Rall Bashes 9/11 Victims To Spin A Conspiracy Theory

Just when you thought Ted Rall couldn’t get any more disgusting, he lies about the results of the 9/11 commission’s report, in an attempt to malign the passengers of Flight 93, so he can spin a conspiracy theory — and all of this is in one cartoon.

Here are the last two panels of the cartoon, which is about the new Flight 93 movie:

Rall’s claim that the 9/11 Commission said there was no revolt is rather bizarre, given that their detailed description of what happened on Flight 93 was widely published. Here’s an edited excerpt from the 9/11 commission’s report about Flight 93 that was published in The Guardian among other places:

The Battle for United 93

At 8.42, United Airlines Flight 93 took off from Newark (New Jersey) Liberty International Airport bound for San Francisco. Thirty-seven passengers, including the hijackers, boarded the plane.

…The hijackers attacked at 9.28. While travelling 35,000 feet above eastern Ohio, United 93 suddenly dropped 700 feet. Eleven seconds into the descent, the FAA’s air traffic control centre in Cleveland received the first of two radio transmissions from the aircraft. During the first broadcast, the captain or first officer could be heard declaring “Mayday” amid the sounds of a physical struggle in the cockpit.

At 9.32, a hijacker, probably Jarrah, made or attempted to make the following announcement to the passengers of Flight 93: “Ladies and Gentlemen: Here the captain, please sit down keep remaining sitting. We have a bomb on board. So, sit.”

Shortly thereafter, the passengers and flight crew began a series of calls from GTE airphones and cellular phones. These calls between family, friends, and colleagues took place until the end of the flight and provided those on the ground with firsthand accounts. They enabled the passengers to gain critical information, including the news that two aircraft had slammed into the World Trade Centre.

Five calls described the intent of passengers and surviving crew members to revolt against the hijackers. According to one call, they voted on whether to rush the terrorists in an attempt to retake the plane. They decided, and acted.

At 9.57, the passenger assault began. Several passengers had terminated phone calls with loved ones in order to join the revolt. One of the callers ended her message as follows: “Everyone’s running up to first class. I’ve got to go. Bye.”

In response, Jarrah immediately began to roll the airplane to the left and right, attempting to knock the passengers off balance. The recorder captured the sounds of loud thumps, crashes, shouts, and breaking glasses and plates.

At 10am, Jarrah stabilised the airplane. Five seconds later, Jarrah asked, “Is that it? Shall we finish it off?” A hijacker responded, “No.Not yet. When they all come, we finish it off.” The sounds of fighting continued outside the cockpit. Again, Jarrah pitched the nose of the aircraft up and down.

A passenger in the background said, “In the cockpit. If we don’t we’ll die!” Sixteen seconds later, a passenger yelled, “Roll it!”

The passengers continued their assault and at 10.02, a hijacker said, “Pull it down! Pull it down!”

The hijackers remained at the controls but must have judged that the passengers were only seconds from overcoming them. The airplane headed down; the control wheel was turned hard to the right. The airplane rolled onto its back, and one of the hijackers began shouting “Allah is the greatest. Allah is the greatest.”

With the sounds of the passenger counterattack continuing, the aircraft ploughed into an empty field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, at 580 miles per hour, about 20 minutes’ flying time from Washington, DC.

Jarrah’s objective was to crash his airliner into symbols of the American Republic, the Capitol or the White House. He was defeated by the alerted, unarmed passengers of United 93.

But according to Ted, that never happened, because it would spoil his neato conspiracy theory about the Bush administration having the plane shot down and lying about it. But, Ted Rall is just a fringe loon, right?

From his about page:

“His cartoons now appear in more than 140 publications, including the Philadelphia Daily News, Aspen Times, Hartford Advocate, Newark Star-Ledger, Los Angeles Times, Wilmington News-Journal, San Diego Reader, Village Voice, Harrisburg (PA) Patriot-News, Las Vegas Review Journal, Washington City Paper, Tucson Weekly, Sacramento News & Review, San Jose Mercury-News, Lexington Herald-Leader and New York Times.

…In 1996, he was one of three Finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. He was one of the New York Times’ most reprinted cartoonists in 1997, 1999 and 2001. He also did color strips for both Time Magazine and Fortune Magazine from 1998 to 2001. He was awarded the 1998 Deadline Club Award by the Society of Professional Journalists for his cartoons. Rall received first place in both the 1995 and 2000 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Awards for Cartoons. The award, founded in 1968, recognizes distinguished work on behalf of disadvantaged Americans.”

Oh yeah, poor Ted Rall: he’s been stuck working for fringe publications like the Los Angeles Times, the New York Times, Fortune, and Time. Yeah, he’s way out of the liberal mainstream, isn’t he?

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