Pat Tillman and rene Gonzalez (1051 hits)
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Submitted by Mothy Ham <hezikiahjones.at.yahoo.com> (View user info) at 2004-04-30 13:31:29 EDT
Hi Kids
I don't know if this has been posted yet but this Puerto Rican cockfinder at UMASS\Amherst wrote this a few days after Pat Tillman was killed in Afghanistan.
The author's phone number is at the bottom...CAll him and give him a piece of your mind...I did.
Mothy.
________________________________________________________________________________________________
Pat Tillman is not a hero: He got what was coming to him
By Rene Gonzalez
April 28, 2004
When the death of Pat Tillman occurred, I turned to my friend who was watching the news with me and said, "How much you want to bet they start talking about him as a 'hero' in about two hours?" Of course, my friend did not want to make that bet. He'd lose. In this self-critical incapable nation, nothing but a knee-jerk "He's a hero" response is to be expected.
I've been mystified at the absolute nonsense of being in "awe" of Tillman's "sacrifice" that has been the American response. Mystified, but not surprised. True, it's not everyday that you forgo a $3.6 million contract for joining the military. And, not just the regular army, but the elite Army Rangers. You know he was a real Rambo, who wanted to be in the "real" thick of things. I could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures. Well, he got his wish. Even Rambo got shot in the third movie, but in real life, you die as a result of being shot. They should call Pat Tillman's army life "Rambo 4: Rambo Attempts to Strike Back at His Former Rambo 3 Taliban Friends, and Gets Killed."
But, does that make him a hero? I guess it's a matter of perspective. For people in the United States, who seem to be unable to admit the stupidity of both the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, such a trade-off in life standards (if not expectancy) is nothing short of heroic. Obviously, the man must be made of "stronger stuff" to have had decided to "serve" his country rather than take from it. It's the old JFK exhortation to citizen service to the nation, and it seems to strike an emotional chord. So, it's understandable why Americans automatically knee-jerk into hero worship.
However, in my neighborhood in Puerto Rico, Tillman would have been called a "pendejo," an idiot. Tillman, in the absurd belief that he was defending or serving his all-powerful country from a seventh-rate, Third World nation devastated by the previous conflicts it had endured, decided to give up a comfortable life to place himself in a combat situation that cost him his life. This was not "Ramon or Tyrone," who joined the military out of financial necessity, or to have a chance at education. This was a "G.I. Joe" guy who got what was coming to him. That was not heroism, it was prophetic idiocy.
Tillman, probably acting out his nationalist-patriotic fantasies forged in years of exposure to Clint Eastwood and Rambo movies, decided to insert himself into a conflict he didn't need to insert himself into. It wasn't like he was defending the East coast from an invasion of a foreign power. THAT would have been heroic and laudable. What he did was make himself useful to a foreign invading army, and he paid for it. 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.
Perhaps it's the old, dreamy American thought process that forces them to put sports greats and "larger than life" sacrificial lambs on the pedestal of heroism, no matter what they've done. After all, the American nation has no other role to play but to be the cheerleaders of the home team; a sad role to have to play during conflicts that suffer from severe legitimacy and credibility problems.
Matters are a little clearer for those living outside the American borders. Tillman got himself killed in a country other than his own without having been forced to go over to that country to kill its people. After all, whether we like them or not, the Taliban is more Afghani than we are. Their resistance is more legitimate than our invasion, regardless of the fact that our social values are probably more enlightened than theirs. For that, he shouldn't be hailed as a hero, he should be used as a poster boy for the dangerous consequences of too much "America is #1," frat boy, propaganda bull. It might just make a regular man irrationally drop $3.6 million to go fight in a conflict that was anything but "self-defense." The same could be said of the unusual belief of 50 percent of the American nation that thinks Saddam Hussein was behind Sept. 11. One must indeed stand in awe of the amazing success of the American propaganda machine. It works wonders.
