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#1
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Pat Tillman got what he deserved! (good article)
LawsonE wrote:
"Bill Levinson" wrote in message I can't access this page but this Gonzalez turd is obviously subhuman filth. Tillman gave up a very lucrative football career to serve his country and he is a hero. He's an idiot who has since apologized for the article. The irony is that not every point in the article was incorrect, at least in my view. It was presented in the worst possible way however, and any valid points the author might have made were squandered so he could have an enjoyable rant. Yep. looks like my fair University is in the national news again displaying its liberality run amok. The guy is 25 years old, getting his PhD in political science. You'd think he would know better by that age, but I guess it just shows being "educated" is a quality of high variability of effectiveness. Of course the school's last foray into the national spotlight was the day before 9/11 when a couple professors declared how they were offended by the VFW display of flags around the town common (bad timing on their part). You know the American flag is synonymous with oppression, racism and sexism. And of course a few years earlier, the big brouhaha over the school's mascot, "the Minuteman". The Minuteman also is synonymous with violence, the use of guns, white dominance and sexism, and really has no place as a University mascot. The Minuteman replaced the previous racist school mascot, "The Redmen" even though no one was doing a "tomahawk chop" back in the 70's. This will all soon be forgotten as tonight is the "Hobart Hodown" on Hobart Lane, where 3-5 thousand students will party, get drunk, then start setting cars and buildings on fire while pelting the police and fire response with their empties! It's all part of the educational experience. SMH |
#2
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The guy is 25 years old, getting his PhD in political science. And is employed by the university administration. (Minority affairs office, I believe.) Interestingly, the Collegian website is down. Because of the heavy traffic, the editor claims. But I tried it at 5 a.m. eastern time, when not many collegians can be expected to be computing. Does anyone have a link to a site where the entire text is quoted? I've found two paragraphs only, plus some out-of-context quotes. all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org |
#3
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"Cub Driver" wrote in message
... Does anyone have a link to a site where the entire text is quoted? I've found two paragraphs only, plus some out-of-context quotes. Here is what my brother and sister-in-law sent to me. They are both Marines, my brother being an IP at VMFAT-101. ------------------------------------------------- Pat Tillman is not a hero: He got what was coming to him By Rene Gonzalez April 28, 2004 When the death of Pat Tillman occurred, I turned to my friend who was watching the news with me and said, "How much you want to bet they start talking about him as a 'hero' in about two hours?" Of course, my friend did not want to make that bet. He'd lose. In this self-critical incapable nation, nothing but a knee-jerk "He's a hero" response is to be expected. I've been mystified at the absolute nonsense of being in "awe" of Tillman's "sacrifice" that has been the American response. Mystified, but not surprised. True, it's not everyday that you forgo a $3.6 million contract for joining the military. And, not just the regular army, but the elite Army Rangers. You know he was a real Rambo, who wanted to be in the "real" thick of things. I could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures. Well, he got his wish. Even Rambo got shot in the third movie, but in real life, you die as a result of being shot. They should call Pat Tillman's army life "Rambo 4: Rambo Attempts to Strike Back at His Former Rambo 3 Taliban Friends, and Gets Killed." But, does that make him a hero? I guess it's a matter of perspective. For people in the United States, who seem to be unable to admit the stupidity of both the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, such a trade-off in life standards (if not expectancy) is nothing short of heroic. Obviously, the man must be made of "stronger stuff" to have had decided to "serve" his country rather than take from it. It's the old JFK exhortation to citizen service to the nation, and it seems to strike an emotional chord. So, it's understandable why Americans automatically knee-jerk into hero worship. However, in my neighborhood in Puerto Rico, Tillman would have been called a "pendejo," an idiot. Tillman, in the absurd belief that he was defending or serving his all-powerful country from a seventh-rate, Third World nation devastated by the previous conflicts it had endured, decided to give up a comfortable life to place himself in a combat situation that cost him his life. This was not "Ramon or Tyrone," who joined the military out of financial necessity, or to have a chance at education. This was a "G.I. Joe" guy who got what was coming to him. That was not heroism, it was prophetic idiocy. Tillman, probably acting out his nationalist-patriotic fantasies forged in years of exposure to Clint Eastwood and Rambo movies, decided to insert himself into a conflict he didn't need to insert himself into. It wasn't like he was defending the East coast from an invasion of a foreign power. THAT would have been heroic and laudable. What he did was make himself useful to a foreign invading army, and he paid for it. It's hard to say