House ******?
by Andrew M. Alexander
22 July 2004
Ted Rall's comic strip labeling Condoleezza Rice "Bush's house nigga" crossed every last line of civility.
Q. What do you call a black conservative who works for the Bush Administration?
A. A house ******! Ha-ha-ha! Now pass the cornpipe, paw.
Where would you expect to find such a joke? Why, in the Washington Post, of course.
Ted Rall is a left-wing syndicated cartoonist for United Press Syndicate whose comics appear in over 140 publications, including the Philadelphia Daily News, Aspen Times, Hartford Advocate, Newark Star-Ledger, Los Angeles Times, Wilmington News-Journal, San Diego Reader, Village Voice, Harrisburg (PA) Patriot News, Las Vegas Journal Review, Washington City Paper, Tucson Weekly, Sacramento News & Review, San Jose Mercury-News, Lexington Herald-Leader, and the New York Times, according to his website. NYTimes.com stopped using his cartoons in March of 2004 because "some of his humor was not in keeping with the tone we try to set for NYTimes.com..." And MSNBC.com pulled Rall's April 2004 comic strip labeling Pat Tillman an idiot, a sap, and a "cog in a low-rent occupation army that shot more innocent civilians than terrorists to prop up puppet rulers and exploit gas oil resources," because it "did not meet MSNBC.com standards of fairness and taste."
Rall is also one of thirteen editorial cartoonists listed on Washingtonpost.com, the website of one of the nation's premiere newspapers.
On July 1, 2004, Rall drew a comic with this title: "After Bush returns our sovereignty: the trials. After the trials, appropriate punishments for deposed Bushists." The first panel suggested the "appropriate punishment" for Donald Rumsfeld was decapitation.
But Rall saved his vilest slurs for National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. In a panel titled, "Sent to inner-city racial re-education camp," Rall depicts Condoleezza Rice confronting a black man wearing a t-shirt that reads, "You're not white, stupid." The man says, "Now hand over your hair straightener." Ms. Rice protests, "I was Bush's beard! His house nigga!"
If you think I am making this up, you can look at the comic strip.
So what sort of prizes can you win for calling Condoleezza Rice a house ******?
According to his website, Rall was a finalist for a Pulitzer Prize in 1996, won the Deadline Club Award from the Society of Professional Journalists in 1998, and won the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award for Cartoons in 1995 and 2000. (Robert F. Kennedy is surely rolling over in his grave)
And why not? After all, this is the same Ted Rall who eulogized Ronald Reagan in this manner: "His clown-like dyed hair and rouged cheeks disgusted us. We hated him during the dark days he made so hideous, and, with all due respect, we hate him still."
And don't miss Rall on George W. Bush: "Liberal candidates should ratchet up the rhetoric by calling the Bushies what they are: illegitimate, unelected, anti-American neofascists."
The African-American leadership network Project 21 has called on Universal Press Syndicate to stop distributing Rall's comics. Project 21 member Michael King commented, "Is it OK for Ted Rall to use such vile language because he's using it against a black conservative? I'm beside myself with anger over this comic." Syndicated columnist Michelle Malkin also weighed in on the controversy, noting the Washington Post's supposed concern for the tone of political discourse. The Guardian has labeled Rall "among America's most offensive" people.
The Washington Post, incidentally, did not choose to run Rall's Condoleezza Rice comic. According to the editorial department, the Post only occasionally runs Rall's comics in the newspaper. Nevertheless, his July 19, 2004 comic is available on WashingtonPost.com, and he continues to be listed as one of the Post's thirteen editorial cartoonists.
So what gives Ted Rall the right to call Condoleezza Rice a house ******? Here's how Rall described his role as an editorial cartoonist in a 1995 interview:
I have a much more evolved political viewpoint [than Newt Gingrich or Bill Clinton], and see them as being a tool of the corporations.
Pretty sophisticated, Ted. Sort of like a hipster version of Bull Conner.
Andrew Alexander is Co-Editor of IntellectualConservative.
