Another country heard from: Ted Rall, Geraldo Rivera and the 101st Airborne Division's Traditional Leave Taking Ceremony for Anal Sphincters.

Just in case you might miss it, I decided to replicate the new comment below from the Ted Rall cartoon piece. Someone, Rall perhaps, has taken offense at my post and the comments. Personally, I believe Rall has a right to draw whatever disgusting slurs he wants to about American servicemen. (Remember, he insulted GIs and not Bush, or his policies. He insulted them directly, in time of war, while having his lily white ass protected by them.)

Now, read the comment and I'll have a few words on the other side.

Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "What passes for "cutting edge" cartoonery in the A...":

Keep it up Klan members, you're just as bad as the Muslims who threatened cartoonists. A screenshot of this entry deserves to be memorialized on another blog, as revealing of your true attitudes and motives. Apparently many of you don't seek to liberate others from oppression, you seek to wrest control of the oppression so you may use it for your own ends.

Try to look at these cartoons below from the perspective of a father of a current-serving military man, i.e., me.

The residents of the Middle East are not the real enemies of American liberty; instead, you are, for teaching your child to serve the State as a colonial oppressor.

People who sneer at other people are always amazed when the despised despise THEM. Why is that, exactly? Military men, of course, are bound by the iron code of discipline from reacting in any forcible way to someone like Rall. That is as it should be. The Ralls of the world count on that, of course. That someone unbound by formal discipline or Rules of Engagement might decide to wreak a little personal justice on them does however give them pause.

I recall Tennessee, after the Supreme Court upheld flag-burning as protected speech, passed a law codifying flag-burning as a right, but making the thrashing of flag-burners a misdemeanor with a $5.00 fine. Don't know whatever happened with that, but it seemed like a good idea to somebody at the time.

And just because soldiers are under discipline, does not mean that they cannot express themselves. Let us hop into Mr. Peabody's Wayback Machine.

Mr. Peabody and Sherman.

The year is 2003. The place, Iraq. The 101st Airborne Division is on its way to Baghdad. Soldiers are dying because of it, Iraqis and Americans. Embedded in the One-Oh-One is this guy, Gerald Rivera:

The man any Screaming Eagle today refers to as "Mr. Brown," Geraldo "I never got to open Saddam's vaults" Rivera.

Rivera is a correspondent for Fox News. He is about to do something very stupid. In fact, the troopers of the 101st consider it in retrospect to be calculated and treasonous. He does this:

Geraldo pointing out where the 101st Airborne is, where they are going and what time they jump off, live on FOX. ("Fair and Balanced.")

MG David Petraeus, the division commander, did not take this kindly. What he said cannot be repeated in front of a Baptist minister without shock and awe. He overrode his initial Patton impulse to shoot the sonofabitch himself. An enlisted man on the outer edges of the General's wrath volunteered, "Hell, Sir, I'll shoot the bastard." His offer was declined, regretfully. Petraeus got on the horn to the Chain of Command.

To prevent Geraldo from being the unfortunate target of an accidental discharge, it was decided to expel him from Iraq. And go he did, but not before the 101st had a chance to wreak their subtle vengeance on one Geraldo Rivera.

Picture the scene, helicopter rotors turning, sand blowing, Geraldo and his dejected crew, bag and baggage, loading on the bird. There, much to the FOX News crew's surprise is a line of Air Assault troopers, wanting to shake Geraldo's hand one last time before boarding for his trip back to Kuwait.

Each man grabs Geraldo's right hand with his, vigorously shaking it, wishing him a fervent farewell. Geraldo is touched, no doubt. Touched, and likely surprised, for he has hardly been unaware of the anger in the division at him. This feeling lasted, I'm sure, up until the moment the bird lifted off, when he brought his hand to face to scratch his nose or wipe the fine grit sand out of his eyes.

Yes, children, Geraldo Rivera had been "browned."

Picture a hundred or so men. Dirty soldiers, no baths in weeks. Picture the excrudescence that has built up in the nether region between their hairy testicles and the last fold of their buttocks above their anal sphincters. Picture each of those men, just before their stand-to to give Geraldo the old heave-ho, taking his right hand and sticking it well and truly home in that indelicate area, doing their very best to provide a scientific sample of that excrudescence. And picture each of them, smiling, laughing and sending Geraldo off with a small sample of their disgust.

Picture it, for that is exactly what happened. I know, my son was there. What Mr. Peabody would have made of that is impossible to say. Sherman, being younger and more enthusiatic, would have likely joined in.

So if you should have the opportunity to meet Ted Rall some day, take a tip from the Screaming Eagles. Before you punch him in the nose, if that is your wont, be sure and shake his hand first. And if you've been exposed to the Mata Mexicano virus beforehand, that's OK too.



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