What rough beast slouches

I get plenty of hate mail, and I try not to post too much of it, but whenever I do, I am innundated by counter-messages of support and good will. And I want to thank you all for that, in general, and specifically those of you who wrote in response to that post a couple of days back, even though I didn't have time to respond to all of you. A lot of you write in and say that my work helps out, in some small way--well, all I can say is, it's a two way street.

I saw something on some blog somewhere--I'm too lazy to try to figure out which link I followed, and to be honest, don't really feel like giving the guy my traffic--but I saw something somewhere making fun of the City Lights bookstore in San Francisco for posting banners which declare "Dissent is not unAmerican."

The point of this guy's post, like the point of about ten thousand and fifty other identical neocon/libertarian blogosphere posts was, of course, How have you suffered? How have you been oppressed? And I don't want to dismiss this attitude out of hand--as I've discussed previously, I have problems declaring myself a victim because I get a lot of nasty email. There are worse prices one can pay. Over the course of my career, I've gotten nasty email from about every conceivable political quarter--though, he adds hastily, this is not to try to establish myself as the voice of the sensible center like some ur-Alterman. You know: if they're attacking me from the left and the right, I must be doing something right! I am firmly and proudly on the left, and if you don't like it, well, too bloody bad.

But I have nonetheless managed to annoy pretty much everyone over the past fifteen years at one point or another. In short, I probably have more experience with this sort of thing than you. And I'll tell you this: there's a nastiness out there right now the likes of which I have never seen--and which I think you dismiss, in your sensible neocon centrism, at your own considerable risk.

I'm an urban kind o' guy, so let's put this in urban terms: imagine that you live in a large apartment complex, and there are one or two people in the building who think they smell gas, and they keep complaining about it, trying to get the super to do something. No one else smells it, and everyone has a grand time making fun of them--oh, yeah, gas, right! I'll bet we're all going to die anyday now, ha ha ha!

And then one day the building explodes.

You see where I'm going with this? If you're out there on the right, or even in that sensible neocon center, you're probably not smelling the gas. You're probably not exposed to the overwhelming mass of sheer ignorant hatred that's out there, coiled and waiting. You're probably not subject to a constant barrage of email that reminds of you of this on a daily, even hourly basis, that makes you wonder, for the first time in your life, even including the years of Reagan and Bush the elder, if this country is actually, literally, genuinely headed for something more frightening than you'd ever thought possible.

But just because you're not seeing it--because in your sensible moderation, your support of the "war" and your denunciations of suicide bombing or whatever other incredibly brave and risky stance you've chosen to take (bad things are wrong!)--just because you're not seeing it, that doesn't mean it's not there. Ready to ignite and take you down right along with those crazy complainers in 3-b.

No, there's no outright persecution right now, and I'm certainly not declaring martyrdom here. But there is a disturbing undercurrent out there, and if City Lights want to make a pre-emptive declaration that dissent is not unAmerican--well, that's all right with me. Hell, it's more than all right--anyone who's got a problem with it should be ashamed to call themselves Americans. As a fellow once said in a somewhat different context, eternal vigilance is the price of liberty.

(Edited slightly for clarity)

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 12:03 AM| link

Hyperbole alert

Achingly stupid commentary from Cal Thomas:

On the eve of our great national birthday party and in the aftermath of Sept. 11, when millions of us turned to God and prayed for forgiveness of individual and corporate sins and asked for His protection against future attacks, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco has inflicted on this nation what many will conclude is a greater injury than that caused by the terrorists.

Sure, Cal. Many with their heads so deeply embedded in their asses that they can't tell the difference between Constitutional law and, um, mass murder.

Mass murder committed by religious fundamentalists in the name of their god, by the way.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 10:55 AM| link

Once again, brave Senate Democrats stand up to right wing crazies in support of actual liberal values

Kidding.

In an extraordinary show of defiance, virtually the entire Senate showed up for a morning prayer Thursday, heads bowed behind their desks, to affirm that the United State is "one nation under God," after a federal appeals court declared the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional.

Moments later, a nearly full House gathered to recite the pledge, with some shouting "under God." They followed with a sustained standing ovation, and a few House members joined hands to sing the first line of "God Bless America."

"We are one nation under God. We affirmed that today as Americans, not as Republicans or Democrats, and we did so proudly," said Sen. Tom Daschle, D-S.D., who on Wednesday called the court's decision "nuts."

Complete story here.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 12:23 PM| link

Well...

...this is gonna keep the wingnuts busy.

Update: a little background--because there's nothing Americans value more than informed debate.

Update the second: August forwards this, noting, "in less than two hours, organized opposition of this ruling has become the official platform for the 2002 GOP Congressional election committee."

