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5/06/2004
Another Pat Tillman column
I swore I wasn't going to write about this. Really, I did. I mean, c'mon. NFL player passes up $3.6 million contract to fight in Iraq. American hero, blah blah blah. But something about the tone of the discussion changed over the past week, and I can't restrain myself any longer.
First, the obligatory lefty denunciation of the Passion of St. Pat. Can we please stop acting as if every American soldier who dies in Iraq automatically becomes a hero worthy of idolatry? And can we please stop talking about Tillman as if he was somehow more worthy of our veneration just because he passed up more money than most of us will ever see to fight in this war? Forgive me if I perceive something unseemly about a country founded on equality making one guy - one among hundreds of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq - the poster boy for whatever the administration says we're trying to do this week. Tillman didn't want that. His family doesn't want that. By fussing endlessly over Tillman's death, we not only disregard his own desire to be treated like any other soldier; we also denigrate the sacrifices of others who, rightly or wrongly, made this war their own.
A week ago, I could have left it at that. Then, along came Ted Rall's tasteless scribblings , and the, umm, intemperate blatherings of a UMass graduate student named Rene Gonzalez. A small sample: "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."
Now, regardless of whether you supported the war in Iraq - full disclosure: I didn't - that kind of talk is poison. No, silly, it doesn't "help the terrorists." But let's consider. Can we possibly justify tying a man's honor to the back of a rhetorical truck and dragging it through the streets? Pat Tillman made a principled decision on the basis of his own firmly held beliefs to put himself in harm's way. I happen to think it was an unwise choice. Bush lied us into this war, he's still lying, and he'll lie some more if he think's it'll help his agenda. So if Tillman's judgment was flawed, the blame lies with the administration. I suspect Tillman wouldn't see it that way, but that's probably why I'm not chasing insurgents around Falluja right now.
The point is that Pat Tillman doesn't deserve this posthumous mugging any more than he deserves a statue on the Mall. He bought the ticket to Iraq knowing he could be killed, and he gave up a lot to make that commitment. So did many others who now lie silent in anonymous flag-draped caskets. This is precisely why we need to stop treating him like a political, ahem, football. Even if you disagree with his basic value judgment, his sacrifice commands respect. He at least deserves credit for trying to do the right thing, even if you think that thing was wrong.
First, the obligatory lefty denunciation of the Passion of St. Pat. Can we please stop acting as if every American soldier who dies in Iraq automatically becomes a hero worthy of idolatry? And can we please stop talking about Tillman as if he was somehow more worthy of our veneration just because he passed up more money than most of us will ever see to fight in this war? Forgive me if I perceive something unseemly about a country founded on equality making one guy - one among hundreds of U.S. soldiers killed in Iraq - the poster boy for whatever the administration says we're trying to do this week. Tillman didn't want that. His family doesn't want that. By fussing endlessly over Tillman's death, we not only disregard his own desire to be treated like any other soldier; we also denigrate the sacrifices of others who, rightly or wrongly, made this war their own.
A week ago, I could have left it at that. Then, along came Ted Rall's tasteless scribblings , and the, umm, intemperate blatherings of a UMass graduate student named Rene Gonzalez. A small sample: "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."
Now, regardless of whether you supported the war in Iraq - full disclosure: I didn't - that kind of talk is poison. No, silly, it doesn't "help the terrorists." But let's consider. Can we possibly justify tying a man's honor to the back of a rhetorical truck and dragging it through the streets? Pat Tillman made a principled decision on the basis of his own firmly held beliefs to put himself in harm's way. I happen to think it was an unwise choice. Bush lied us into this war, he's still lying, and he'll lie some more if he think's it'll help his agenda. So if Tillman's judgment was flawed, the blame lies with the administration. I suspect Tillman wouldn't see it that way, but that's probably why I'm not chasing insurgents around Falluja right now.
The point is that Pat Tillman doesn't deserve this posthumous mugging any more than he deserves a statue on the Mall. He bought the ticket to Iraq knowing he could be killed, and he gave up a lot to make that commitment. So did many others who now lie silent in anonymous flag-draped caskets. This is precisely why we need to stop treating him like a political, ahem, football. Even if you disagree with his basic value judgment, his sacrifice commands respect. He at least deserves credit for trying to do the right thing, even if you think that thing was wrong.
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by Chris @ 7:51 AM