Defund Ted Rall (Vanity)

Vanity ^ | May 4, 2004 | Self

[pogo101]

Two things I did to respond to Ted Rall's hateful political toon that grave-pisses on Pat Tillman. Maybe some of you will respond in a similar manner, if you wish:

1. Yesterday, I did as suggested by Andrew Sullivan by writing politely but firmly to the syndicate that publishes Rall's acidic spewings:

PROTEST RALL: The hate-monger is syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate. It's not censorship or "McCarthyism" for people to complain about any syndicate that peddles the poison that Rall lives off. Today's disgusting diatribe against Pat Tillman is so vile, so utterly devoid of any motive or argument but personal malice and hatred, some form of protest is surely merited. Email the vice-president for print syndication, Lee Salem, and tell him what you think of Rall's cartoon. Please, please, be civil. His email is lsalem@amuniversal.com. He needs to hear from you.

2. Just now, I wrote this email Letter To The Editor of "Men's Health" magazine, a monthly that publishes a non-political (well, except for some light gender politics) strip by Rall called "The Testosterone Diaries." I have never found this strip offensive, although it is funny only about 40% of the time. But the point is, Do I really want to give money to a publication that passes on a chunk of that money to Ted Rall? No way, Jose. Here's what I wrote:

Re: Dump the Ted Rall 'Toon, Or I Dump M.H.

To the Editor:

As you may know, MH's "Testosterone Diaries" cartoonist, Ted Rall, recently vented his proverbial bladder on the grave of soldier Pat Tillman in the following cartoon:
http://images.ucomics.com/comics/trall/2004/trall040503.gif

Yes, yes: I know MH doesn't endorse Rall's political views just because it publishes his "Diaries."

But consider. Rall is an outrageous bigot who has lampooned a KIA soldier for having been motivated to join the Army by his desire to "get to kill Arabs."

Does MH really need to be paying this guy money? Even if it's for a non-political strip? Of course not.

And I refuse to patronize any publication that pays Rall money. Currently, that means MH.

So, bottom line: MH dumps Rall -- and publishes its decision to do so -- or I dump MH. It's really that simple.

[pogo101]

Not really a FReeping opportunity, but a cousin of such. PLEASE keep any emails, etc. POLITE!

[Monty22]

Rall's on oreilly now! GOD! He's such a smug smartass!

[pogo101]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[pogo101]

Particularly interested in whether/how Rall defends his 'toon's position that Tillman couldn't wait "to get to kill Arabs."

[TheGrimReaper]

Mr. Rall needs to ride shotgun with a liquored-up Ted Kennedy as he navigates the Edgartown Bridge in Chappaquiddick.....over and over and over again.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

Here's mine

Dear Mr. Zinczenko:
Your magazine carries a cartoon written by Ted Rall. Mr. Rall has insulted the memory of Pat Tillman, a true American hero. While, in a capitalist society, with the protection of the First Amendment, people can say what they please, there are consequences. If you continue to publish anything produced by this anti-American nonentity, I will make it my serious business to boycott your magazine and its advertisers, and to spread the word to alert like-minded Americans to do likeswise.
Thank you,
(signature)

[Mr. Silverback]

Is "defund" a polite term for tar and feather?

[pogo101]

I really am interested in "Men's Health"'s response to such emails as ours. The best I'm really hoping for is a commitment not to RENEW their contract; canceling would probably not relieve the magazine of its obligation to pay Rall. *shrug* We'll see.

[World'sGoneInsane]

So, bottom line: MH dumps Rall -- and publishes its decision to do so -- or I dump MH. It's really that simple.

Maybe you should be a little more aggressive, like: "I have dumped MH."

Trust me, you won't be missing too much. I read the ones my husband leaves in the bathroom. The advice on how to please a woman, are as bad as their cartoons.

Don't you believe for a minute that their editor didn't see that cartoon before it was published. He can hide behind whatever policy he would like, but it makes him worse for propagating Rall's treason and disrespect to the Tillman Family.

