The Right blogosphere is as full of itself over in a casualty in Iraq as it has been since the reign of false claims about Pfc. Jessica Lynch. You recall that we were supposed to believe she went down fighting, and, was raped and tortured by Iraqis afterward. I was among the first bloggers to express doubt about that made for television version of events. The truth turned out to be that Lynch never fired a shot. The Iraqis who were accused of abusing her actually saved her life. One might believe people would learn something about the difference between fantasy and reality from watching the myth of Jessica Lynch disintegrate. Instead, we are privy to another round of myth making.
The new All American Hero is Pat Tillman, a white, middle-class former football player who is beng being embraced right and left by conservatives. (Well, not Left.) Tillman's 'heroic' act is being the only American casualty in a firefight in Afghanistan. An article that purports to give the details says his platoon pursued mujahedeen who ambushed them in rugged terrain.
[Lt. Col. Matthew] Beevers also gave a few more details about the firefight that cost the 27 year-old Tillman his life.He said it occurred at 7:30 p.m. Thursday on a road near the village of Sperah, about 25 miles southwest of a U.S. base at Khost. After coming under fire, Tillman's patrol got out of their vehicles and pursued the attackers, then were ambushed. Beevers said the fighting was "sustained" and lasted 15-20 minutes.
He said Tillman was killed by enemy fire, but he had no information about what type of weapons were involved or whether Tillman died immediately.
Though the word 'heroic' should be saved for people who make a sacrifices for others, it is often misused. I will reserve it for soldiers who attempt to help or save comrades or civilians. A soldier who pursues his adversaries is just doing his job. Tillman is a soldier who died in the poorly conceived war on terror. I don't see any reason to elevate him over other people who have suffered the same fate.
My interest in the Tillman story is largely in regard to what lurks beneath the surface. Tillman is being hailed partly for reasons of class and race. But, in a volunteer military, both his class and his race fail to carry their weight. People like Tillman, who have prospects in civilian society, largely eschew military service. Those who do not have better options, the poor and working-class, especially minorities, settle for the only jobs they can get. That has resulted in a military skewed toward a disproportionate share of America's least appreciated citizens. The Army has consisted of from 24 percent to 29 percent African-Americans over a twenty-year period. More than half of women in the Army are nonwhite. Hispanics are also disproportionately represented. The data from other branches reflect disproportions, as well. Nonwhites tend to be enlisted and relegated to low level jobs. Projections for coming years say the imbalance will continue unless there is government intervention. More legislators are questioning an unfair status quo.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - KBeilke
People still complain about the disproportiate number of lower-class and minorities that were in Vietnam. They were there because of a draft. Why would a draft supposedly "equal" it out this time when it didn't before? I don't get the logic.
Secondly, it is a volunteer military, nobody forced anyone to join. The reason some minorities join is to better their life through the training and pay of the military. They have to weigh those benefits with the prospect of giving their lives and make a decision. Freedom of choice makes things equal, no matter the statistics or anything else.
2 - Tom Johnson
Pat Tillman is being hailed as a hero not only because he lost his life but because he also volunteered for duty in Afghanistan, giving up a lucrative career in football to do so.
And, to me, any military personnel who lose their lives in battle are heroes. Dying for any "job" is above and beyond the call of duty. They may have voluntarily signed up for the military, but losing their lives for their country automatically qualifies them as heroes.
3 - NWinn
I was rather surprised by the attention paid to this poor fellow, as it seemed disproportionate to . . .
Ah! It's because he chose to risk his life for Country instead of Money.
Quentin Tarantino, in the liner notes to the Johnny Cash compilation "Murder", called America "a country that thinks it's divided along racial lines when it's really divided along economic lines . . ."
Of course, QT is both rich and white, so who knows?
4 - Tom Johnson
Nah, it's because he was an athlete. Anyone else would be a nameless victim. THAT is what should be taken issue with.
5 - Mac Diva
Well, Tom Johnson, you can write a blog entry saying that. But, be prepared to be lambasted by your fellows on the Right if you do. One is supposed to lead cheerleading for Pat Tillman or else. I wrote about the class and race issue because it is so obvious if you pay attention to how society operates. Besides, I'm not a football fan.
