Pat Tillman was a man who believed in a cause, died for his country
The cause in which his country was engaged mattered more to Pat than the dull emptiness of greed. It mattered more to Pat than life.
Buffalo Bill's
defunct
who used to
ride a watersmooth-silver
stallion
and break onetwothreefourfive pigeonsjustlikethat
Jesus
he was a handsome man
and what i want to know is
how do you like your blueeyed boy
Mister Death
--ee cummings
from a wonderful Sports Illustrated article
I saw this line in an article today:
[Pat] Tillman has been lauded by many Americans, including President Bush, as a hero for walking away from a $3.6 million contract in the prime of his football career to join units serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
How do we reconcile
Bush's applause regarding one decent and honorable man's walking away from millions for a cause in which he felt so strongly that he gave all for country --- while nearly every policy of the Bush administration is filled with the motives of the greediest among us? It makes me so sad. I honor Pat's service. I honor the life he gave for this country. I honor every man and woman who died, was wounded, or is going through a non-stop hell because of the greed that brings people to the point of war. They all walked away from shelter, safety, beloved family, for their country. Those are the things our president should be applauding. During his State of the Union speech last January, he never gave tribute to the dead
at all. I respect the office of the president, but I have to say, from what I've seen of his political face (which is the only way I could possibly be able to judge), that I don't think I like Mr. Bush very much as far as human beings are concerned. His values are so very different from my own.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I saw a headline at
World Net Daily:
"Firm will give Tillman's jersey to family--Could have made up to $4 million selling pieces with trading cards"
A businessman is meant to look like
a hero for not being a sleaze who'd cash in on the back of a dead American hero. I'm sorry, I think I'll refrain giving him any special pat on the back. Why do we glorify the greediest-worst of businesspeople when they finally do something
ethical? What does that say about our society?
Sgt. Pat Tillman wore two uniforms that Americans will always remember: the Army fatigues in which he died, and the NFL jersey he sacrificed first..... Before his death, Pat Tillman's NFL jersey might have been lost in the 55,000-square-foot building near the Ballpark in Arlington, where Donruss Trading Cards assimilates iconic souvenirs, putting small pieces of history on collectors' cards. The pieces of a typical game-worn jersey will yield about 2,000 trading cards. In the case of Pat Tillman, the company estimates it could have made up to $4 million. "What Pat Tillman is going to mean to the United States of America is better left to his family and who they want to write that chapter ... not us," said Dully.
