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Comics We Can Believe In
Today marks the departure of the Bush administration—and the opportunity to restore civil liberties and the rule of law to America. It's also the return of Civil Discourse, my biweekly comic for the ACLU. There's a lot to be done this year. I'll be chronicling the hilarity, absurdity and outrages and posting all my new cartoons here on the blog. If you want a look back at the insanity of the last few years, check the archive.
Tags: Civil Liberties News
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8 Responses to "Comics We Can Believe In" |
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Jan 20th, 2009 at 10:58am
PRESIDENT OBAMA: BAN THE ROOT CAUSE OF TORTURE
As your first major act, please ban MORE THAN TORTURE...
...Ban policies of EXTRAJUDICIAL TARGETING AND PUNISHMENT... policies that breed torture and human rights abuses AT HOME as well as abroad.
Extrajudicial targeting and punishment allows a calculated bypass of the judicial system... paving the way for human rights abuses -- including DOMESTIC TORTURE VIA RADIATION WEAPONRY that is being widely deployed among law enforcement, the military, and intelligence agencies.
Mr. Obama, domestic torture and physical assault by way of high-tech devices and weapons CONTINUES TO THIS DAY in communities throughout America...
... a covert evil that is happening with the apparent knowledge and approval of U.S. security forces.
And a series of programs intended to destroy the finances of terrorists and drug traffickers are being employed to destroy the finances of average American families "targeted" as "dissidents," "troublemakers," "whistle-blowers" or "undesirables" -- but not charged with any violation of the law.
This correspondent, a veteran print and TV journalist, has personal knowledge of the "programs of personal destruction" which are in place in agencies across the federal government.
Please attack the systemic disease that has decimated American democracy and the Constitution for the past eight years:
http://my.nowpublic.com/world/plea-obama-ban-extrajudici al-policies-behind-torture
OR (if link is disabled):
http://My.NowPublic.com/scrivener
Jan 20th, 2009 at 11:31am
Hey Matt, I don't get it. Explain, please.
Jan 20th, 2009 at 2:02pm
I agree that we have an opportunity to restore what we've lost the last eight years. But I question if it will happen, or if the security apparatus will push so hard for "public safety" that nothing will change and the Bill of Rights will continue to be eroded. http://malcontentist.com/2009/01/to-do-list-for-barack-obama-part-2
Jan 20th, 2009 at 6:26pm
Oh! Nevermind I get it now.
Jan 23rd, 2009 at 9:36pm
In the name of all this is holy, think about what is really happening. Please read, think, and remember it is your children who will suffer, die, and be the real targets by the wolves of the world. Please think, please read, and for once please search for the TRUTH!
I thought I would pass this on to all you Sheepdogs. A good read.
July 07, 2007
This letter was written by Charles Grennel and his comrades, veterans of the Global War On Terror. Grennel is an Army Reservist who spent two years in Iraq and was a principal in putting together the first Iraq elections in January 2005.
They wrote it to Jill Edwards, student at the University of Washington, who did not want to honor Medal of Honor winner USMC Colonel Greg Boyington.
Ms. Edwards, other students and faculty do not think those who serve in the U.S. armed services are good role models.
To: Jill Edwards, Student, University of Washington
Sheep, Wolves, and Sheepdogs
Miss Edwards, I read of your student activity regarding the proposed memorial to Colonel Greg Boyington, USMC, and a Medal of Honor winner. I suspect you will receive many angry emails from conservative people like me.
You may be too young to appreciate fully the sacrifices of generations of servicemen and servicewomen on whose shoulders you and your fellow students stand. I forgive you for the untutored ways of youth and your naivete. It may be that you are simply a sheep. There's no dishonor in being a sheep, as long as you know and accept what you are.
William J. Bennett, in a lecture to the United States Naval Academy November 24, 1997, said "Most of the people in our society are sheep. They are kind, gentle, productive creatures who can only hurt one another by accident. We may well be in the most violent times in history, but violence is still remarkably rare. This is because most citizens are kind, decent people, not capable of hurting each other except by accident or under extreme provocation. They are sheep.
Then there are the wolves who feed on the sheep without mercy. Do you believe there are wolves out there who will feed on the flock without mercy? You better believe it. There are evil men in this world and they are capable of evil deeds. The moment you forget that, or pretend it is not so, you become a sheep. There is no safety in denial.