Another aspect of this situation is it is not isolated. Coming so soon after the Pfc.Jessica Lynch fiasco, it is fairly easy to tell something is awry. White, middle-class Americans want heroes that fit a certain mold, so they create them. Tillman did nothing more than Watersbey did, yet people will never hear of Watersbey because he is the 'wrong' class and color. And, as Tom points out, was not a football player.
K needs to reread what I said about 'volunteering.' Studies show minorities and working class whites go into the service becauese they are unable to get work in the civilian workplace. They are 'volunteering' in the same sense that both beggars and billionaires can 'volunteer' to sleep under bridges. One group has a choice, the other doesn't. Middle-class white guys go into the military for a fling at fun and adventure. They know they have beter options in the civilian marketplace. The corrective is to end discrimination in the civilian workforce, not to detail the working-class and minority to the low-paying, dead end jobs in the military.
An interesting aspect of K's argument is that it is also a good one for slavery. Back then African-Americans were fully employed.
The new draft, which will not occur until we get rid of Shrub, would need controls to make sure proportionality does occur. The similarity between the old, segregated military and the current integrated one in assigning minorites to low tier jobs with little or no transferability to the civilian life needs to be corrected, too.
6 - bhw
If the draft is reinstated -- and I hope it isn't -- the military will have to get rid of all the exclusions and deferments that benefited the middle and upper-class in the past. Example: college. Why should someone who has the means to go to school full-time be exempt from the draft when someone who can't afford to be a full-time student has to go serve?
I also think women should have to register next time around, too.
Easy for me to say, I suppose, since I'm too old to be drafted and my kids are way too young ....
7 - RJ Elliott
College students are exempted for solid economimc reasons. Do I really have to explain them?
8 - bhw
Yes, you do. Because that same policy exempts the wealthier draft-agees from something the poorer draft-agees can't easily escape.
The draft should apply to everyone equally and no exemptions should be made [except if you're physically incapable of handling battle]. Otherwise, poorer Americans end up fighting our wars so that wealthier ones can skip out. And that affects the racial make-up of the armed forces, as well.
9 - Mac Diva
bhw, the new bill, which as you see above, some Republican legislators are supporting, does not provide college exemptions. A person becomes eligible when a quarter or semester ends or when he or she graduates if a senior. The last link in my entry, at 'reinstating,' looks at the bill by applying it to a college. More than half of the students would become eligible for military service.
I believe that young reactionaries should be on the front lines of military service. Not only do they benefit from the inequities of society as mainly white, male and middle-class, they are the loudest cheerleaders when it comes to warmongering. Let the RJ Elliotts and Tom Mapps of the America put their bodies where their mouths are -- in Iraq or wherever bloodletting is occurring. Why should the little boy in that picture become fatherless while they sit on their behinds screaming support for an unjust war? Their hypocrisy is such they will never enlist on their own. A draft will do it for them.
10 - Lono
I think it is unfair to classify this is an over-exposed "jessica lynch" story. Dude did more than any of us. Our intellectualism is swell and all, but unless every one of us vote is doesn't mean crap.
Also, regardless of whether he is getting unfair attention... he served. Clinton, Quayle, Bush... none of these guys served because of priveledge. I also respect John Kerry for speaking out against Vietnam because he DID serve... so you know he wasn't just talking out of his ass. I admit I have zero intention of joining to service to fight's Bush's follies around the world, but I respect those who give their lives for us. Even if it is a bullshit war.
Thanks,
Lono
11 - Mac Diva
Thank you for expanding on your views in regard to the situation, Lono.
12 - Rob
[Admin: Comment deleted]
13 - Nick Jones
Amusing, but neither coherent, witty or note-worthy. I give it a 2.
14 - Mac Diva
Let's be generous, Nick. Rob almost spelled 'rubbish' correctly. We will make it a 2.5.
15 - Rob
Sorry I don't police my writing on something like this. I'm doing three things at once.
Is that all you have?
16 - Rob
Mac Diva's character and Phillip Winn share a lot of cyber-space. After reading numerous (more than 75) entries from Phillip and Mac Diva it's quiet clear that Phillip has too much time on his hands.
We have a few people writing for specific characters communicating in a third and fourth person.
Oh yeah Phillip. Did you know that there is a person named Phillip Winn listed on many search engines as CONVICTED FELON???
Not very flattering wouldn't you say. I think I'd change my name to something else.
17 - boomcrashbaby
You have no right to speak for blacks until you can prove that you are in fact black.
