Why I am embarrassed to say I went to UMass.

[JoeU]

Daryn,

From one "paisan" to another, find this guy and make him an offer he can't refuse. [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

What's sad is this guy writes this junk under the defense of the First Ammendment, and Pat Tillman (and the rest of our soldiers)are in a foreign land giving their lives to defend this idiot's freedoms.

Very sad that a respectable university would allow a moron like this to grace its halls.

Joe

[daryn]

[img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]


i can't imagine this guy is well-liked after this article. this school definitely has its share of beatnicks and hippies, but i think the majority of the campus would like to find this guy and string him up.

i just can't understand the need to write that article. what has Tillman ever done to anyone? he made the ultimate sacrifice, and never wanted any public recognition for making his tough decision. what problem could you possibly have with Tillman? we need more Pat Tillman's.

[Kurn, son of Mogh]

What's sad is this guy writes this junk under the defense of the First Ammendment, and Pat Tillman (and the rest of our soldiers)are in a foreign land giving their lives to defend this idiot's freedoms.

It's all of our freedom, not just the idiot's. The truth is we can all point at some scumbag and lament the protection the law gives him, but the loss of our freedom will begin with denying those freedoms to idiots and scumbags.

One of the reasons I'm a patriotic American is *because* this moron doesn't have to worry about being thrown in jail for writing that drivel.

[daryn]

this dickhead actually made the main page at www.espn.com

today's paper had some response pieces by students who criticize this loser. i just noticed that one kid who wrote a response is my buddy mike. i'd like to post his response but the server where the articles and such are hosted has gone over its daily bandwidth, how crazy.

[hetron]

Let me start off by saying that I didn't like the racist overtones of the article (as if GI Joe jingoism is the sole refuge of beefy, red faced white guys), nor did I appreciate the insinuations that Tillman joined the Army with the sole purpose of killing as many foreigners as possible in some Rambo fantasy. I don't know exactly what his motives were, and unless you have information as to his motives, it is dumb to speculate.

That being said, to elevate Tillman to hero status because he left a high paying job to join the Army is, as Gonzalez put it, knee jerk, and probably does have something to do with the "We're #1" cheerleader attitude so many in this country exhibit. Would people have made such a big deal if Tillman had left his NFL job to join the Red Cross? Or to join the Peace Corps?

[BeerMoney]

[ QUOTE ]
Would people have made such a big deal if Tillman had left his NFL job to join the Red Cross? Or to join the Peace Corps?


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, if he was putting his life on the line in those situations too. For example, it may be virtuous to sacrifice lifes comforts to be a missionary, or dedicate yourself to a church, its another thing to go out and help remove landmines in a foreign land. There's a difference.

[Cyrus]

I think the writer of that article was somewhat too glib in the analysis of Tillman's motives but otherwise the remarks are flawless. You don't get this kind of inciciveness at prime time. Watch:

"Whether we like them or not, the Taliban [are] 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.

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."

Just about as well said as can be.

[Chris Alger]

Gonzalez's piece is a refreshing counterpart to all the politically correct hysteria about Tillman being a "hero" because he sacrificed glory and money to kill people for the U.S. She's actually being generous by describing Tillman as an "idiot." An idiot has an excuse. If Tillman wasn't an idiot but the kind of person that volunteers to kill whoever the U.S. wants to have killed, he's no better than anyone else fighting an unjust war, like a mercenary or murderer-for-hire.

But I wouldn't say he got what he deserved. He deserved to be spanked or put behind bars.

When I was serving aboard a ballistic missile submarine, a fellow petty officer once confided to me that "in the event of a real launch, my battle station is MCC with a DC sledge hammer" (to smash the missile control computers and prevent the launch). An action like this could easily have spared a million lives, probably more (16 missiles X 10-12 warheads X 20-30 kilotons ea.). That's what real heros do.

[John Cole]

Chris,

I feel compelled to tell you your position on this may prove to be unpopular.

What's the "DC" stand for?

[Dilbert]

The bigger issue is that the town of Amherst, MA is named for General Jeffrey Amherst.

Lord Jeffrey Amherst's letters discussing germ warfare against American Indians

This guy was just like Saddam Hussein.