Maybe they should feature an article on how to grow a pair of... oh, never mind. It would be too complicated for their editor and Rall. As far as I am concerned, both are zeroes.

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

I just fired this one off to the Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ):

Dear Sirs:
I have been a subscriber to your newspaper for over twenty years. After seeing, on the internet, Ted Rall's horrendous cartoon mocking the memory of Pat Tillman, I have learned that Rall's "work" is sometimes featured on your editorial page. As a conservative, I seldom agree with the spirit of most of your editorials, cartoon or otherwise, but have been willing to put up with your left-wing philosophy because, overall, The Star-Ledger is an entertaining and informative newspaper. But Rall has crossed the boundary of political speech and has ventured into pure, hateful, despicable character assassination. I won't tell you how to run your newspaper, but I will tell you this: the very next time I see a cartoon with his signature on it, I am going to cancel my subscription and alert as many of my friends and acquaintances as is humanly possible as to the reason I did so.

(signature)

[pogo101]

Well, one asterisk: MH doesn't run Rall's POLITICAL panels. Just "The Testosterone Diaries."

If they (MH) DID run his political panels, and had run THIS one in particular, then yes, I'd ALREADY be gone, not just threatening to be!

[fire_eye]

Rall has sure hit bottom.

I liked him when he was cartooning for Maximum Rock & Roll, and I liked his "News of the 'Stans" radio show. But once he started trying to "Gain Credibility" as a leftist, he went into a screaming dive.

Looks like he's finally augered in...

[Smartass]

TED RALL'S CARTOON ON PAT TILLMAN...

Rall is an absolute SKUNK.

[Clock King]

And his artistic skill is very poor. A 10 year old could draw as well or better.

[sauropod]

I saw Rall on O'Really? last night. He is a despicable creature.

[Rockitz]

Thanks. I'm a long time subscriber (~6 years) to Men's Health and will compose a letter with the same notice.

[talleyman]

I freeped MH, told 'em I was not renewing due to their financial support for Rall's hatred.

[Mr. Silverback]

Here's mine:

Dear Sir,

I wanted to write to you and comment on Ted Rall’s cartoon regarding the death of Pat Tillman. After reading it, I was struck by the poster behind Tillman’s head in the first panel, which reads, “We’re looking for guys who don’t read the paper.” Though this may have referred to the enlistment form, it seems to me that Rall meant “paper” as in “newspaper.” This is especially hilarious when one considers the allegations in the rest of the cartoon. If Rall believes Tillman was a racist doofus, he hasn’t read the testimony of his family and friends about the type of man he was. If he believes that Al-Qaeda wasn’t based in Afghanistan, he hasn’t read the papers. And if he believes that Al-Qaeda hated Iraq too much to work with them, he hasn’t read anything published on the subject since the fall of Saddam, some of it in publications that can only be described as leftist. In fact, it appears that Rall can only be getting his information from Al-Jazeera, or from one of the western tabloids and websites that make Al-Jazeera look like fair and balanced journalism.

Of course, the most important thing about Rall’s cartoon is that it has no real point except to denigrate Tillman’s memory, to vent Rall’s rhetorical bladder on Tillman’s grave. The cartoon would be out of line if it spoke of all soldiers this way, or if the soldier portrayed were a fictional character. By singling Tillman out specifically, Rall has gone out of his way to increase the suffering of Tillman’s family and friends. The overtones of racism are also silly and slanderous to those in uniform. I’m a veteran of the Cold War and Gulf War, and I didn’t know anyone who joined up to kill Russians and Iraqis. We joined to serve and protect history’s greatest nation and carry on her legacy of liberty, and those impulses are shared by my brothers and sisters who serve proudly today.

Please forgive the length of this correspondence, but these things needed to be said. In closing, I have some requests:

1. Please dump Mr. Rall, or at least pass on renewing his contract. Keeping him on at Universal Press Syndicate is like owning a paint factory and continuing to churn out lead paint.

