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Cartoonist Receives Death Threats Over "Learn to Speak Teabag"
Cartoonist Mark Fiore writing on on his blog:
The death threats keep coming this fine morning. I guess the Tea Party crew is determined to have "death panels" one way or another. The dustup started because of this cartoon:
"Learn to Speak Tea Bag" ran on my usual client sites, including NPR, which really set off the guys over here, here (note Condi giving child flowers down by "donate" button), here, here and here. Before you could say, "due to a pre-existing condition, your health coverage has been denied," there was a full-fledged viral campaign by right-wing media outlets and blogs to jump, scream and shout about this animation. Which, to me, is just great! I say that not because I get some thrill out of receiving emails that are in all capital letters or have more exclamation points than letters in the alphabet, I say that because one of the most important functions of a political cartoon, or political animation, is to foster a discussion. With thousands of comments posted, loads of emails and tweets, discussion was definitely fostered, and then some. It's the "then some" that worries me.
Of course discussion on the web is not known for its civility, but it finally dawned on me the strangeness of receiving death threats at the same time a crazed Somali extremist tried to kill cartoonist Kurt Westergaard.
Muslim extremist, meet Tea Party extremist. Tea Party extremist, meet Muslim extremist.
That is not to say all people who associate with the Tea Party movement are killers, just as not all Muslims from Somalia are killers. I have very good friends from Somalia, and I have wonderful relatives in Idaho who are pro-gun, anti-government conservatives.
People in this world, my dear Tea Baggers, are not always categorized into easy boxes of Left vs. Right, Socialist vs. Patriot.
As a matter of fact, I myself am a left-leaning, pro-gay-marriage San Franciscan, Catholic, anti-Bush, anti-Nader guy who guts his own fish, has cut down trees with a chain saw and took political science classes with Mary Cheney. Is your head imploding yet?
Surprisingly, one of the aspects of the animation that seems to really enrage the Tea Party set is the term "Tea Bag." Their claim is that the cartoon uses "bag" instead of "party" in order to take a cheap sexual shot at the Tea Party patriots. You can do your own research on the alternative meaning of "tea bag," I won't link to anything here. Oh, except maybe I should link to some Tea Whatever sites that use the very term that appalls them so. Here a bag, there a bag, everywhere a bag bag! (Too bad the sexual angle eliminates any discussion of why the Tea Party crew thinks attempting to reform a disastrous health care system amounts to Socialism, Fascism, Nazism, etc.)
Another aspect of the rabid criticism is that NPR, an organization living high on the hog thanks to the mother's milk of government (animal metaphors, all around!), should not be funding my anti-Tea Bagger cartoons with taxpayer money. But alas, NPR does most of its villainous work using sponsorship, pledge drives and good ol' fashioned Capitalism! According to the NPR site, a tiny one to two percent of their yearly funding comes via grants from crazed Socialist organizations like the National Science Foundation, CPB and (gasp!) the NEA. After all is said and done, the amount of taxpayer money that changed hands because NPR posted "Learn to Speak Tea Bag" was about, um . . . two-dollars and twenty-five cents. If you want to dig deeper into NPR's financial statements, they are publicly available here.
If that sort of taxpayer funding bothers you, you definitely should avoid any taxpayer-funded city streets, return your government-sponsored digital converter box and avoid doing business with any bank that owes its existence to a taxpayer bailout.
To all of you who have written emails and comments, I really wish I could respond to every one of you. I truly appreciate your taking the time to write, even if we may be on different sides of the political fence. If there is one thing that my politically mixed San Francisco/Idaho background has taught me, it is benefit of continuing a discussion even if you don't agree. Too often these days, the Left and the Right immediately shut down if you are deemed to be from the opposing camp. Here's to good discussion even if we don't agree.
Now please don't kill me :-)
149 Comments so far
Show All"As a matter of fact, I myself am a left-leaning, pro-gay-marriage San Franciscan, Catholic, anti-Bush, anti-Nader guy who guts his own fish, has cut down trees with a chain saw and took political science classes with Mary Cheney. Is your head imploding yet?"
