Cartoon for September 21, 2009
It's true that the lawn around the Vietnam war memorial is in trouble. But at least soldiers who died in Afghanistan will have died for something useful.
Labels: afghanistan, Vietnam
posted by Ted Rall at
12:01 AM
10 Comments:
Has anyone else notice that Ted has gone from being a voice of reason to a fringe member? It's now even harder to tell if he is tongue in cheek or has become so frustrated with his perception of lack progress that he's losing it.
If you're anti-war then you're anti-war. That it comes to war in this day and age is an embarrasment. And by the way, is this the longest period in time in which England, France, Germany, and Russia haven't tried to kill each other?
I don't really think Mr. Rall is fringe at all. Rather largely left of center, yes. But if you want fringe, talk to socialists, anarchists, libertarians, fascists, etc... That isn't to say that the fringe is bad or doesn't change over time. I just feel like Mr. Rall has never said anything completely off the wall bonkers yet.
Giving an oppinion (however unpopular) doesn't automatically turn you into a fringe loonie. I think it has to do more with a consistent view of the world...
The dialogue in the first panel might be your best attempt at dark/irreverent humor yet, Ted. I dunno that it contributes anything to the national debate, but it made me laugh.
I don't think the dioxin "flakes off." Nor do I trust the test the DVA gives to determine if a Veteran has dioxin from AO in his system, or if it has metabolized and formed other kinds of long-term toxins or remains hidden in the Veteran's body in some other form. A Veteran can experience a laugh that is not humor-based when the DVA says it has misplaced his medical records, therefore "the conditions did not exists at the time of the Veteran's period of active duty." The lawn around THE WALL should be dead, though. It should be poisoned to reflect the poison in the bodies and minds of hundreds of thousands of Veterans FUCKED OVER, a continuing tradition, by the military and government of the United States of America, especially when a young man could still be forced to serve via Selective Service and the military draft. Or does Ted or some readers think gettting fucked up the ass in an American prison, the alternative to serving in the military, is as palatable as running away to Canado or Switzerland? Thank you, fellow Veterans. Now disappear and don't make trouble. Take your DVA prescribed meds and be half-human so that you don't make noise and remind American society that YELLOW FUCKING RIBBONS don't quite fit the bill or fix the unfixable problems!
I thought, stupidly, that such feelings had lost some power with advancing age. Actually, they're worse thanks to George Fucking Bush, Coward Extraordinaire and War Criminal Fugitive from Justice, living the life of Riley and protected by secret service on the taxpayers' dime.
Maybe we can convince John McCain to give George "Mission Accomplished" Bush a ride in a crop duster while he drops napalm on the grass around THE WALL before McCain crashes yet another plane. McCain can escape death in my fantasy escapade, but Bush should remain inside to experience what it was like for many of the innocents he's responsible for murdering via his criminal incompetence. Where's the Tylenol?
"...his perception of lack progress..."
was this really necessary?
The only way to be a voice of reason these days is to be a fringe member. It's either that or live as an apologist for one party's bullshit over the other's.
It's a great cartoon. The only reason it seems 'fringe' is the perceived lack of reverence in the panels to the sacred cow that is US war veterans, dead or alive. In some ways it's Pat Tillman all over again, and if it still seems 'fringe' than it only shows how little things have changed in five years that the idea of grounding up dead soldiers to improve a war memorial lawn would seems so transgressive--even though US soldiers have always been treated as fodder for pointless expansionist wars and recklessly exposed to lethal elements such as Agent Orange or depleted uranium, and then cynically celebrated as heroes by the same government that insists that the ensuing illnesses are myths.
Why apply any label to Ted Rall? His name and exceptional talent are sufficient. At the end of the day, he has to pay the bills like everyone else. Labels! Labels? We don't need no stinking labels!
The truth often hurts, but the fact that nationalism is fertilized by the blood of 'patriots' is well known. Here's another cartoonist's representation, called Feeding the Empire
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