Then there are sheepdogs, and I'm a sheepdog. I live to protect the flock and confront the wolf. If you have no capacity for violence, then you are a healthy productive citizen, a sheep. If you have a capacity for violence and no empathy for your fellow citizens, then you have defined [yourself as] an aggressive sociopath, a wolf. But what if you have a capacity for violence, and a deep love for your fellow citizens? What do you have then? A sheepdog, a warrior, someone who is walking the unsheltered path.
Someone who can walk into the heart of darkness, into the universal human phobia, and walk out unscathed.
We know that the sheep live in denial, that is what makes them sheep.
They do not want to believe that there is evil in the world. They can accept the fact that fires can happen, which is why they want fire extinguishers, fire sprinklers, fire alarms, and fire exits throughout their kids' schools. But many of them are outraged at the idea of putting an armed police officer in their kids' school. Our children are thousands of times more likely to be killed or seriously injured by school violence than fire, but the sheep's only response to the possibility of violence is denial. The idea of someone coming to kill or harm their child is just too hard. So they choose the path of denial.
The sheep generally do not like the sheepdog. He looks a lot like the wolf. He has fangs and the capacity for violence. The difference, though, is that the sheepdog must not, cannot, and will not ever harm the sheep. Any sheepdog who intentionally harms the lowliest little lamb will be punished and removed. The world cannot work any other way, at least not in a representative democracy or a republic, such as ours. Still, the sheepdog disturbs the sheep. He is a constant reminder that there are wolves in the land.
They would prefer that he didn't tell them where to go, or give them traffic tickets, or stand at the ready in our airports, in camouflage fatigues, holding an M-16. The sheep would much rather have the sheepdog cash in his fangs, spray paint himself white, and go Baa. Until the wolf shows up. Then the entire flock tries desperately to hide behind one lonely sheepdog.
The students, the victims, at Columbine High School were big, tough high school students, and under ordinary circumstances would not have had the time of day for a police officer. They were not bad kids; they just had nothing to say to a cop. When the school was under attack, however, and SWAT teams were clearing the rooms and hallways, the officers had to physically peel those clinging, sobbing kids off of them.
This is how the little lambs feel about their sheepdog, when the wolf is at the door. Look at what happened after September 11, 2001, when the wolf pounded hard on the door. Remember how America, more than ever before, felt differently about their law enforcement officers and military personnel? Understand that there is nothing morally superior about being a sheepdog; it is just what you choose to be.
Also understand that a sheepdog is a funny critter. He is always sniffing around out on the perimeter, checking the breeze, barking at things that go bump in the night, and yearning for a righteous battle. That is, the young sheepdogs yearn for a righteous battle. The old sheepdogs are a little older and wiser, but they move to the sound of the guns when needed, right along with the young ones.
Here is how the sheep and the sheepdog think differently. The sheep pretend the wolf will never come, but the sheepdog lives for that day.
After the attacks on September 11, 2001, most of the sheep, that is, most citizens in America, said "Thank God I wasn't on one of those planes." The sheepdogs, the warriors, said "Dear God, I wish I could have been on one of those planes. Maybe I could have made a difference." You want to be able to make a difference. There is nothing morally superior about the sheepdog, the warrior, but he does have one real advantage. Only one. And that is that he is able to survive and thrive in an environment that would destroy 98 percent of the population.
Research was conducted a few years ago with individuals convicted of violent crimes. These cons were in prison for serious, predatory crimes of violence: assaults, murders, and killing law enforcement officers. The vast majority said they specifically targeted victims by body language:
Slumped walk, passive behavior, and lack of awareness. They chose their victims like big cats do in Africa, when they select one out of the herd that is least able to protect itself.
Some people may be destined to be sheep, and others might be genetically primed to be wolves or sheepdogs. But I believe that most people can choose which one they want to be, and I'm proud to say that more and more Americans are choosing to become sheepdogs.
Seven months after the attack on September 11, 2001, Todd Beamer was honored in his hometown of Cranbury, New Jersey. Todd, as you recall, was the man on Flight 93 over Pennsylvania who called on his cell phone to alert an operator from United Airlines about the hijacking. When they learned of the other three passenger planes that had been used as weapons, Todd and the other passengers confronted the terrorist hijackers. In one hour, a transformation occurred among the passengers - athletes, business people, and parents - from sheep to sheepdogs - and together they fought the wolves, ultimately saving an unknown number of lives on the ground.
