Stuff that Rush Hannity doesn't want us to know.

[I. Jack Daily, Esq.]

Pat Tillman was a liberal. I guess he wasn't a real patriot.


The Meeting That Never Was: Pat Tillman And Noam Chomsky

by Dave Zirin


"I don't believe it," seethed Ann Coulter.

Her contempt was directed at a September 25 San Francisco Chronicle story reporting that former NFL star and Army Ranger war hero Pat Tillman, who was killed in Afghanistan last year, believed the U.S. war on Iraq was "f***ing illegal" and counted Noam Chomsky among his favorite authors. It must have been quite a moment for Coulter, who upon Tillman's death described him in her inimitably creepy fashion as "an American original -- virtuous, pure and masculine like only an American male can be." She tried to discredit the story as San Francisco agitprop, but this approach ran into a slight problem: The article's source was Pat Tillman's mother, Mary.

Mary and the Tillman family are relentlessly pushing for answers to the questions surrounding Pat's death in Afghanistan. They want to know why it took the Pentagon five weeks to tell them he died in a tragic case of friendly fire. They want to know why they were unwitting props at Pat's funeral, weeping while lies were told by eulogizing politicians. Mary is now hoping that a new Pentagon inquiry will bring closure. "There have been so many discrepancies so far that it's hard to know what to believe," she said to the Chronicle. "There are too many murky details."


BREAKING NEWS
29 APR 0100 ETAt least 58 killed, 170 wounded in suicide bomb attack on Kerbala shrine FRONT PAGE
The very private Tillmans have revealed a picture of Pat profoundly at odds with the GI Joe image created by Pentagon spinmeisters and their media stenographers. As the Chronicle put it, family and friends are now unveiling "a side of Pat Tillman not widely known -- a fiercely independent thinker who enlisted, fought and died in service to his country yet was critical of President Bush and opposed the war in Iraq, where he served a tour of duty. He was an avid reader whose interests ranged from history books...to works of leftist Noam Chomsky, a favorite author." Tillman had very unembedded feelings about the Iraq War. His close friend Army Spec. Russell Baer remembered, "I can see it like a movie screen. We were outside of [an Iraqi city] watching as bombs were dropping on the town.... We were talking. And Pat said, 'You know, this war is so f***ing illegal.' And we all said, 'Yeah.' That's who he was. He totally was against Bush." With these revelations, Pat Tillman the PR icon joins WMD and Al Qaeda connections on the heap of lies used to sell the Iraq War.

Tillman's transition from one-dimensional caricature to critically thinking human being is a long time coming. The fact is that in death he was far more useful to the armchair warriors than he had ever been in life. When the Pro Bowler joined the Army Rangers, the Pentagon brass needed a loofah to wipe their drool: He was white, handsome and played in the NFL. For a chicken-hawk Administration led by a President who loves the affectations of machismo but runs from protesting military moms, this testosterone cocktail was impossible to resist. The problem was that Tillman wouldn't play their game. To the Pentagon's chagrin, he turned down numerous offers to be its recruitment poster child.

But when Tillman fell in Afghanistan the wheels once again started to turn. Now the narrative was perfect: "War hero and football star dies fighting terror." The Abu Ghraib scandal was about to hit the press, so the President found it especially useful to praise Tillman as "an inspiration on and off the football field, as with all who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war on terror." His funeral was nationally televised. Bush even went back to the bloody well during the presidential campaign, addressing his team's fans on the Arizona Cardinals' stadium Jumbotron.

We now know, of course, that this was all a brutal charade. Such callous manipulation is fueling the Tillman family's anger. As Mary Tillman said this past May, "They could have told us up front that they were suspicious that [his death] was a fratricide, but they didn't. They wanted to use him for their purposes.... They needed something that looked good, and it was appalling that they would use him like that." A growing number of military families, similarly angered, are criticizing the war in Iraq through organizations like Military Families Speak Out.

As for Chomsky, whom Ann Coulter would undoubtedly label "treasonous," Mary Tillman says a private meeting was planned between him and Pat after Pat's return -- a meeting that never took place, of course. Chomsky confirms this scenario. This was the real Pat Tillman: someone who, like the majority of this country, was doubting the rationale for war, distrusting his Commander in Chief and looking for answers. The real Pat Tillman, the one with three dimensions, must stick in the throat of the Bush-Coulter gang, a pit in the cherry atop their bloody sundae.

[Paulie Cee]

So your (and the author's) point is that Pat Tillman was fiercely anti-war, yet he went out of his way to give up a lucrative football career and enlist to fight in it.

Yeah, now it all makes sense.

[DDPv6.0]

Has anyone read some of Chomsky's stuff? I am in a class called "The Anthropology of Violence" and read some pretty mind-boggling, but interesting stuff. Chomsky's work is unique, for the lack of a better word. He has some valid points, but overall, I can't help but think the guy is a friggin' lunatic.

[Paulie Cee]

I heard Nancy Pelosi is so pissed at the war she's joining the Navy.

[CVBTank]

Originally Posted by Paulie Cee

So your (and the author's) point is that Pat Tillman was fiercely anti-war, yet he went out of his way to give up a lucrative football career and enlist to fight in it.

Yeah, now it all makes sense.

