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Wednesday, June 03, 2020 

Rick Remender doesn't want Trump supporters to buy his work

The comics writer Remender posted a few anti-Trump tweets of recent, and while Bounding Into Comics brought them up, he apparently erased them soon after. But anyway, here's what he said on May 30:
If you still support this president it’s okay if you unfollow me and stop supporting my work. I’d prefer it.
So lose money at a time when the Coronavirus is putting so many people on the unemployment line, oh well. The following item he wrote is much more vile, though:
I’m so fucking done with having people threaten my career if I express an opinion. Take your money and shove it up your ass.
And I'm tired of creators resorting to repellent profanity to make their point. Either you want an audience or you don't for your books. Authors who can't avoid being politically contentious aren't fit to work in the field. Remender soon met with disagreement over his statements, and as noted, he later erased them. He could've avoided spouting off politically charged idiocy, and didn't. Alas, this is unlikely to serve as a lesson why it's better for authors to keep quiet about their politics.

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BTW, apparently the situation at DC Comics and Marvel's getting to be even worse than before, since they, or at least some of their artists, are now openly siding with Antifa (aka the guys doing the rioting):

https://www.oneangrygamer.net/2020/06/marvel-dc-pros-openly-support-antifa-while-trump-preps-to-label-them-domestic-terrorists/110363/

In other words, they're literally committing treason especially after Donald Trump had just labeled them as a terrorist organization to be cracked down upon.

I'll be writing a post soon with the information. Thanks.

"Antifa (aka the guys doing the rioting):"

But then again, maybe not:

https://elkodaily.com/news/state-and-regional/prosecutors-3-men-plotted-to-terrorize-vegas-protests/article_c6c35915-f136-524c-96f3-afaef93f041f.html

Antifa, sort of a less militant and more amorphous American version of the British 43 Group that Vidal Sassoon used to belong to, has not been labeled a terrorist group, and given the laws about what can be labeled a terrorist group, probably never will be. So the artists are literally not committing treason. Not even metaphorically committing treason.

Actually, Antifa HAS in fact been listed as a terrorist group by Donald Trump, by a couple of days prior in fact:

*https://humanevents.com/2019/06/30/antifa-terror-faction/

*https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1267129644228247552

*https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1267133841308880900

I suggest you find better sources.

You're missing the point. Trump can tweet about antifa and call them terrorists all he likes, just like we can. People can call Trump a terrorist. It is still a free country. But governments don't pass laws on twitter. Having them formally declared a terrorist group is a legal process governed by legislation. That has not happened and probably will not happen, since they don't qualify for it under the law.

Even IF Donald Trump can't actually declare it via Twitter, I think the fact that Bill Barr is using Title X of the Civil Rights Act to issue a manhunt on Antifa is definitely more than enough to label them as an official terrorist group at this point.

Maybe it would be enough to label them as an unofficial terrorist group at some point?

Problem is, Title X does not authorize anyone to issue a manhunt. It sets up a conciliation service, and absolutely forbids anyone in the service who takes part in a conciliation from participating in any kind of manhunt related to any case they work on under Title X. If they took part in a manhunt, they would be committing a federal offence and possibly subject to a one year jail sentence! If you don't believe, the text is below.

In other words, Barr can no more issue a manhunt under Title X than Trump can declare a terrorist group on Twitter.

Leaving aside the problem, how do you issue a manhunt on an association of people? With no formal membership. It would be like issuing a manhunt on Comicsgate. Or on the City of Plattsburgh.

Here is Title X, in all its legalese:

TITLE X--ESTABLISHMENT OF COMMUNITY RELATIONS SERVICE
SEC. 1001. (a) There is hereby established in and as a part of the Department of Commerce a Community Relations Service (hereinafter referred to as the "Service"), which shall be headed by a Director who shall be appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate for a term of four years. The Director is authorized to appoint, subject to the civil service laws and regulations, such other personnel as may be necessary to enable the Service to carry out its functions and duties, and to fix their compensation in accordance with the Classification Act of 1949, as amended. The Director is further authorized to procure services as authorized by section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (60 Stat. 810; 5 U.S.C. 55(a)), but at rates for individuals not in excess of $75 per diem.

