Pontificus Maximumus Bushus I.

Sorry for the Delay

It’s a big secret and stuff, but not really. I’ve been working on a new book about Central Asia. Writing books takes a lot of time, which—along with technical issues associated with the website—have cut into my blogging time. Anyway, I’m back for a while. Unless I’m not.

When Cartoonists Fuck Up

Just noticed that today’s four-panel cartoon depicts Dick Cheney with post-drinkathon five o’clock shadow in all but the third panel. Yeah, that makes sense. I can’t figure out what’s worse: my mistake, or the fact that some people won’t notice.

Abstinence Only

After years of having sex, I’ve decided that it’s time for other people to not have sex ever. Toward that laudable end, you should check out Scarlet P.’s Abstinence Only site at http://www.abstinenceonly.com. And remember: don’t have sex. Ever.

George Orwell, Call Your Office: U.S. Army Refuses to Release Pat Tillman Info

If there’s a better lede paragraph than this one, I don’t know what it is:

The military has completed an investigation into former NFL star Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan that aimed to address concerns raised about whether the Army held back information, but its findings won’t be made public.

More details at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2037637

Feedback on the Media Labeling Column

Steve writes:

Excellent column. Who could forget “Panamanian Strongman Manuel Noriega”. Words kill and cover up. By the way, I’ve always thought of those who challenge orthodoxy as patriotic..

As have I, as have I.

Niall et al. Write:

Thank you for speaking out. The media labels article was brilliant and as always very encouraging. We live in a very white bread place called Boise Idaho because we have two little kids to think of. We want you to know via this email that we know you are one of the very few real heroes of this awful retro dark ages time. I wish people would consider 1930’s Germany and then reflect upon our own times. It’s scary now.

Stop rolling your eyes. We may not have death camps (yet), but we already have the concentration camps and mass detentions, not to mention government-sanctioned torture and murder of prisoners. In any case, the idea isn’t to wait and see whether the current political climate eventually morphs into fascism but rather to take (ahem) preemptive action to prevent it from doing so. Too many conservatives argue that that the mere fact that fascism hasn’t taken hold in America is proof that we’re not heading in that direction. I suspect that too many of them just don’t want the rest of us to pay attention, since fascism is the highest form of conservativism.

Matt writes:

I was surprised by your latest opinion column, regarding the labels that journalists place on groups or individuals. I agree with your central tenant — that the media can shape a supposedly neutral news article by their descriptions of the parties. However, I believe a lot of conservatives agree with that, as it is one of the various complaints against what many see as the liberal bias of the media. Many conservatives see conservative politicians or groups described as such, while their liberal counterparts are desribed less frequently. Tom Delay is a conservative congressman, Nancy Pelosi is House Minority Leader.

Frankly, I watch a lot of news and I don’t see examples like the DeLay/Pelosi comparison. But to the extent that they occur, they should not.

Likewise, groups when defending conservative views are often described as conservative, but when those same groups are arguing for a “liberal” position, the groups are called public-advocate or such neutral term. I am not inventing this, I have read studies and seen evidence with my own two eyes. Similarly, as you
wrote, descriptions of international groups are shaped by the journalists perception. Take Hamas, I call them terrorists. The AP may call them gunmen. The Arab press may call them freedom fighters. Obviously, it would be nice and decent if everyone called them terrorists, but it is confusing how you would like to enforce that.

Not to me. I would refer to Hamas as “the group Hamas said…” and let what they did and/or said speak for themselves. Would it have been necessary, in 1942, to say “totalitarian dictator Adolf Hitler said…”? Less is more when it comes to labels.

Even within this country, language represents a viewpoint. The NYT calls Likud party in Israel the “right” party, while Labor is “left-centrist”. That is ridiculous. Within the voters of Israel, Likud currently represents the the dominant party. It is only in the eyes of the NYT reporters that it is a “right” party, as defined by what the reporters consider what the middle SHOULD be.

