Ted Rall and Steve Brodner
Do the Right Thing in Pakistan
By Ted Rall
Posted Wednesday, Oct. 13, 1999, at 6:20 PM ETDear Steve:
Wow, I'm still reeling over yesterday's military coup in Pakistan. Less than two weeks ago, my film critic pal and I were quaffing sodas (no beers in this Islamic republic, remember?) poolside at the Pearl Continental Hotel in downtown Rawalpindi, running around Gilgit in disputed Kashmir Province and fending off aggressive beggars on the overnight sleeper train to Karachi. Certainly there were lots of signs of political and economic instability: Some of the hotels recommended in our Lonely Planet guide had closed in the last year, inflation was literally eating away the rupee by the hour, and Pakistanis, described universally as cheery to the point of being irritating, were cranky and mean--especially when they heard our American twangs.
But as I reported on my radio show for the first time back then, the big news is that the Pakistani government has apparently signed a devil's bargain with the militant Taliban from neighboring Afghanistan. They've opened the border between Afghanistan and Pakistani-held Kashmir to let mujahadeen guerillas in to fight the Indians all summer long. The Taliban, who've earned a reputation as the new Khmer Rouge by stoning adulterers to death and denying medical care to women, aren't the most subtle guys in the world--heavily armed goons have set up checkpoints along the main highway between Kashmir and China and now occupy between a third and half of Kashmir on the Pakistani side of the Line of Control; the only thing saving Cole and me from a night as the star attraction at the Talidrome was our bus's own heavily armed guard.
That same week, two major Pakistani political parties called for Taliban-style rule in Pakistan to bring stability and "real" Islam to the masses. What you have to understand about Pakistan is that it's a democracy in name only; even before yesterday it was a barely disguised military junta backed with American tax dollars. (Are we ever not on the wrong side overseas?) Now the Taliban are trying to take over Pakistan, an incredibly strategic juncture between East and West, continent and subcontinent. The State Department, by backing the coup, is defending the very same regime that has invited the Taliban into its territory--and setting us up for a potential nuclear hot flash in a big way. Having just returned from Pakistan, I am very seriously frightened, despite today's insipid headlines saying that things are peaceful; if you'd seen what I'd just seen, you'd feel the same way. The truth is, this is the calm before the shit-storm.
So what to do? The Clinton administration ought to break off formal diplomatic ties with this illegal military government until a true democratic regime comes to power. Right now, the military runs everything from road repair to tax collection, and there's no room for free speech in such a place. As they said back in the '60s, you're either part of the problem or part of the solution, and we're clearly a big part of the problem. But don't count on the Clintonites to do the right thing; they never ever do.
Very truly yours,
Ted
Do the Right Thing in Pakistan
By Ted Rall
Posted Wednesday, Oct. 13, 1999, at 6:20 PM ETTed Rall is a New York-based political and social-commentary cartoonist and opinion columnist for Universal Press Syndicate and the author of Revenge of the Latchkey Kids (click hereto buy it). Steve Brodner has been a satiric illustrator for 27 years and has contributed caricatures of political and pop figures to a wide variety of publications. The Fraymaster adds:
Some reactions from readers:
Steve asks if the whole hoo-ha over at the Brooklyn museum is about captions... And the answer is, of course it is.
I have yet to see anyone substantially refute Tom Wolfe's theory, back in The Painted Word, that today's art has devolved into being illustrations for the catalog. Take away the catalog, and there's no there there. One or the other of the fellows cited Serrano's Piss Christ--it's the perfect example. I doubt many people have seen it in person--it's a huge 6-foot-by-4-foot (or so) chibachrome--and more than anything else comes across as a modern chiaroscuro photo-mural. It's reverent. Right up until you read the title, and figure out just how Serrano got those gorgeous tawny reds and burnt umbers. But it's only the title--or the catalog--that fills you in.
The whole Virgin Mary thing is much the same--I doubt there's any way to tell just how the image was made, elephant dung or not, except through the catalog. To be sure, I haven't actually seen it (this summer I've been seeing the Van Gogh, Sargent, Ingres, and Diego Rivera exhibitions as I travel), but that's my bet... Though I'll cheerfully defer to a real live witness.
(To reply, click here.)
Dear Ted,
I agree wholeheartedly with you in regards to the death of the comic strip, and glad to see someone else who views the Peanuts as melancholy. As a former illustrator (I know--do not call me bitter just yet) I think that the entire world of illustration is a rotting cadaver. Working now as a web designer I can't help but feel sympathy for my friends who valiantly try to establish careers in this former occupation. Many believe photography has killed the illustrator, and to some extent I agree, but I think the true blame falls upon the state of art education within our country.
Art schools have become a haven for the untalented and unimaginative, upper-middle-class would-be rebels more concerned with looking the part than being. Instructors, often failed artists themselves, so afraid of offending these cash cows offer no realistic criticism or advice. Since "all art is good art," students who would have been laughed out of my 2nd grade arts and crafts class are encouraged to pursue their "style." After graduating art school, it took me 2 years to enjoy drawing again....and I am not alone. Keep up the good work my brother!
(To reply, click here.)
