The hero-worship in US media deserves every bit of Gonzales' contempt. Tillman, himself, however, wasn't part of that, so it's illogical to condemn him for it. He, like the overwhelming majority of Americans, desperately wanted to hit back at Al-Qaeda for what they did. Unlike the overwhelming majority, he thought he shouldn't just "let George do it." That's noble, although I don't think it fits the definition of heroic, by itself.
The problem, of course, is that since George *was* doing it, and given his record on anything he's touched, caution about actually mucking in would have been advised. Tillman apparently didn't think much of the war effort, even in Afghanistan, once he saw up close how it was run. However, once you've enlisted, you can't just say, "Sorry, changed my mind." You could, of course, become a conscientious objector and go to jail, but I can see where there might be some distance between having criticisms of how the war was run and objecting to the whole damn thing.
I don't have one good word for the Shrub, and I think American football is a stupid game. (It's the helmets and the pads. It's a *game*, folks. You can make any rules you want. If you don't want to be hurt, make the rules accordingly, instead of pretending you can take it, and then wearing strategically placed, manly pads because, actually, you can't. But I digress.) Even though I don't buy into any part of what Tillman was involved in, I find it sad that a person of integrity died for nothing. And I feel for his family, who've lost him and who were lied to about his death. |
