E-mailers Criticize Rall Cartoon and Story About It

By: Dave Astor More than 40 people e-mailed E&P this morning to criticize the Ted Rall cartoon questioning Pat Tillman's credentials as a hero.

A story about the cartoon was posted here yesterday.

The e-mails to E&P ranged from heartfelt to nasty -- illustrating the strong emotions evoked by Tillman's death in Afghanistan after he left a lucrative football career to join the military.

Some excerpts from the heartfelt messages:

"Regardless of what he may think of President Bush and the war, Rall should at least have the decency to spare Tillman's memory and family the pain his cartoon would undoubtedly cause," a Wisconsin man wrote. "While I don't condone the obscenities he received from other e-mails, I have little sympathy for him. ... How tragically ironic that he can't recognize that Tillman and so many others like him have given their lives so he can disagree with our leaders...."

Another e-mailer said: "This Rall cartoon is another example of the vicious attacks that a free country allows and absorbs to preserve that freedom. This is funny -- lampooning a man who gave his life for all of us?"

And a Marine veteran wrote: "Ted Rall deliberately and mean-spiritedly insulted the patriotism and principles of Pat Tillman, which are only deserving of respect and commendation. Whether or not Rall agrees with the justifications for our national involvement in this war against terrorism, he would be well-advised to learn to avoid confusing the war with the warrior, and that those who choose to make such selfless sacrifices as Pat Tillman, and all the others who serve our country and the cause we're fighting for, are not somehow of less moral or intellectual stature than the likes of Mr. Rall, no matter how vehemently he disagrees with that cause."

Here's a line from one of the nastier letters: "Pat Tillman and hundreds of others like him have given their lives so f--king scumbags can publish this drivel," said a Mississipi e-mailer.

"I'm not going to claim I'm surprised [by all the negative reaction]," said Rall, who's distributed by Universal Press Syndicate. "I knew a cartoon like this was going to inspire outrage."

A number of e-mailers also criticized parts of the E&P story, including the line that said Rall "risked his life in Afghanistan himself as visiting cartoonist/writer after 9/11." One person wrote:"That's your attempt at moral equivalency?? What's next...Martha Stewart risked her life, too, as a visiting homemaker/decorator?" Another said: "There is a substantial qualitative difference between a soldier and a journalist."

The E&P line referred, among other things, to the incident when Rall was awoken in Afghanistan by pounding on his door, but decided not to open it. A nearby Swedish cameraman who did open his door was shot to death.