A liberal would be anti-Nader. Unbelieveable. Yet he's pro-Obama. Obama's giving money to the very healh insurance giants who are blocking patients from seeing their doctors.
Caution: Partisanship can cause blindness.
no wonder san francisco is one of the coolest cities in america.
its people like you that give it its non conformity thoughtful
flavor. the history of sf is a study in real americanism all by itself.
i live in nyc but would live there in a second.
I think his mention of being anti-Nader was a poke at how among bourgeois liberal San Francisco circles, hatred of Nader (and Cindy Sheehan) is de-rigueur.
Then again, maybe he is so immersed in the rich gay bourgeois SF lifestyle that he really does dislike Nader. Nader is known for his disdain for liberal identity/sexuality politics.
San Francisco IS one of the coolest cities in the WORLD. But there are plenty of reactionary jerks living there, not to mention middle class ass holes who think their shit doesn't stink. I know, I lived there for 25 years, until it became too expensive. Most of my friends still live there, or have lived there for a long time. It doesn't hurt that the Bay Area is one of the most beautiful spots in the world. And it is cool in actuality. Oh how I miss the fog and the fog horns!
Caution: Partisanship can cause blindness.
---------------------------------
I do seriously believe that partisanship --political-party partisanship, at least-- is an (the?) outward manifestation of a special kind of stupidity. Such people -those who judge behavior according to who's doing it- are *stupid*, also dangerous. They make perfect soldiers because they're not merely unthinkingly obedient, but actually *adopt* the will of their rulers as their own without ever examining it first. They're the kind Einstein said could get along just as well with only a brainstem because they never use the higher-order functions.
If Nader was president, single payer health care would be in the works, thereby assuring that teabaggers would not be gaining momentum and followers.
Obamacare is a festering wound that provides a breeding ground for teabaggers, Mark Fiore and other low life forms.
If you think San Francisco is so great, keep in mind that they keep re-electing Nancy Pelosi.
There is finally some hope in getting rid of that evil-disgusting twerp Nancy Pelosi, and he comes in the form of JOHN DENNIS 2010. This is going to be the year to really bring about some change in government!
"Caution: Partisanship can cause blindness."
That was great!
Like masturbation?
Ask the gunslingers on the Right what they think the second amendment is for?
Then ask them where they were for the last ten years?
The had their chance to prove to the world how tough and "patriotic" they are and they blew it.
*love your cartoons Mark!
Do you realize in Switzerland, in a "Socialist" style environment, the Government Supplies every able bodied male a Rifle that everyone gets to keep in their home for self protection. Switzerland has like a ZERO Crime rate. Switzerland also has NO standing military that is occupying half the middle east, killing innocent women, children and men in the name of "peace". In Switzerland, their "social programs" covers the distribution of Ammunition for the Rifles they are given, by their government, for their self protection as Individuals, as well as having the capabilities to rapidly form an army incase of INVASION, to protect their homeland. Ironically enough, there is no Blow-Back from radical terrorist in Switzerland, since these people are not occupying the middle east under a WAR Monger in Chief, Obama.
So, it has nothing to do with your FALSE Left/Right Paradigm, but the use of FireArms has Everything to do with the RIGHTS of an Individual to be able to protect themselves, their families and their property/belongings - from a criminal element that is basically born out of a corrupted and failed welfare state system.
but the difference is that their not dumb ignorant americans. they don't
have the rabid political extremists to anywhere near the extent that exist
here. their gun manufacturers do NOT crank out 9000 guns per hour. they
DO NOT have a rabid wayne lapeirre buying off the senate and congress
to insure that the insanity so prevalent in the us is not propagated
there. i would love to see a nfl mlb or pro sports theme playoff for
terrorists in like say texas ark. okla. miss. etc. no texas because its big enough
(for all those texans with small penis syndrome) we invite all terrorists all over the world for a texas holdem type of all weapons battle.( weapons from abroad will be shipped separately.(for obvious safety reasons)then they can engage in an all out all
ur brung (local terminology) till there's only one team left. photos are then taken
off survivors and posted for all the world to see. (government security apparatus
will undoubtedly fuck this one up) and to borrow from brother george carlin we
put it on fox (duh) with ads from the usual sponsors.( don't say god bless george
we all know that wherever he maybe in the universe he would be mad at you for that)
bud etc. but no weapons manufacturers allowed. (don't we have enough already?)