I have any sympathy for his death because I don't feel like his "service" was necessary. He wasn't defending me, nor was he defending the Afghani people. He was acting out his macho, patriotic crap and I guess someone with a bigger gun did him in. Perhaps it's the old, dreamy American thought process that forces them to put sports greats and "larger than life" sacrificial lambs on the pedestal of heroism, no matter what they've done. After all, the American nation has no other role to play but to be the cheerleaders of the home team; a sad role to have to play during conflicts that suffer from severe legitimacy and credibility problems. Matters are a little clearer for those living outside the American borders. Tillman got himself killed in a country other than his own without having been forced to go over to that country to kill its people. After all, whether we like them or not, the Taliban is more Afghani than we are. Their resistance is more legitimate than our invasion, regardless of the fact that our social values are probably more enlightened than theirs. For that, he shouldn't be hailed as a hero, he should be used as a poster boy for the dangerous consequences of too much "America is #1," frat boy, propaganda bull. It might just make a regular man irrationally drop $3.6 million to go fight in a conflict that was anything but "self-defense." The same could be said of the unusual belief of 50 percent of the American nation that thinks Saddam Hussein was behind Sept. 11. One must indeed stand in awe of the amazing success of the American propaganda machine. It works wonders. Al-Qaeda won't be defeated in Afghanistan, even if we did kill all their operatives there. Only through careful and logical changing of the underlying conditions that allow for the ideology to foster will Al-Qaeda be defeated. Ask the Israelis if 50 years of blunt force have eradicated the Palestinian resistance. For that reason, Tillman's service, along with that of thousands of American soldiers, has been wrongly utilized. He did die in vain, because in the years to come, we will realize the irrationality of the War on Terror and the American reaction to Sept. 11. The sad part is that we won't realize it before we send more people like Pat Tillman over to their deaths. Rene Gonzalez is a UMass graduate student. This is what I found on the UMass website..... Statement of UMass President Jack M. Wilson concerning Pat Tillman Thanks to Pat Tillman and the many other men and women who have fought and died for our freedom, Americans enjoy many rights, including the right to speak and write as they see fit. Because of that right, we can voice thoughtful, well-reasoned opinions, but the freedom of speech that we treasure also protects expressions that are odious, wrong-headed and vile. While I recognize Rene Gonzalez's right of free speech, I must also assert my right of free speech to criticize what he said. The comments of Rene Gonzalez in the April 28 Daily Collegian are a disgusting, arrogant and intellectually immature attack on a human being who died in service to his country. We are fortunate that so many people like Pat Tillman have made the sacrifices necessary to protect the free speech rights of Mr. Gonzalez, myself and our fellow citizens. It is Mr. Gonzalez's right to be wrong, as he is in this case. It is a right that Pat Tillman and many others have fought to defend. Mr. Gonzalez owes Pat Tillman a debt of gratitude and an apology to the Tillman family and friends. ------------------------------- Tight Lines! Brian D. Nelson Diamond N Outfitters, Missoula, Montana www.diamondnoutfitters.com |
#4
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Okay, the Collegian website is working now: http://media.dailycollegian.com/page...bandwidth.html all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org |
#5
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I have reposted Mr. Gonzalez's op-ed, in case the Collegian website goes down again: http://www.vivabush.org/umass.htm This is my overtly partisan site I'll post it to the Warbird's Forum later. all the best -- Dan Ford email: (put Cubdriver in subject line) The Warbird's Forum www.warbirdforum.com The Piper Cub Forum www.pipercubforum.com Viva Bush! blog www.vivabush.org |
#6
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In article ,
Cub Driver wrote: I have reposted Mr. Gonzalez's op-ed, in case the Collegian website goes down again: http://www.vivabush.org/umass.htm This is my overtly partisan site Indeed and its no small irony that on a pro-Bush site, you prominently display the kind of photo the Bush admin has tried to keep us from seeing (flag-draped coffins). Here's another photo of Bush for you to put on your site: http://photomatt.net/archives/2004/04/07/mosaic/ --Mike |
#7
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Ex-Football Star Killed in Afghanistan - Official
Fri, Apr 23, 2004 "Writing in the San Francisco Chronicle Gwen Knapp reports Richard Tillman, Pat's brother, taking offense at remarks that Pat Tillman was now with God: 'Pat isn't with God. He's ****ing dead. He wasn't religious. So thank you for your thoughts, but he's ****ing dead.' " "Lisa Olson, in an article in the 4 May 2004 New York Daily News, writes about the comments of Richard Tillman, 'At one point, Richard burst forth with a stream-of-consciousness tribute, insisting Pat did not believe in religion, that he was not with God, that he was just dead. A war veteran standing not far from the stage bristled, while others cheered.'" Links to these stories are he http://www.humaniststudies.org/enews...135&lid=806#n1 |
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