Can you elaborate on this? It sounds utterly ridiculous.
So no one should have spoken out against the treatment of Jews during WW2 if they weren't Jewish? So people can't speak out on hate crimes unless they were a victim of a hate crime themself? People can't speak out against racial profiling unless they've been pulled over by Deputy Skeeter? Makes no sense.
18 - Mac Diva
How's it going, Roger Ely? I knew who it was when I saw the address 'spy.net.' Remembered it from your pathetic efforts to sell me your 'services.' Part of your delusion that you are James Bond, eh?
In regard to your previous comment, no. You also botched 'shut' and your sentence structure stinks.
In regard to Phillip Winn, who I will write no brief for, I will say you are slandering him if he in fact has not a felon, which is most likely. You really have crossed the line.
19 - Phillip Winn
Whether Rob is really Roger Ely or not (the inconclusive evidence suggests that he is), his comments were completely out of line. I would remove them, except that some of them are directed at me, and I don't hide criticism of myself, no matter how bizarre. I did delete one that was directed at someone other than me.
Regardless of his real identity (and again, he hails from a Sprint dialup link in Tennessee, just as Roger Ely did, but that could be a coincidence), "Rob" has been banned from posting comments here.
If it is indeed Roger, again, then I suspect he will keep turning up like a bad penny and wasting my time blocking him. I apologize to everyone in advance for his immature behavior.
P.S. MD is correct, I am (AFAIK) unrelated to the "Phillip D. Winn" that is a pardoned convicted felon and turns up in the first page of a Google search for my name, and I have never been convicted of a felony of any sort. My life is an open (but boring) book; even my home address is available on the net if you look hard enough, though the phone number is an old one.
20 - Roger
Phillip,
Sprint? Tennessee? Sprint a possibility but I am far from Tennessee.
As for Rob he is on the same network. And affiliated with law enforcement.
Remember the e-mail where I told you that I tracked the origin of one of your posters (members)?
There's software out there that Web Root, Spy-Ware Killer and the rest can't sniff out. You know the kind used to trace the commings and goings of child porn, and child molesters.
21 - Roger
You are not as smart as you think Phillip.
As for you Mac Diva I was only pulling your chain. Sell YOU my services? What a joke.
Since the first few e-mails with viruses attached to them had Phillips name on them, this web site became fair game.
I guess it is just chance that my name wolud also be forged with an attached virus and unsuccessfully sent to a German receipient.
Jews don't like Germans very well do they?
22 - boomcrashbaby
I guess it is just chance that my name wolud also be forged with an attached virus and unsuccessfully sent to a German receipient.
No, it wouldn't be by chance. Anybody with any knowledge of computers beyond that of playing Pong would know that a virus is called a virus because it replicates itself and sends itself out from your address book, which would list it as from you.
It is also common for spammers and virus's to send emails out with bogus 'from' addresses. People get spam from administrator@ourdomainhere.com all the time and complain to us, but the emails did not come from our server and there is no administrator email account. It's called a virus for a reason.
23 - Roger
Idiot! I know a lot more than you would ever imagine. People like myself just like to act dumb and get reactions out of stupid monitor gazing geeks like you, mac and Phillip. The same way law enforcement fucks with people to shake them up.
As far as MacIdiot, there are more than enough people out there who thinks that you are some kind of screwed up fruit cake. Since Phillip takes all of this my stuff off of here, I am going to send all of the e-mails that Mac Diva sent me to various people. Me trying to sell my services to Mac??? Lol, lol. Bitch. I'll put it on a web page as well.
It looks like I'm getting what I want.
Does the thought of being tracked make your skin crawl? Sorry that you have to pay for the sins of your associate that sent those viruses with your name on them, and they didn't even work!!!
24 - Roger
At least Phillip hasn't deleted my 293 comments on file.
25 - boomcrashbaby
People like myself just like to act dumb
So your intent here is to get revenge against someone you believe maliciously infected your computer with a virus? Geez, some of my email accounts get several dozen virus hits every single day.
If you are in law enforcement, you would turn over your proof of someone intentionally trying to infect your computer to the appropriate authorities, then act in a professional civil service manner and get the matter resolved.
Law enforcement might try to 'shake down' someone holding hostages, but this type of silliness is like someone trying to 'shake down' a jaywalker.