They also have a relatively high rate of gun-inflicted suicides, I have heard.
And uh, they all get supplied by a rifle because every citizen is forced into conscription for military service for a few years, just like Israel. Unlike Israel, however, it doesn't maintain a standing army, as you noted.
It's not because everyone has an assualt rifle brain fart. It's because they mind their own f---ing business!
There is absolutely no reason to be uncivil in your response. Could you reply differently in the future?
guerrillaG January 10th, 2010 6:00 pm -- Interesting. Why do only males get guns? And why not handguns, which we all know are better for self-defense because you can carry them concealed. Do the Swiss have a concealed carry law?
I also wonder if the right to self-defense so valued is defense against their neighbors, as it is here in the U.S., or against their own government, as it is here in the U.S. Well?
The guns are for defense against external aggressors.
Becasue Switzerland is a functioning democracy, the USAn idea that people need to be armed against their own government would be regarded as bizarre. In a democracy, the poeple ARE the government. And becasue it is a harmonious society with few poor or desperate, the idea that one needs a gun to defend onself from fellow citizens would be considered hyper-bizarre.
I assume that this is point you wanted to make, but it seemed a bit too subtle for most readers.
True, they don't allow any immigration unless you bring a few million with you. Perhaps if we refused to allow anyone but the rich to come to the US we would be a better Democracy? And certainly no people of color that are poor or semiskilled, huh?
That makes for a fairly harmonious society, almost all one color, few poor and little need to take care of the less fortunate.
You are referring to our idea that an armed populace will have a better chance than an unarmed populace of remaining free.
Just clearing things up! (lol) I couldn't resist :)
pjd412 January 11th, 2010 11:49 am -- It's the point I suspected. I really didn't know. Thanks! (I assume you know what you're talking about.)
By the way, I thought it would be odd, indeed, if the Swiss were anything like our gun nuts, since according to T.R. Reid, the Swiss considered a 5% rate of uninsured (by health insurance) morally unacceptable, and therefore enacted universal health insurance coverage.
Switzerland is strongly xenophobic, given their penchant for routine purging of foreign workers and a recent popular vote to ban all minarets (soon to be followed by the banning of mosques and eventually, the practice of Islam).
Banning of Islam? If they would also ban Christianity and Judaism they'd be onto something. Until the practitioners of those three religions can learn to get along they should be banned, or at least segregated so they can cause no further harm to one another and other peoples of the world. All of them, at their fundamentalist levels are spiteful and hateful toward outsiders.
"All of them, at their fundamentalist levels are spiteful and hateful toward outsiders."
You have a point.
WTF
I suspect that is just the beginning in Europe proper. I can't see them banning the practice of anyone's religion, but banning minarets I think will spread, the banning of mosques, surely not. Though they may hold Islam to the same standards Islam holds the other religions to.
Take care Mark. Trying to inject humor into this distinctly unfunny time in American history is a somewhat dangerous task. The parallels between America's right wing and the extremists of Islam is illustrated most clearly by their reaction to humorous criticism. Both are desperate and misled about the cause of their desperation. They don't know where they are going, but they are serious about getting there.
I actually feel a certain empathy mixed with sorrow over the Tea Partiers. There's something poignant about seeing formerly proud Americans react to their recent 'supply-side' impoverishment with the deficient reasoning tools Faux News propaganda has left them with. Like meeting a once formidable high school athlete as a middle-aged stumble bum: you want to laugh, you ought to cry. Most of us just end up running away.
ubrew12
I haven't found them desperate, I have found them extremely angry at both parties,plus most of them know exactly where they want things to go and how they want things fixed.
