Why in the hell is Ted Rall obsessed with Pat Tillman?

[sasquatch]

Look Ted, the guy witnessed the 9/11 attacks and like many people he was shocked. So instead of giving it lip service and putting some tacky ass yellow ribbon on the car, he forfeited millions of dollars for playing a game to serve in the military. Now he was used to invade Iraq so Bush could steal their oil but he didn't have any choice in that. Then he went back to Afghanistan and thanks to Bush's bungling of the Afghanistan war he was shot to death by his own men. Now I'm not telling you what to write or draw but, would it kill you to have some class.

[Elidor]

1. God, that really is in poor taste.

Rall is a self-righteous know-it-all. I often love his stuff, but I read an interview with him once and it became painfully obvious he's an asshole. This just confirms that view.

[sasquatch]

4. I don't mind Assholes so much but this takes Assholness to a new level

Yeah I know he hates the Republicans as much as I do but kicking hijacked corpse is just too much.

[Blue-Jay]

2. Ted Rall's kind of a dick.

A lot of his anger seems to be misplaced. He's also not a very good illustrator.

[DrWeird]

3. I like it.

It's an indictment against how Tillman has been so falsely propagandized by the media. And it's a kick in the nuts to his critics.

[KG]

5. thanks, Doc.

not many people actually get Ted Rall.

[Orsino]

6. I see no indictment of Tillman there...

...only an elegant skewering of the whores who used him to further their aims. In this case, I would recommend not blaming the messenger.

Rall, however bluntly, took a moment to remember Tillman--not the recruiting poster image, but the victim. The fellow who was suckered by the machine, died for it, and was promptly discarded.

If Rall has committed any offense here, I think it pales next to the grisly ten-to-see-a-dead-Indian spirit of the corporate media, which is itself outdone by the sheer cruelty and callousness that sent Tillman into the line of fire.

[Emops]

7. He's putting words into the mouth

of someone who's not here to defend himself. "Elegant skewering?" I think it's a slap in the face to Tillman. Rall is not honoring him, he's making fun of him.

[Orsino]

8. If we insist that he must be talking about Tillman, and no one else...

...then I see where you're coming from, I think. Portraying Tillman as the only one dumb enough to fall for the Administration's line of crap would certainly be unfair.

I see this cartoon as analogous to one portraying a post-ascent Lincoln slapping his forehead and bemoaning his choice of evening entertainment, but with the added outrage of knowing that more victims are being led to the slaughter every day.

I think it's well worth asking: what would Tillman say now, knowing what we know? A perfectly serious answer might be more respectful, but I believe Rall has added a layer of clever parody to soften the outrage we might *all* feel at having been fooled--even momentarily.

[KG]

9. ok, it looks like there's 3 people on this board that understand.

:thumbsup:

[Emops]

13. Now,

I don't think Rall hates Tillman, I just think Rall is using an incredibly stupid method to make his point- he's making Pat Tillman look like an ignorant asshole. Did Ted Rall know him? If not, it is in incredibly poor taste. It's like saying Martin Luther King Jr. beat his wife, to make a point.

This cartoon here, while still a little insensitive, frames the same issue much better:





("Republicans control all 3 major religions." That line was funny, I'll admit.)

[FredScuttle]

10. Ted Rall: When you need to piss on someone's grave, he's your man

I guess I could say that he's maturing slightly when it comes to Pat Tillman...at least he's not portraying him as saying "When do I get to kill some Arabs".

:puke:

[Elidor]

11. I should add that my view of this whole thing is colored

By the fact that in the interview I read, Rall called Tillman…what was it? Idiot? Fool? I forget. It's all very nice to argue that this is more about the media, but it's clear from Rall's comments about Tillman that he loathes his memory.

[Schema Thing]

12. I have this horrible feeling

that the next time we'll hear about Pat Tillman, is when something (more) tragic comes of his brother. That is a man carrying a heavy burden.

[RetroLounge]

14. Oh, I kind of like it, and Ted Rall too.

Maybe he cuts too close to the bone for some...

RL