Faux Liberal, Ted Rall, Laughs Off Calls for My Deportation
I've enjoyed Ted Rall's progressive political cartoons for years. So I was excited when he reached out to my publisher for an interview about my new book, Breaking ICE: Community Defense Against State Terror and MAGA Fascism.
At first, Ted stood me up. Then, he rescheduled a few weeks later. Okay, I'm a forgiving, easy-going type. I agreed to a rescheduled interview.
Then, this past Wednesday, I jumped on the live video stream of the show, ready for the interview. What transpired was 48 minutes of Ted and his co-host Jamarl throwing rightwing talking points at me about how, setting aside ICE's abuses, all nations have the right to have immigration enforcement, don't they? I pushed back on this premise, making the point that borders are imaginary, people are real. And nations--at least democratic ones--have rules that we-the-people set, so why don't we change our notions of who gets to belong and who doesn't? Why don't we pour our money into the things that actually keep us safe (education, healthcare, etc).
The two men weren't having it, even though they conceded agreement on every point I made. Eventually, after I hinted that it would be nice to ACTUALLY DISCUSS MY BOOK, we spent a few minutes talking about it. But then, after saying goodbye to me, Ted and Jamarl brought on their racist, rightwing white producer named Robby who spent 20 minutes incoherently spewing MAGA talking points and calling me a "heifer" who ought to be immediately deported.
WATCH THE HIGHLIGHTS OF THEIR HATE BELOW:
Ted and Jamarl laughed it off, and carried on. These men brushed off a call to deport me like it was nothing. Because, to them, Robby's knee-jerk rage-baiting was a reasonable response to an immigrant woman of color whose views they disagreed with. They might as well have screeched "OFF WITH HER HEAD!"
This is why I do what I do. When white supremacists are the only ones telling the stories of immigration, race, economy, justice, history, and human rights, we get a skewed, perverse echo of our democracy.
With "liberal media" like Ted Rall's show, who needs Fox News?
Please watch the full interview here and feel free to tell me what you think, or post comments letting the hosts know what you think.
►►► IN OTHER NEWS.... For those of you who are free subscribers to my newsletter, don't let my SEPTEMBER SPECIAL slip away! If you purchase one or both of my books, Breaking ICE and Talking About Abolition using this link before September 30th, you get 3 or 6 free months of membership to Rising Up With Sonali.
For the entire month of September, every one of you who purchases a copy of Breaking ICE will get 3 months FREE membership to Rising Up With Sonali.
👉🏾 👉🏾 👉🏾 AND.... that's not all. If you ALSO BUY a copy of my previous book, Talking About Abolition: A Police-Free World is Possible, you'll get 6 months FREE membership to Rising Up With Sonali.
📘 1 BOOK = 3 months free membership
📘 📘 2 BOOKS = 6 months free membership!
AND NOW.... HERE are the stories I published this week on Rising Up With Sonali:
Can Nepal Disaster Spur Global Action on Climate Change?
SAVIO CARVALHO: "[C]hange is possible. The faster we cut emissions, the more lives we save, the more ecosystems survive, and the better future we have for this planet and for the people. And we have solutions. We can prevent this overshoot and its catastrophic impacts."
Can US Democracy Survive Attacks on Vote-by-Mail?
CHRISTOPHER SHAW: "There is the risk that people will see the potential chaos, they'll see the disorder, they'll see the confusion, and that this could deter some people from voting. And it could also create a situation, and President Trump did this in 2020, where he suggested that there was all kinds of problems with fraud in the voting and therefore sort of paved the way to then claim that there were problems with the election itself."
Corporate media's goal is to leave you feeling overwhelmed and accept the status quo.
Flock “Donated” Cameras to Altadena After the Fires. Now, Residents Want them gone
MOHAMMAD TAJSAR: "This is a tried-and-true playbook from technology vendors who are trying to get in on the public market. They'll offer a pilot program. They'll say, "Hey, take some of our cameras. We may offer it to you for free, or maybe we'll sell you a small batch of them," probably a small batch that will cost not very much and will be a low enough expenditure that it doesn't require going to city council or informing the public that you're going to buy them."
BONUS EPISODE: Rising Up to Demand Progress
ERIC NAING: "At Demand Progress, we have a lot of efforts going towards AI and fighting against big tech and fighting against AI-powered surveillance, and fighting against the AI companies that are trying to kind of deregulate online laws that would govern their company. So we have a team that just does AI work, and we work to educate lawmakers, frankly, of like, "Hey, there are important things happening that you need to pay attention. There's AI that's breaking its boundaries right now."
If you live in or near the Seattle area, my next book tour stop is taking place at Seattle Town Hall on Monday September 28. Click here to RSVP!