Edmund Burke said "There is no safety for honest men except by believing all possible evil of evil men." Here is the point I want to emphasize, especially to the thousands of police officers and soldiers I speak to each year. In nature, the sheep, real sheep, are born as sheep. Sheepdogs are born that way, and so are wolves. They don't have a choice.
But you are not a critter. As a human being, you can be whatever you want to be. It is a conscious, moral decision. If you want to be a sheep, then you can be a sheep - and that is okay, but you must understand the price you pay. When the wolf comes, you and your loved ones are going to die, if there is not a sheepdog there to protect you.
If you want to be a wolf, you can be one, but the sheepdogs are going to hunt you down, and you will never have rest, safety, trust, or love. But if you want to be a sheepdog and walk the warrior's path, then you must make a conscious and moral decision every day to dedicate, equip, and prepare yourself to thrive in that toxic, corrosive moment when the wolf comes knocking at the door.
This business of being a sheep or a sheepdog is not a yes/no dichotomy.
It is not an all-or-nothing, either-or choice. It is a matter of degrees, a continuum. On one end is an abject, head-in-the-sand-sheep, and on the other end is the ultimate warrior. Few people exist completely on one end or the other. Most of us live somewhere in between.
Since 9/11, almost everyone in America took a step up that continuum, away from denial. The sheep took a few steps toward accepting and appreciating their warriors, and the warriors started taking their job more seriously.
Its OK to be a sheep, but do not kick the sheepdog. Indeed, the sheepdog may just run a little harder, strive to protect a little better, and be fully prepared to pay an ultimate price in battle and spirit with the sheep moving from "baa" to "thanks."
We do not call for gifts or freedoms beyond our lot. We just need a small pat on the head, a smile, and a thank you, to fill the emotional tank which is drained protecting the sheep. And, when our number is called by The Almighty, and day retreats into night, a small prayer before the heavens just may be in order to say thanks for letting you continue to be a sheep. And be grateful for the millions of American sheepdogs who permit you the freedom to express even bad ideas.
Mar 28th, 2009 at 12:28pm
Dear Mr. Sheep Dog,
Bullsheep. What a huge load of self aggrandizement.
I am a killer with a heart. I kill for the right reasons. I am a good killer.
You sound like the movie formula where the good guy is happily living with his family and the bad guys come and kill his wife and kids. This terrible unprovoked slaughter then gives him the (emotional) right to go kill a whole bunch of bad guys and everyone lives happily ever after.
Sometime in the next 50 years I predict all you Bullsheep will become Super Bullsheep and take over the US "to save us from dictators."
Sep 6th, 2009 at 5:32am
Dear Hawaiian Style:
Wow, you provided an ad-hominem attack, a purely emotional, unsavory response, and yet managed to do so without one single bit of logic or reason to back up what could pass for an educated argument! Congratulations, you are a liberal and a sheep. You could not have rejected the point and thereby proved its truth any more if you'd tried!
And you're wrong, in 50 years, geniuses like you, the politically correct academia, and criminal and terrorist over-protecting lawyers, and the Congress that ties our military's hands and insists they do more with less will have ensured the ultimate fall of America, as we continue to move down the scale from a God-fearing, hard-working, reasonable culture to an ignoramus, history-revisionist, "Jay-walking" idiocracy. Keep on smoking that dope and wishing life were different. If you do it enough, you'll somehow be able to change reality, right? Stalin was a myth. Hitler was a fiction. September 11th was a U.S. conspiracy. Saddam Hussein didn't murder 50,000 of his own innocent citizens a year for 20 years. Right?
What a brilliant person you are...your momma must be so proud
Sep 6th, 2009 at 1:27pm
So what would you do when the wolf is knocking at the door, genius? When the rapist holds your wife or daughter down at knifepoint, and you could shoot him, Einstein? When an airplane is heading into a populated area, and you could shoot it down to save lives, braintrust? The answer is, you will not answer because this would be a difficult decision, and to you, all killing is wrong, even if it's to protect the innocent. So you hide your head in the sand and let those far better than you could ever be take action, so you can comfortably rest your head up your warm point of contact. How's it smell there, anyway? You'd better hope you sheep keep your numbers small enough that we sheepdog will be capable of protecting you!