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Wednesday, October 25, 2006

A HERO SPEAKS

The following was written by Kevin Tillman, who joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002. Pat, who gave up a career in the NFL, was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan in 2004. Cowards like Brutelogic, jay_156, and Vic Ferrari (among many other Paltalk chickenhawks) aren't fit to carry the boots of men like Kevin and Pat Tillman:

It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.

Much has happened since we handed over our voice:

Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.

Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the military.

Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle 50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the seat.

Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.

Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.

Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.

Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.

Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.

Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.

Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.

Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.

Somehow torture is tolerated.

Somehow lying is tolerated.

Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.

Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.

Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.

Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.

Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.

Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.

Somehow this is tolerated.

Somehow nobody is accountable for this.

In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.

Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.

I'd like to be able to say that being a soldier, and the brother of a soldier is enough to prevent cowardly conservatives from smearing you and impugning your motives. I really would like to be able to say that, but we know better.


JC

9 comments:

IsabellaSays said...

you know he's not the ONLY soldier feeling that way too
sad sad sad... bush is dissapproved of everywhere
thats increasingly obvious

Michelle said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Michelle said...

Very powerful words. Hopefully, even after the election, people will listen to these soldiers that have sacrificed so much for lies and greed of the Bush administration.

Anonymous said...

Hey Claus why didn't you respond to your earlier post? That post has the most comments on your entire blog!!! Why are you avoiding the question that was put forth to you?

Did you, or did you not design your nicname to demean a religion?

Anonymous said...

Anonymous- shut the fuck up

Anonymous said...

Anonymous not the place for that comment. This is about a soldier. Not your religion!

MysticSeaMaiden said...

Bravo Anonymous, the other one that just couldn't resist being an ass, needs to stfu!!!!!

This post was of a soldier, someone's child and more. Someone who's brother thought so much of being an American he gave up a very profitable career and trusted the America government and it's citizens to NOT put him harm way for no reason other than profit.

Enough is enough, it is time to quit the BS and see what is truly going on, time to do our jobs as American Citizens and defend our troops from being used!!!

JC, this has to be one of your most moving threads, thank you.

Michelle said...

http://www.tucsoncitizen.com/daily/frontpage/30126.php

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20061106/tillman

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2633793

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/cardinals/articles/1020tillman-ON-CP.html

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/football/nfl/10/21/kevin.tillman.ap/?eref=rss_topstories

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061023/ap_on_re_us/tillman_brother

And... your all time favorite...

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2006Oct23/0,4670,TillmanBrother,00.html

Enough proof?
Ahh, it will never be enough for some.

AnonymousPoster said...

Please, shhh... cut... shh.. quiet now.
Excuse me, I was trying to quiet the violin section.

I have sympathy for Tillman having lost his brother, but again, I have to call you democrat liberals the biggest hypocrits on earth. I repeat, you dumbass democrat liberals are hypocrits! You cry because you think Rush Limbaugh holds such power that Republicans look at him with zombie eyes and believe every bit of crap the spews from his lips. Now, you get one man who has an opinion and you have nominated him for God. Look at the things he has said. He cannot be held accountable for a single fact because its all his opinion only. Its a fluff piece.

Im sorry his brother was killed, but so many other soldiers have been killed too. Do their voices not count. Oh wait, they probably dont agree with you. This piece reeks of liberal mantra!

Ok, you can start the violins again, if you must.

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