2. Please issue an apology to the members of the United States Armed Forces and specifically to Corporal Tillman’s family and comrades. I believe his wife should get a personal letter or phone call from the syndicate, apologizing for this despicable cartoon. We who defend the nation deserve better than this, and so do those who wait at home for us.

You may have noticed that I haven’t asked you to request an apology from Mr. Rall. Certainly that would be appropriate, but it appears that it would be as futile as asking a pig to do calculus—the boy just doesn’t have it in him.

I hope you will act quickly to counter the damage Rall’s cowardly back-biting has done to your company. Thank you for your consideration.

Sincerely,
[Secret Identity Removed by Censor]

I'm also going to forward the email address to my whole address book.

[lormand]

"Keeping him on at Universal Press Syndicate is like owning a paint factory and continuing to churn out lead paint."

Paying for a magazine that features this subversive is like paying for an obscene collect phone call.

[freepatriot32]

cox and forkum have a pretty biting cartoon and editorial of ted rall that i posted today at www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1130202/posts

[OKSooner]

When was this published in Men's Health?

[pogo101]

It wasn't, if you're referring to the Tillman-bashing panel. As I hope my post made clear, Men's Health publishes a non-political strip by Rall called "The Testosterone Diaries," not his political stuff.

[OKSooner]

I hadn't read the whole thread. I axed because I subscribe to MH, (I'm not sure for how much longer; it has gone downhill the last couple of years as noted elsewhere in this thread) and I've seen the Rall cartoons in it. They're really lame at best.

[pogo101]

Yeah, "The Testosterone Diaries" is only funny maybe 4-for-10 times. I get the impression he dashes them off at deadline, to heck with "writing" and such other capitalist pig notions.

[OKSooner]

Just read this entire thread. I'm gonna just cancel, because Ted Rall is a pig. No great loss, either, MH has become a really just another weight-lifting magazine.

[Rockitz]

To be effective we should go after Men's Health advertisers as well. A call or strongly worded letter is probably good enough.

Here's a few from my March issue.

BMW
Banana Republic
Nike
Kawasaki
AT&T Wireless
Mitsubishi Motors
Tommy Hilfiger
Asics
Aramis
Starbucks
MSN Microsoft
Chevrolet
Boston Beer Company
Outward Bound
Toyota
BVD
Ralph Lauren
Mars Inc. (Snickers)
Ford
Mazda
Columbia Sportswear Company
Kellogs
Chrysler (Jeep, Dodge)
Gillette
Naval Reserve
Saucony
Bose
Bayer Healthcare (Levitra)
GlaxoSmithKline (Advair)
Hilton Hotels
Twinlab
GNC
American Society of Plastic Surgeons
Nissan
Calvin Klein
Hugo Boss
Daniel Cremieux
Canali Sportswear
Cole Haan
Perry Ellis
Visa
Macy's
Saks Fifth Avenue
Under Armour
Honda
Jockey

[.cnI redruM]

Ted Rall, the loathsome Ted Rall. That despicable parasite that feeds in the bowels of America's free press. He is the waste product of free expression. He has the tastefulness of Brittney Spears on peyote and the class of slattern Memphis strumpet.

I'd love to defund the evil son of a biscuit-eater. It would give me great pleasure. Regrettably we can't defund this piece of trash without also defunding the next Michaelangelo. That's how free expression works, the kielbasa usually tastes pretty good, but you never want to tour the factory where it was processed.

What do we do about the tacky and parasitic Ted Rall. We ignore him, we deride him and we pity him the way we pity a homeless bum who vomits while lying prone in a ditch. Pity is a phenomenal form of revenge. It implies disrespect, disgust and contempt. All three of which are condign and righteously earned when directed at Theodore Rall.

[sully777]

This is the BEST.

[pogo101]

I like the ignoring, pitying and deriding. Where you lose me is here:

Regrettably we can't defund this piece of trash without also defunding the next Michaelangelo. That's how free expression works

Err? Why can't we defund Rall without defunding the next Michelangelo?

[.cnI redruM]

Why can't we defund Rall without defunding the next Michelangelo? - Because one man's Rall is another man's treasure. By what standard do we begin to defund?

