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."
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.
"You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours."- General Sir Charles Napier
More leftist prattle from the educated idiot brigade. As soon as they start going on about the Taliban's legitimacy, I tune them out as being so far divorced from reality nothing they say is worth my time.
Any city gets what it admires, will pay for, and, ultimately, deserves…We want and deserve tin-can architecture in a tinhorn culture. And we will probably be judged not by the monuments we build but by those we have destroyed.--Ada Louise Huxtable, "Farewell to Penn Station", New York Times editorial, 30 October 1963 X-Ray Blues
You know, sometimes there are people who realy deserve to be punched in the head. Repeatedly.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Rogue 9 wrote:Lets invade Puerto Rico next. (Yes, I know it belongs to us. Who cares?)
no, lets cut off puerto rico! no mas dinero para ellos!
But that'd be less appropriate, given what we'd be doing it over. I say let the Army have a crack at him.
Sorry, we're talking an island here, send in the Corps.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Here is the counter point to the original article.
A good part;
Tillman died in a war that many people don't support. However, you don't have to support the war in order to support Tillman himself. Partisan politics is not the issue. The issue for Tillman was that by joining the Rangers, he could support this country better than he could by playing football.
Emphasis mine.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
Plugged this guy, Mr. Gonzalez, into google. If its the same guy, he's a African-American Music and Jazz Studies of the class of 01. He's also the president of AHORA on campus.
From http://www.umass.edu (meh, tried a direct link but kept getting an error. This just takes you to the main site and you can punch ing AHORA into the site search)
To unify the Latino community on campus and preserve the Latin American roots among latino students. Organized as perpetual organization for charitable, educational and cultural purposes to serve the students and communities with a Hispanic background, emphasizing the Western Massachusetts area.
Lets play some word subsitution, shall we;
To unify the White community on campus and preserve the White American roots among White students.
I'm starting to really not like this guy.
They say, "the tree of liberty must be watered with the blood of tyrants and patriots." I suppose it never occurred to them that they are the tyrants, not the patriots. Those weapons are not being used to fight some kind of tyranny; they are bringing them to an event where people are getting together to talk. -Mike Wong
But as far as board culture in general, I do think that young male overaggression is a contributing factor to the general atmosphere of hostility. It's not SOS and the Mess throwing hand grenades all over the forum- Red
A man goes and gives his life for what he believes in and this guy wants to mock him for it?
It has been the men and women of the armed forces who give this bastard the luxury of being able to decry the government and the armed forces themselves. You don't have to agree with the war, you don't have to agree with Bush, you don't even have to agree with the armed forces. You don't have because in the past people in uniform killed and died to make sure of that.
You don't have to like that fact. But you should have enough respect not to mock a man's death.
In a similar incident, some asshole from Indymedia referred to Tillman as a stupid jock in an article's title.
"Right now we can tell you a report was filed by the family of a 12 year old boy yesterday afternoon alleging Mr. Michael Jackson of criminal activity. A search warrant has been filed and that search is currently taking place. Mr. Jackson has not been charged with any crime. We cannot specifically address the content of the police report as it is confidential information at the present time, however, we can confirm that Mr. Jackson forced the boy to listen to the Howard Stern show and watch the movie Private Parts over and over again."
I thought the left was suppose to be all enlightened and unjudging? I guess that doesn't apply here because Tillmen dared do something against their political agenda.
Nice to see the rights that men like Tillman fight and die for being wasted so utterly. Support the war or not, trashing a man that turned down a safe, luxurious future to defend his country takes a really shitty person. Hell, it takes a really shitty person to trash any one that volunteered to defend their country.
I tell you it's sad to see shit heads like that wasting the freedoms so many good men and women have died protecting.
frigidmagi wrote:A man goes and gives his life for what he believes in and this guy wants to mock him for it?
It has been the men and women of the armed forces who give this bastard the luxury of being able to decry the government and the armed forces themselves. You don't have to agree with the war, you don't have to agree with Bush, you don't even have to agree with the armed forces. You don't have because in the past people in uniform killed and died to make sure of that.
You don't have to like that fact. But you should have enough respect not to mock a man's death.
You shouldn't mock anyone who died for a worthy cause be they soldiers or otherwise. It's just plain common sense.
Isn't there a proverb already saying 'common sense isn't' or something to that effect?
Needless to say, that artice was despicable.
'Next time I let Superman take charge, just hit me. Real hard.'
'You're a princess from a society of immortal warriors. I'm a rich kid with issues. Lots of issues.'
'No. No dating for the Batman. It might cut into your brooding time.'
'Tactically we have multiple objectives. So we need to split into teams.'-'Dibs on the Amazon!'
'Hey, we both have a Martian's phone number on our speed dial. I think I deserve the benefit of the doubt.'
'You know, for a guy with like 50 different kinds of vision, you sure are blind.'
"You know what the problem with Hollywood is. They make shit. Unbelievable. Unremarkable. Shit." - Gabriel Shear, Swordfish
"This statement, in its utterly clueless hubristic stupidity, cannot be improved upon. I merely quote it in admiration of its perfection." - Garibaldi in reply to an incredibly stupid post.
The Fifth Illuminatus Primus | Warsie | Skeptical Empiricist | Florida Gator | Sustainability Advocate | LibertarianSocialist |
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
Wow. I am stunned that this guy can't possibly imagine that people might join the military for patriotic reasons. Guess that's what happens when you lived in a secure, money-sucking colony for over a 100 years.
“It is possible to commit no mistakes and still lose. That is not a weakness. That is life.” -Jean-Luc Picard
"Men are afraid that women will laugh at them. Women are afraid that men will kill them." -Margaret Atwood
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
Wow. I am stunned that this guy can't possibly imagine that people might join the military for patriotic reasons. Guess that's what happens when you lived in a secure, money-sucking colony for over a 100 years.
I doubt he's lived there for a hundred years, given that he's likely only in his 20s.
