hello world
i feel so fake when i post entire posts
feel like its lazy blogging
so i try to avoid it
but there are times when i do so
when i want to tag along on the hits of some current event
thats dear to me - become part of its world
more than just a link
actual words that
i feel worth recording in rootsblogs world
im feeling this one
brother of pat tilman
football player killed by friendly fire in afghanistan
bush and crew ran a pr scam instead of telling family
offering narrative instead of reality, a bush mode
jeremiad by pats brother and fellow ranger, kevin tilman
im feeling it, its a good piece
he took a shot at the brass ring, i agree w/the politics
he got a couple of good licks in, and even the corn
is endearing
ima post it whole
im outta here
gotta clock some pages, cause aint no rest for the weary
and im in a page clocking state of mind
im feeling real real focused
also gotta move rootsblog into a campaign mode
whatever that mean - gotta do my part, however neglible, for
truth justice and the american way
im outta here,
im all the way outta here . . .
On Pats Birthday by Kevin Tilman
on Truthdig.com
It is Pat’s birthday on November 6, and elections are the day after. It gets me thinking about a conversation I had with Pat before we joined the military. He spoke about the risks with signing the papers. How once we committed, we were at the mercy of the American leadership and the American people. How we could be thrown in a direction not of our volition. How fighting as a soldier would leave us without a voice… until we got out.
Much has happened since we handed over our voice:
Somehow we were sent to invade a nation because it was a direct threat to the American people, or to the world, or harbored terrorists, or was involved in the September 11 attacks, or received weapons-grade uranium from Niger, or had mobile weapons labs, or WMD, or had a need to be liberated, or we needed to establish a democracy, or stop an insurgency, or stop a civil war we created that can’t be called a civil war even though it is. Something like that.
Somehow our elected leaders were subverting international law and
humanity by setting up secret prisons around the world, secretly
kidnapping people, secretly holding them indefinitely, secretly not
charging them with anything, secretly torturing them. Somehow that
overt policy of torture became the fault of a few “bad apples” in the
military.
Somehow back at home, support for the soldiers meant having a
five-year-old kindergartener scribble a picture with crayons and send
it overseas, or slapping stickers on cars, or lobbying Congress for an
extra pad in a helmet. It’s interesting that a soldier on his third or
fourth tour should care about a drawing from a five-year-old; or a
faded sticker on a car as his friends die around him; or an extra pad
in a helmet, as if it will protect him when an IED throws his vehicle
50 feet into the air as his body comes apart and his skin melts to the
seat.
Somehow the more soldiers that die, the more legitimate the illegal invasion becomes.
Somehow American leadership, whose only credit is lying to its people and illegally invading a nation, has been allowed to steal the courage, virtue and honor of its soldiers on the ground.
Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.
Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.
Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.
Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.
Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.
Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.
Somehow torture is tolerated.
Somehow lying is tolerated.
Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.
Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.
Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.
Somehow America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.
Somehow the most reasonable, trusted and respected country in the world has become one of the most irrational, belligerent, feared, and distrusted countries in the world.
Somehow being politically informed, diligent, and skeptical has been replaced by apathy through active ignorance.
Somehow the same incompetent, narcissistic, virtueless, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.
Somehow this is tolerated.
Somehow nobody is accountable for this.
In a democracy, the policy of the leaders is the policy of the people. So don’t be shocked when our grandkids bury much of this generation as traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.
Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.
Kevin Tillman
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