[pogo101]

By what standard do we begin to defund?

Again, you're completely losing me here. "By what standard"? JUDGMENT. By using JUDGMENT, I can discern who hates America and who lovingly takes it to task. By using JUDGMENT, I can choose not patronize those who give money to people (like Rall) who accuse anyone who dares disagree with them of being bigots, greedheads and/or stupid, rather than having an honest disagreement. Michelangelo was sponsored by the Vatican and wealthy noble houses, in any case, not by "companies," so I also fail to see any persuasive analogy there. The bottom line (and maybe we should leave it there) is that I don't want to give money to those who give money to Ted Rall and others whose expressed values so thoroughly, so diametrically go against my own. No one's saying YOU have to go along with that, but you're utterly unconvincing in suggesting that MY doing so somehow may be squelching a future Michelangelo.

[LanPB01]

I sent a similar message to Men's Health. Thanks for the link.

[Mr. Silverback]

I don't subscribe to MH, and don't remember ever seeing Rall's cartoon before.

[Mr. Silverback]

To be effective we should go after Men's Health advertisers as well.

Like it! Will do!

[TPI]

Check out audio 'open letter' to Ted Rall here http://prideinstitute.org/rall/ltr2Trall.mp3

[Rockitz]

Check Ted's latest blast against Reagan....

http://www.rall.com/rants.html

What a moron!

[Monty22]

Link doesn't work here.

[Rockitz]

I found it on Drudge. Just went back to Drudge and tried it from there and now it doesn't work. Ted must know he's in trouble.

[pogo101]

Last week, I got my latest issue of Men's Health. It has its usual Ted Rall cartoon ("The Testosterone Diaries," not his political panel), notwithstanding my/our letters to the editor.

I now have cancelled my subscription with a clear explanation of my reason for doing so.

[pogo101]

If you can find a working link to Rall's rant, please post.

[Monty22]

Yeah, i'd like to see it now, from what I'm seeing on drudge though.. oh boy. Tar and feather time.

[Smartass]

Ted Rall is liken to a drive by shooter, who then runs
for cover. We're just hearing and witnessing the beginning
of some the most venomous, evil, mean spirited political
blather coming from the left that I have ever seen. The
worst is yet to come All pointed into knocking George
W. Bush out of the White House. This dirty filthy type of
politics came to the national scene by the Clintons.

[Rockitz]

Here's my letter to David Zinczenko, editor of Men's Health Magazine, http://www.menshealth.com

Dear David,

The politically vocal Ted Rall (MH Testosterone Diaries cartoonist) has once again offended me and undoubtedly a great number of your readers with his recent rant in the wake of President Reagan's death. His cheap shot strip in the wake of Pat Tillman's death was enough for me to consider writing you, but this latest rant against Reagan is the final straw. It seems that Ted has a knack for attacking people who are dead and can't come after him. His callous, vindictive, and ruthless style is just not what I associate with MH. Certainly Ted has every right to say what he says, but I also have every right to cancel my subscription to MH and inform your advertisers why I am boycotting their products. Testosterone Diaries adds absolutely nothing to your fine publication. It's time to cut Ted off. Absent a statement from you indicating your discontinuance of any and all Ted Rall contributions to MH within the next 2 issues, I'll be canceling my long-time subscription.

Name withheld

[pogo101]

Atta man. I wonder if MH will publish any comment at all -- even a snitty little "We don't endorse his politics [so shut the heck up and buy our advertisers' stuff]"?

[pogo101]

Check out this parody, but entirely plausible, version of Ted Rall's Internal Monologue. Cuss words warning. (But hey, it's Ted Rall's brain, after all.)

[LanPB01]

It looks like Rall's whole website has gone down.

[pogo101]

It looks like Rall's whole website has gone down.

So has the reference to it on Drudge.

[MeekOneGOP]

I will be glad to see November 3rd this year. :^D

Hear the Donkey Bray
(RealPlayer)

[Boazo]