A UMass student wrote an opinion piece about former NFL star Pat Tillman’s death in Afghanistan in his school’s paper. Here’s a few choice nuggets:
Correct me if I’m wrong (and I’m sure someone will), but the reason Tillman’s death has been getting so much press is because he gave up a cushy job making millions in the NFL because he was profoundly distressed after 9/11 and wanted to do something. In my eyes, that’s highly respectable. And of course this kid is allowed to write anything he wants. I’m not trying to curtail his freedom of speech or anything.
To Rene Gonzalez (the author of the piece): Who the fuck are you to second guess Pat Tillman’s motives? Oh, I forgot. You “could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures”. He died in service to our country. You can call into question the reasons for the war he was fighting in if you want. That happens all the time. But I daresay that his motives were as pure as the undriven snow, and you sitting in your cozy little dorm room better at least show a little respect.
Sorry, I’m a little too pissed right now to write a coherant rant. Maybe I’ll come back later to add to it.
Proves what I have been saying for years…there is a generation growing up with no sense of, knowledge of, or feelings of honor. It is just a word to them, and a word they don’t know the meaning of.
Holy fucking shit. You know, if I was going to slop some bullshit like that out there, I’d want to really make sure I had my facts straight. I’d want to have a little bit more knowledge of the subject matter than having seen his face, and decided it was “beefy.” I would bet that Rene Gonzalez has no idea who Pat Tillman was; he probably heard somebody famous got killed and saw an opportunity to bump his gums about his personal biases.
I just got my Sports Illustrated today, and Tillman’s was the cover story (by Gary Smith, naturally- he’s a god-damned genius). The thing is, Tillman said all along that being a football player wasn’t doing any good for anyone. He said all along that if somebody was going to put their life on the line, it might as well be him. Even when he was playing football in college, he always felt kind of disgusted that he wasn’t doing more for society. It had nothing to do with being “macho,” other than that “macho” is the word cowards use to denigrate somebody who does something brave. Simply put, he enlisted because he knew somebody had to. Now he’s dead and some kid sitting on his ass in fucking Massachusetts is insulting him for it? I hope Rene Gonzalez “gets what’s coming to” him. Speaking of which, I love that the university president said the article was “disgusting, arrogant and intellectually immature.” Fuck you, kid.
Plus, what the fuck? He’s in Afghanistan hunting down the organization that blew up the World Trade Center, and he’s not defending ol’ Rene? Is there a definition of defend that doesn’t involve getting the people who keep trying to kill you?
I seriously doubt the kid who wrote this tripe really believes what he or she’s writing. In fact, I doubt they really thought about it much at all. What you’ve got is someone who is looking to stir up trouble just for the sake of stirring up trouble; because it looks “cool” to bring down someone “big”. Around here, we’d call that person a troll. At UMass, hey, it’s free speech! You know what I say? Find, print your diatribe. Opinions are like assholes, etc.
Don’t underestimate the ignorance of the writer. There were more than a few people opposed to our invasion of Afghanistan. More than a few. One of our more prolific posters here (a staunch defender of the liberal cause) has stated his opposition to that war many times. Not that I’m saying he would agree with R.G. about Tillman, but it is certainly not a given in these parts that fighting in Afghanistan = defending Americans.
Sure brought plenty of attention to his paper. :rolleyes: How much per issue? All publicity is good publicity, and all that.
Not having read the article itself (“This site is experiencing high traffic. Please try back later today”), I’ll reserve judgement. Primary indications are not favorable, however.
Nor should we underestimate the greasy opportunism of the GOP, who is abundantly more than ready to exploit some dumb, angry essay by some dumb, angry kid named Gonzalez.
The day is not yet over and it’s already making the rounds among the right-wing talking heads: UMass equals Massachusetts equals John Kerry equals John Kerry thinks Tillman got what was coming to him.
I have been/still am against that war…but I have nothing but the highest respect for the people that have been sent over there. The fact is Tillman gave up a job where he was making millions of dollars to play a game…he gave that up because he wanted to make a difference. Whether or not I agree with his reasons for going over there, I admire him for doing it.
It is very easy to talk shit from the comfort of your dorm room. I am willing to bet he did this just to get his name in the news.
Anyone who takes note of the fact that some right-wing talking heads are exploiting some insignificant rant in some insignificant “newspaper” is a hairy, troop-hating welfare case … excellent regurgitation skills! pat pat