(b) Section 106(a) of the Federal Executive Pay Act of 1956, as amended (5 U.S.C. 2205(a)), is further amended by adding the following clause thereto:

"(52) Director, Community Relations Service."

SEC. 1002. It shall be the function of the Service to provide assistance to communities and persons therein in resolving disputes, disagreements, or difficulties relating to discriminatory practices based on race, color, or national origin which impair the rights of persons in such communities under the Constitution or laws of the United States or which affect or may affect interstate commerce. The Service may offer its services in cases of such disputes, disagreements, or difficulties whenever, in its judgment, peaceful relations among the citizens of the community involved are threatened thereby, and it may offer its services either upon its own motion or upon the request of an appropriate State or local official or other interested person.

SEC. 1003. (a) The Service shall, whenever possible, in performing its functions, seek and utilize the cooperation of appropriate State or local, public, or private agencies.

(b) The activities of all officers and employees of the Service in providing conciliation assistance shall be conducted in confidence and without publicity, and the Service shall hold confidential any information acquired in the regular performance of its duties upon the understanding that it would be so held. No officer or employee of the Service shall engage in the performance of investigative or prosecuting functions of any department or agency in any litigation arising out of a dispute in which he acted on behalf of the Service. Any officer or other employee of the Service, who shall make public in any manner whatever any information in violation of this subsection, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall be fined not more than $1,000 or imprisoned not more than one year.

SEC. 1004. Subject to the provisions of sections 205 and 1003(b), the Director shall, on or before January 31 of each year, submit to the Congress a report of the activities of the Service during the preceding fiscal year.

So why the heck did Jack Posobiec and AG Barr announced they're taking down Antifa via Title X, also known as the Anti-RIOT Act? By your definition, Barr violated federal law, and would come across as completely stupid for him to blatantly announce.

The anti riot act allows the Feds to persecute people who cross state lines to incite a riot, to give the gist of it. It has nothing to do with organizations, only crimes of individuals, and it does not apply to anyone, Whether pro- or anti-fascist, acting within their own home state. It doe not allow for a manhunt against an organization, and it does not make any organization terrorist.

The US has had at least 7 civil rights acts. The title X in the previous post was from the 1964 one, Barr was referring to title X of the 1968 one. Neither allows anyone to declare an organization terrorist, and no legislation allows the government to declare a domestic group terrorist. Let alone something like antifa, which is not an organization, and is a label attached to anarchists who don't believe in organizations.

"Barr violated federal law, and would come across as completely stupid for him to blatantly announce."

No comment.

"Alas, this is unlikely to serve as a lesson why it's better for authors to keep quiet about their politics."

Dunno - some of the best authors of the old classic comics were outspoken about their politics. the editorial cartoonists, obviously - the Herblocks and Bill Mauldins to mention the classics. Comic strippers - Harold Grey was a heavy-handed old-fashioned conservative, and then there was Al Capp, Garry Trudeau, Walt Kelly. In the comic books, Martin Goodman and Stan Lee took strong stands about Hitler at a time when conservatives wanted to be neutral about the war in Europe; Bill Gaines and his crew at EC and Mad magazine wrote about social justice issues, as did Stan Lee in the books he edited in the 1950s and 1960s; they didn't pimp for particular politicians, but they took moral stands on divisive topics. Chuck Dixon has certainly never kept quiet about his politics; his stories for mass-distribution publishers often have a political slant, and his other work, like Clinton Cash, is very polemical. Escapist fiction can have a moral point of view and something to say; it doesn't have to be dumbed down and bland.

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About me

  • I'm Avi Green
  • From Jerusalem, Israel
  • I was born in Pennsylvania in 1974, and moved to Israel in 1983. I also enjoyed reading a lot of comics when I was young, the first being Fantastic Four. I maintain a strong belief in the public's right to knowledge and accuracy in facts. I like to think of myself as a conservative-style version of Clark Kent. I don't expect to be perfect at the job, but I do my best.
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