Just my opinion based on talking to T-Partiers and reading some of what they are sending out, but I'd say those folks you saw at the rallies and meetings were the most publicly vocal of course, but I'm fairly sure they represent a vast amount of America. I believe they are far larger, far more organized (and not by Republicans) and much further along than most think.
As you know, I can occasionally be wrong, but of course my one mistake for this decade is already in office. :)
And, please inform us; how do they want things to go, and how do they want things fixed?
Don't they want the abolition of most or all labor, financial or consumer product regulation teh measures that got us in this fix to begin with, but on steroids?
Don't they wan't the abolition of environmental regulation? Don't thay want the abolition of all social safety net measures, or all public services like public transit?
Why are the tea-parties are overwhelmingly white/N. European - in a country that is at most only 50-60% this group?
The above describes all my tea-party family members and their in-laws.
pjd412
"And, please inform us; how do they want things to go, and how do they want things fixed?"
I can't speak for them of course, but as I understand it, they do not want things to go as they did under Bush, they certainly don't want things to go the way they are under Obama and this congress so far.
They want regulations and laws put back in place that have been removed, such as Glass-Stegall. They want debt reduced and a return to fiscal responsibility. They are really honked at big business, bamnks and big tax and spend government like we had under Bush and is continuing under Obama.
"Don't they wan't the abolition of environmental regulation? Don't thay want the abolition of all social safety net measures, or all public services like public transit?"
Not the folks I have talked to. Though they oppose crap like Cap and Trade which I certainly do and I'm sure you do too. Great article on it on CD. Certainly not the removal of social safety nets, but nada for illegal aliens. And certainly not abolition of public transportation that I've heard.
"Why are the tea-parties are overwhelmingly white/N. European - in a country that is at most only 50-60% this group?"
Got me. My guess is that the ones that showed up for the parties are retired working middle class, the ones getting hit from all sides. While there are plenty of all colors and classes supporting this concept, there are just not that many retired middle class blacks because we didn't have that many before the eighties I'd say. Pure supposition though. Most of my black frieds don't disagree with a lot they say.
Or maybe you are just lucky with that part of your family? :) Snarky, I know!! Sorry!!
Didn't the tea baggers already have 10 years of 'how they want things fixed'? They didn't have rallies when Bush was in office. The fact is, tea baggers are fools who let highly organized corporate sponsors whip them into a frenzy by using catch phrases such as can be found in the 'Learn to Speak Teabag' cartoon above. The only thing I can agree with you on is how angry these people are. Of course they are angry. They are middle class people who have felt the pinch of a depression brought on by 10 years of 'things being fixed' by George Bush and company. Oh how mad the middle classes get when their wallets are threatened. Where is their anger about poverty, class injustice, corporate piracy?
George Markley
Well, we'll just have to disagree, though when I refer to the Tea Party folks I'm really thinking of the large group of people that feel that way and say so, but don't attend the Town Meetings or rallies, but support those ideas. Are you just thinking of the Town Hallers?
It wasn't corporate sponsors that sent any of the folks that I know or have talked to, they did it themselves. It was truly grass roots. Maybe the rest of the country is different.
They are indeed angry and They are truly P.O. at Corp's.....I don't think class injustice or poverty per se is at the top of their agenda, more on the bottom as you suggest.
I'm sure you are right, there are a lot of people out there who have been educated in our public schools to revere the good old American system. They would have been better served if they had been taught the flaws in that system, as well as the virtues. They are not being directly sponsored by the corporate world, but the corporate world doesn't have to spend any time or money on them. Why should they, when the Teabag mentality is furthering their interests for free. Their anger at the Democrats is well founded but the Democrats are a corrupt bunch in league with corporate America same as the Republicans. There IS a lot of corporate funding going into these Teabag meetings, at least initially, to get the ball rolling.
Ciovis, you are a thinking person and have a lot of good ideas. Our basic difference is that I'm a confirmed socialist and you are not. Yes, I'm afraid we will just have to disagree.
George Markley
What a kind thing to say and allow me to reeturn the compliment doubled.