Al-Qaeda won't be defeated in Afghanistan, even if we did kill all their operatives there. Only through careful and logical changing of the underlying conditions that allow for the ideology to foster will Al-Qaeda be defeated. Ask the Israelis if 50 years of blunt force have eradicated the Palestinian resistance. For that reason, Tillman's service, along with that of thousands of American soldiers, has been wrongly utilized. He did die in vain, because in the years to come, we will realize the irrationality of the War on Terror and the American reaction to Sept. 11. The sad part is that we won't realize it before we send more people like Pat Tillman over to their deaths.
Rene Gonzalez is a UMass graduate student.
Rene L Gonzalez contact info
rene.at.student.umass.edu
(413) 253-9639
User Reviews
Submitted by smokymtcsw (user info) at 2004-05-14 13:50:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Quartermain is smart but he is not a lawyer. Threatening someone can be considered harrasment but calling them repeatedly and telling the they are ugly, fat, stupid, etc. does not constitute a legal harm until it is repeated and an outrageous pattern has emerged.
Submitted by sirius at 2004-05-14 13:37:19 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
yeah he has a right to say whatever he wants he also has a right to get his ass kicked for being a bitch. I hope he "gets whats coming to him"
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-05-14 13:27:33 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
Mothy u suck, and i hope that u get arrested or in trouble for harrasing Rene. He has the right to say whatever the fuck he wants!!!!!!
Submitted by Quartermain (user info) at 2004-04-30 20:40:12 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
This was done better yesterday. By the way, what you are doing is called 'harassment' and it's against the law.
Submitted by AlwaysAnEagle (user info) at 2004-04-30 19:55:04 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
He has a right to say it as much as you have a right to be upset about it.
Calling is going too far.
Submitted by drink_DDT (user info) at 2004-04-30 19:16:01 EDT (#)
Ranking: -1
To each his own.
But I still want to remark how gay he looks in the picture.
Submitted by Herpes (user info) at 2004-04-30 15:57:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
So uhmm... why are we supposed to hassle him again?
Oh, that's right, for using his freedom of speech. Gotcha.
Fuck him for having opinions that vary from yours.
Submitted by nam9168 (user info) at 2004-04-30 15:03:38 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I find the irony in that Tillman dies for this dickhead - to protect the US and that beautiful Bill o Rights - just a thought.
Submitted by reallybored (user info) at 2004-04-30 15:02:40 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Am i the only person who doesnt give two fucks about what college kid in MA said about somebody?
Submitted by Random Joe at 2004-04-30 14:54:15 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
it doesnt matter what Pendejo means! it only matters on how Pendejo is used.
for instance if i say you are a "cocksucker" i do not mean you are someone that sucks on roosters, i mean you are a fucking asshole fag. if i say you are a "bitch" i dont mean a female dog. i mean you are a mean/rude person
by the way, i hate taht mother fucker who talked shit about Tilman. HOWEVER, in the UNITED STATES he has that right to be a prick. i admire the fact that he could say something like that, although i think he was completly wrong.
Submitted by Envenom (user info) at 2004-04-30 14:20:07 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
3. "pendejo" does not actually mean "idiot", it means pubic hair and it quite obscene - just to make sure you're pissed off about the right thing
???
Pendejo means asshole, not pubic hair.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:57:54 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
Oh but this does prove the point that Rene is a guy. That all important debate was raging yesterday.
Submitted by loki (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:56:55 EDT (#)
Ranking: -2
1. This has been posted.
2. Who gives a shit what some little punk at a COLLEGE newspaper said. Jebus next people are going to start posting "news stories" from junior high papers.
3. "pendejo" does not actually mean "idiot", it means pubic hair and it quite obscene - just to make sure you're pissed off about the right thing
Submitted by Mothyham (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:54:32 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
I called him a prick and told him to watch his back
he answered the first time but didn't say anything....i doubt I am the only caller
Second call it was answered by a fax.....go figure
Submitted by William_Q_Percy (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:52:10 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
What are you saying to him?
Submitted by Totally_useless (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:40:37 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
I'm getting a ring no answer when trying to call this bitch.
Submitted by Mothyham (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:36:56 EDT (#)
Ranking: 0
do it..
he's there...he keeps hitting the fax button, but he can hear you over it if you yell at him
Submitted by nam9168 (user info) at 2004-04-30 13:36:03 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Im calling that motherfucking hipster right now!