People always feel that to say things like, "theater is dead," or, now, "the comic strip is dead" raises them to the level of philosopher. So, when someone has some silly stuff to say to seemingly back up such an impossible phrase, they get excited and say it all over the place and as loud as they can.
The comic strip isn't dead. New and great cartoonist will come in great forms no one can predict and, therefore, it's amazingly arrogant to predict the death of an art form. The Internet provides all sorts of new room for artists (this includes cartoonists) to work and spread around their wares.
(To reply, click here.)
Hey Ted Rall,
Yeah, your comic strips are great, but you made a big mistake in your blanket dismissal of all the comics in the comics page (save Peanuts). Your glaring omission: Mutts by Patrick McDonnell. This guy can DRAW! His comics are funny, sweet, and compassionate without being treacly--no mean feat. What's more, he takes a strong and unapologetic stand on animal rights, which takes guts in a nation of necrophages.
McDonnell's a genius. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pray with Johnny Hart.
(To reply, click here.)
What do you guys think of Tom Toles? His cartoons single-handedly got me through the Reagan/Bush years.
(To reply, click here.)
I think it's a bit too early to say the comic strip is dead. I think Robotman, Non Sequetor, and Mutts are some of the great comics in the papers, but for the rest I don't bother. It seems true that, in newspapers at least, comics are resorting to simple puns.
However, on the Internet the art of the comic strip is still alive. Some of the best, in my opinion anyway, are Ozy and Millie and Freefall, which are genuinely funny and entertaining. While the newspaper comics may be reverting to single unfunny puns, the Internet may be a place where the art of the comic strip is still living.
(To reply, click here.)
--Michael Brus (10/14)
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The Fraymaster adds:
Some reactions from readers:
Steve asks if the whole hoo-ha over at the Brooklyn museum is about captions... And the answer is, of course it is.
I have yet to see anyone substantially refute Tom Wolfe's theory, back in The Painted Word, that today's art has devolved into being illustrations for the catalog. Take away the catalog, and there's no there there. One or the other of the fellows cited Serrano's Piss Christ--it's the perfect example. I doubt many people have seen it in person--it's a huge 6-foot-by-4-foot (or so) chibachrome--and more than anything else comes across as a modern chiaroscuro photo-mural. It's reverent. Right up until you read the title, and figure out just how Serrano got those gorgeous tawny reds and burnt umbers. But it's only the title--or the catalog--that fills you in.
The whole Virgin Mary thing is much the same--I doubt there's any way to tell just how the image was made, elephant dung or not, except through the catalog. To be sure, I haven't actually seen it (this summer I've been seeing the Van Gogh, Sargent, Ingres, and Diego Rivera exhibitions as I travel), but that's my bet... Though I'll cheerfully defer to a real live witness.
(To reply, click here.)
Dear Ted,
I agree wholeheartedly with you in regards to the death of the comic strip, and glad to see someone else who views the Peanuts as melancholy. As a former illustrator (I know--do not call me bitter just yet) I think that the entire world of illustration is a rotting cadaver. Working now as a web designer I can't help but feel sympathy for my friends who valiantly try to establish careers in this former occupation. Many believe photography has killed the illustrator, and to some extent I agree, but I think the true blame falls upon the state of art education within our country.
Art schools have become a haven for the untalented and unimaginative, upper-middle-class would-be rebels more concerned with looking the part than being. Instructors, often failed artists themselves, so afraid of offending these cash cows offer no realistic criticism or advice. Since "all art is good art," students who would have been laughed out of my 2nd grade arts and crafts class are encouraged to pursue their "style." After graduating art school, it took me 2 years to enjoy drawing again....and I am not alone. Keep up the good work my brother!
(To reply, click here.)
People always feel that to say things like, "theater is dead," or, now, "the comic strip is dead" raises them to the level of philosopher. So, when someone has some silly stuff to say to seemingly back up such an impossible phrase, they get excited and say it all over the place and as loud as they can.
The comic strip isn't dead. New and great cartoonist will come in great forms no one can predict and, therefore, it's amazingly arrogant to predict the death of an art form. The Internet provides all sorts of new room for artists (this includes cartoonists) to work and spread around their wares.
(To reply, click here.)
Hey Ted Rall,
Yeah, your comic strips are great, but you made a big mistake in your blanket dismissal of all the comics in the comics page (save Peanuts). Your glaring omission: Mutts by Patrick McDonnell. This guy can DRAW! His comics are funny, sweet, and compassionate without being treacly--no mean feat. What's more, he takes a strong and unapologetic stand on animal rights, which takes guts in a nation of necrophages.
McDonnell's a genius. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go pray with Johnny Hart.
(To reply, click here.)
What do you guys think of Tom Toles? His cartoons single-handedly got me through the Reagan/Bush years.
(To reply, click here.)
I think it's a bit too early to say the comic strip is dead. I think Robotman, Non Sequetor, and Mutts are some of the great comics in the papers, but for the rest I don't bother. It seems true that, in newspapers at least, comics are resorting to simple puns.
However, on the Internet the art of the comic strip is still alive. Some of the best, in my opinion anyway, are Ozy and Millie and Freefall, which are genuinely funny and entertaining. While the newspaper comics may be reverting to single unfunny puns, the Internet may be a place where the art of the comic strip is still living.
(To reply, click here.)
--Michael Brus (10/14)