I don’t agree with the Times’ labels for the two parties, but this is a lousy example. A quick look at policies and politicians pertaining to each party does seem to agree with the Times. Likud is hard-right; Labor isn’t hard-left. The fact that Likud is “dominant” doesn’t change the extreme nature of its ideology any more than the fact that the Nazi Party was dominant in 1930s Germany softened or moderated its ideology.

[…]As for descriptions of you, controversial seems fairly neutral — nobody can argue that you are controversial. Can they? But patriotic, you’d have a lot of people disagreeing with that. Plus, I’d gather you are the subject of more opinion than news.

Well, you probably couldn’t argue with the subjective description of as “cute,” either. But does it really add anything to the discussion to call me “cute cartoonist Ted Rall”?

Okay, onto a pet-peeve. Your use of the term “neo” incorrectly. Everything is “neo” for you. I am a neo-fascist. Neo-McCarthyite. Neo-everything, why — because I proudly voted for President Bush. It is lazy writing. First of all, the defining characteristic of McCarthyism was seeing communism everywhere (I was taught they were paranoid, although with the KGB files opened, perhaps less than we thought). Now, who does that describe today – IMO, the American left, with their theories of voter fraud, neo-cons, war, 9-11, the superhuman powers of Karl Rove, Israel, Haliburten. And as for neo-fascist, shame, shame, shame. Yes, we are fascist because of the Patriot Act, which passed like 99-0 in the Senate, including the vote of the candidate you voted for President. I am shaking and have a suitcase hidden under my bed for when I have to move. Seriously, do you go to a diner for breakfast and request neo-pancakes with neo-syrup with a glass of neo-milk.
Anyway, I am being scarcastic, but since I’ve been called a fascist, it seems fair 🙂

The “neo” prefix refers to revivals of a term from the past to apply to the present. I refer to Bush & Co. as neofascists because they’re reviving characteristics of traditional old-school fascism with a 21st century twist. They’re not really fascists in the 1930s sense; for one thing, they have no aesthetic sense or panache. But there are enough similarities that the comparison should be made. I’ll agree that it can get old, but until someone suggests a better term I’m sticking with it.

As for paranoia among the left, if you dig a little deeper you’ll see that Halliburton really has exercised an outsized influence on this White House, that Karl Rove really is a spectacularly intelligent guy, that the Republicans really did steal Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004 using techniques that were seriously over-the-top. You’re entitled to be blissfully unaware if you want, but don’t expect to get credit for being intelligent from those of us who pay attention.

Tom writes:

Just finished subject column (via Info Clearinghouse) & thanks. How about the “Liberal” & “Conservative” labels, and their connotations, that have plagued our national discourse for decades:
Liberal: Free-spending, intemperate & immoral, free-loving, long-haired/dirty-clothed hippie, welfare culture, irresponsible, tree-hugging, etc. = Democrats
Conservative: Careful, serious, concerned, well-groomed & dressed, responsible & moral, etc. = Republicans
Is there any way out of this?

Probably, but it involves more unity than Democrats are typically capable of. After all, today’s “liberals” typically are deficit hawks, conservative on foreign adventurism and want the government out of our personal lives—traditional platform planks of conservatives. And today’s “conservatives” are interventionist, fans of huge government, big deficit spenders. The labels are stupid, and don’t even mean what they mean.

Jim writes:

I’ve enjoyed your cartoons tremendously. Even when I don’t agree with them, they are sincere and don’t pander (unlike *cough* that mallard cartoon).
This is in regard to your latest article about media labels.
I live in Huntsville, Alabama where a few weeks ago, Eric Rudolph was here for a, I’m not sure, but not an actual trial, because what
I was paying attention to, was that no one here called this man, who bombed abortion clinics in Birmingham, found guilty of the Atlanta bombing, a terrorist. Terrorism is a technique. One this man employed. I wish I could say the news stories would have been the same if he’d been Arab-American, but I’m afraid not. Instead they called him an “anti-abortion activist” and a “suspected bomber”
Disgusted with the mainstream media,

Nothing to add here.