Can this decision have possibly come at a worse time? Our basic civil liberties are in jeopardy, but we're going to be spending our time as a society arguing about whether or not schoolchildren should be forced to pay tribute to imaginary invisible beings who live in magical kingdoms in outer space somewhere.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 2:36 PM| link

A whole lotta damn cartoonists

There's been a lot of comics-related activity over the past couple of days. Finally had the pleasure of meeting August in person; also met Jen Sorensen and Stephanie McMillan, both of whom get this space's highest recommendation. So if you're sitting at work looking for new ways to procrastinate, check 'em out.

Also, "Attitude: the New Subversive Political Cartoonists," that alternative/political/cartoon/compilation book thing that Rall put together is out, and now that I've finally had a chance to look through it, I can honestly recommend it, despite its cringeworthy title. Probably in your local comic shop, and if not, there's always Amazon. (Yes, I know about the indy bookstore site, BookSense, but if this book is in their database, I can't figure out how to find it.)

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 10:54 AM| link

I would not blame you for wondering if I make these things up

This one came in under the subject line "Coward behind a drawing board":

Have you ever fought for anything in your life or have you always hid behind the drawing board? I "get' your cartoon, like most people who loathe your "too hip" antiAmerican/Republican slants, however what really is the logic behind it? I guess it's the easiest way for you to get a following, however I can't believe you get many e-mails praising your work. I'm sure liberal ACLU scumbags like yourself will have a real problem with the FBI now confiscating library reading lists. Oh no!! my civil liberties are in jeopardy!! What shall I do?? Honestly, people like you are the ones with blood on your hands from Sept 11th. It's been long overdue that the government stop turning a blind eye on all the liberal priveleges WE ALL have in this country.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 9:50 AM| link

Any Phoenix readers out there?

Phoenixites? Phoenicians? Whatever you call yourselves.

I'm getting reports from readers that the Phoenix New Times has stopped running the cartoon. Sent the paper an email but haven't gotten a response. Can anyone confirm or deny this one?

(Don't worry-- I doubt if it's a case of censorship. That paper has always been kind of off-and-on for me. Periodically they drop the cartoon, readers write in and complain, and they pick it up again. It's a little routine we've gone through over the years. It's just hard for me to keep track of it at a distance.)

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 1:46 PM| link

Urgh

Drove down to PA for a wedding yesterday, came back last night, got to bed around two a.m. Which means I'm pretty beat today, so just a couple of quick notes.

* * *

Yes, I've seen this, so no need to send the link.

I have mixed feelings about this whole "persecuted cartoonist" thing. On the one hand, I know that cartoonists like Steve Benson, who is quoted in the article, have gotten a whole lot of grief for expressing a liberal/progressive perspective. (Benson is a really interesting guy, incidentally, an active-duty part time cop and former Mormon whose liberalism is anything but knee jerk.)

On the other hand...well, I've received death threats too, been told more times than I can count that I am just like the terrorists, if not worse than. But as I said in a previous post, there are worse prices to pay for speaking one's mind than getting nasty email. It's not as if we are being "disappeared" like political dissidents in some third world dictatorship.

There's nothing in the Constitution that guarantees your right to exercise freedom of speech free from criticism. That's just part of this job, always has been. Yes, it's gotten a lot uglier since Sept. 11. The smug vileness harbored by many self-defined "real" Americans is extraordinary to behold, and it's admittedly disturbing to be on the receiving end of that sort of barrage, but I just can't throw out my arms and cry martyrdom when, to my knowledge, I haven't lost a single paper as a result of my "unpopular" opinions.

The danger, of course, is the slippery slope. Censorship is rarely overt, it rarely needs to be. If editors do succumb to the pressure of the flag-waving mob and choose not to run critical cartoons (or essays or articles or any other sort of commentary) for fear of offending readers, then the always-limited range of debate grows even more narrow--even as many Americans are in fact hungry for the range of debate to increase. Look at Michael Moore's experience--his publisher was ready to pulp his book rather than risk offending the newly-patriotic public (and this is a true story, not, as some have suggested, some sort of marketing ploy Michael cooked up with Harper--trust me, I was there as it was happening). When they finally were pressured--by librarians--into releasing the book, it went straight onto the bestseller lists and I believe it's been sitting there ever since.

I've got more thoughts on this, but it'll have to wait--I have to get to work.

* * *

Other quick notes: I should acknowledge that my Maureen Dowd prediction did not come to pass--Sunday's column was not an extended Minority Report riff.

She did, however, work in Hans and Franz.

* * *

Finally, for those of you in New York City: I'm going to be on a panel tonight with the cringe-inducing title "Mightier Than The Sword: Kick-Ass Cartoonists and the Art of Political Subversion," along with Joel Pett, Matt Wuerker, Ted Rall and Stephanie McMillan. It's at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, at 7 pm, and it looks like there's a sliding scale, so if you plead poverty, I think you can get in for ten bucks. I don't know if you need reservations or anything else about this thing, so if you need more info, you'll have to call CUNY.

posted by Tom Tomorrow at 10:22 AM| link