WHAT A PRICK! Protein Wisdom responds to Ted Rall's most odious cartoon to date.

UPDATE: James Treacher's talking clip-art weighs in.

Electrolite puts it succinctly: "What we see here is the long history of admirable efforts to defend artistic independence being twisted into a rationale for letting someone behave monstrously."

Bill Sherman, generally tolerant of Ralls' "hamfisted and loud" political voice, comes down hard: "This isn’t political commentary – it’s self-righteous thuggishness: the work of a man too blinkered by ideology to gauge the mean of rhetorical decency."

James Lileks sums it up neatly: "Rall’s cartoon was the equivalent of pissing on a grave to protest the high cost of tombstones."

Ted Rall explains that Danny Pearl's widow failed to live up to his expectations, and was thus fair game: "She kept appearing on television and it seemed pointless and tacky. ... If your husband is dead, don't you have more important things to do than go on television?"