"Our basic difference is that I'm a confirmed socialist and you are not."
My friend, that is truly what makes the world go around. We have (not at the moment)a great country and the exchanges here at CD are just part of the proof of it.
I also try to keep reminding my R Wing friends that there are good ideas everywhere. Though I'm not a socialist as you point out, there are some very good socialist ideas/methods that could be used/adapted in any democracy.
"...'em 'f they can't take a joke"
A sure sign that a piece of satire is successful is when its' intended targets take it quite badly.
Jeevee
CHEERS, Mark: here's to your courage and your excellent writing.
I just watched this and it was cute. It brought a smile to my face.
Mark's cartoons are the best I've seen at exposing rabid hyper-hypocrisy.. beware the cartoon-manchurian-candidate
Mark you are awesome. Keep up the good work!!
Check out Mark's other cartoons on you tube, like the obama medals in advance awards for peace, jobs, healthcare, etc.
Damn, and I thought a Teabagger was some one who gassed on relentlessly about thread pitches at a Limeybike rally.One bore deserves another, I guess.
Well, I liked the comment about guns being necessary for protection from gay people from San Francisco, or even Switzerland, but the cartoon just left me cold.
And Angry with a capital A. Isn't it time we elected Sarah, and then let her crown her fine self Empress of North America, thus ending this intolerable situation?
And my buddy Glen needs to be High Minister of Information, if he isn't the de facto guy in that job already. He's a real man who cries on-camera, and knows how to profit from gold, too.
I have to agree with you that his comments are much better than the cartoon.I'm a black powder freak, who lives in San Francisco, and if I could get it together, would like to join the Confederacy as a Civil War re-enactor, because Confederates always had better hats.I think Obama sucks, and that Ralph Nader gave up being useful when he decided to run for president.I would certainly support a viable Third Party. Either the Bull Moose Party, or the Communists would do, if either would do some serious recruiting.Also an honest-to-god Anarcho-Syndicalist party (like the CNT-FAI in Spain during their Civil War)-but I don't hold out much hope for that.What's a good 'ole cynic to do?
Cicero: "Freedom is participation in power."
That little video is very mild stuff compared to what I've read on the protest signs of Tea Baggers in my own State and seen on news video of their events elsewhere.
The video errs by displaying no spelling mistakes which are common as dirt on Tea Bagger protest signs.
Calling them Tea Baggers is insulting and not likely to convince them to reconsider their thinking of liberals or progressives.
Better look at some pictures from some of our marches and protests before being too critical of others. (though ours are spelled correctly):)
I don't think they are insulted by the teabagger name. Some wear tea bags dangling from their hats and others display them on their signs. I think they like it.
Naturally
You could be right. Actually I hadn't thought of that and I have seen exactly what you are talking about. I think I'll just ask a few next time I see them. Interesting.
They are the ones who initially called themselves Tea Baggers.........until they were informed (by the left, as a matter of fact) that the name had an alternate definition which was abversely sexually-oriented. Then they began screaming about being called teabaggers. If they had any brains at all, they would have researched the "tea bagging" moniker for modern implications. Oh, but then I am assuming they have intelligence. Sorry.
They are thinking of the Boston Tea Party that made tea out of Boston Bay in 1773. It was against the Tea Act. The Boston Tea Party has become an icon of American Patriotism. If the teabaggers had researched the Boston Tea Party and the Act it protested, they would find it pretty tame stuff compared to the shit George Bush put us through. But the teabaggers are going on myth, not history.
Because they didn't protest then, they can't protest now when we are being subjected to worse? Better late than never, I say.
Their anger and protesting are a little off the mark, don't you think? To me they look like a mob of middle class corporate wannabes, who have discovered that things are not going to plan. Instead of blaming those that are causing the problems for the middle class, they are blaming that nigger in the white house who is not even an American nigger (or so they say).
Nothing is likely to convince them to reconsider anything. They are on the other side of a chasm. Are we going to have a capitalist country based on greed, or are we going to have a socialist country based on sharing?