From what I read Tillman was against the Iraqi war, not all war.

Tillman enlisted in May of 2002, a full year before the beginning of the Iraq war. The map below should help you differentiate between Afghanistan and Iraq.

[I. Jack Daily, Esq.]

Originally Posted by Paulie Cee

So your (and the author's) point is that Pat Tillman was fiercely anti-war, yet he went out of his way to give up a lucrative football career and enlist to fight in it.

Yeah, now it all makes sense.

Well, for one, the guy joined before the Iraq war, not the war in Afghanistan. I think most reasonable people agree that the war in Afghanistan was just. I think the point of this piece however is to dispel the notion that Tillman was some sort of poster boy for the Bush administration's policies, because let's face it, many tried to make him appear this way. In fact, the Military now look like asses attempting to make him out to be a hero who died in a fierce battle, all the while knowing the truth about how he died.

Just another one of many sad lies.

[Paulie Cee]

One sec, I've got some more BREAKING NEWS. Cindy Sheehan, in order to register her opposition to this dangerous and illegal war, has joined the Marines and is learning to drive a tank.

[CVBTank]

In totally unrelated news coming from the White House, Osama Bin Laden supports the War on Terror.

[RkFast]

This ranks right up there with "Bush did 9/11"

Nice try, libitards.

And Im loving their "outrage" over Tillman and how the government used his story to pump up morale. Because...ya know...using a good solider's story has NEVER been used to pump up a Nation's spirits in the face of ugly warfare. Up next, those retards will be "outraged" that guns are used in war.

[metman]

lmao, Paule is my hero.

But technically, if ya join the pre-Iraq war, you can still believe in YOUR cause and not support Iraq. Which is fine...

sadly, another hero is dead and babbling ****s like sheehan and many others are still sucking air one day at a time.

Ain't life grand.

[CVBTank]

Originally Posted by RkFast

This ranks right up there with "Bush did 9/11"

Nice try, libitards.

And Im loving their "outrage" over Tillman and how the government used his story to pump up morale. Because...ya know...using a good solider's story has NEVER been used to pump up a Nation's spirits in the face of ugly warfare. Up next, those retards will be "outraged" that guns are used in war.

Good job of glossing over the fact that the outrage is over the cover up and subsequent lies. Nothing wrong with lying about the cause of someones death and using them as a prop to further your poltical agenda.

And yes his mother, that "babbling ****", should really shut up. Clearly the Pentagon knows this man and his intentions better than his family and friends. If they don't, they can certainly invent a whole new life for him.

[metman]

Yeah, one thing that let me down was that conservative seem outraged over liberal comments, but not a cover-up by our nation's armed forces.

That should be outrageous to all sides. It's sad how this country is so divided, they can conveniently decide what to be offended by and what to ignore. Wonder how strong this nation will be in 10/20 years.

libs do the same thing too, sadly. But for this one topic, I'm a bit let down by conservatives I have spoken to and listen to.

For the record, I am independant, so I don't care to bash or support either side. But I feel that certain things get glossed over by conservatives and it makes me wonder what they really DO care about. When 158 die in car bombins in Iraq, they don't show any concern. But if a hopital is built, we don't hear the end of it.

Just as the liberals talk about compassion and doing the right thing, and ignore the good in Iraq lol

Maybe we should turn the political board into the 'hot chick' board and save us all the trouble. Who's with me!

At least we'd have something we can all agree on and would keep us from splitting further apart with pointless biased banter.

Unless you don't like Slavic chicks like Kyla Cole. Then you are a no good traiter poopy pants and I can't waste my time with you.

[RkFast]

Originally Posted by CVBTank

Good job of glossing over the fact that the outrage is over the cover up and subsequent lies. Nothing wrong with lying about the cause of someones death and using them as a prop to further your poltical agenda.

And yes his mother, that "babbling ****", should really shut up. Clearly the Pentagon knows this man and his intentions better than his family and friends. If they don't, they can certainly invent a whole new life for him.

WHAT cover up? That the Pentagon his a lousy job of telling the story? Newsflash for ya...a GOOD COUNT of the "stories" of our Nations heros over the years is a fabricated, pumped up bunch of propaganda. Thats what Countries DO in times of war....fidn a good story and plaster it around to get spirits up, even if the story thats put forth isnt 100% accurate. Is it on the level? No...but thats what happens.

Go read up on history and stop talking out of your ass like a dumb lib.

[CVBTank]

Originally Posted by RkFast

WHAT cover up? That the Pentagon his a lousy job of telling the story? Newsflash for ya...a GOOD COUNT of the "stories" of our Nations heros over the years is a fabricated, pumped up bunch of propaganda. Thats what Countries DO in times of war....fidn a good story and plaster it around to get spirits up, even if the story thats put forth isnt 100% accurate. Is it on the level? No...but thats what happens.

Go read up on history and stop talking out of your ass like a dumb lib.

The initial story was that they were ambushed and he was killed by enemy fire. What was the final story? Classifying that as a "lousy job" of telling the story is very generous.

Yes you're right, I am the one who needs to read up. Because Democracy works by allowing the government to lie to its people. That's a brilliant stance to take.

[RkFast]

Originally Posted by CVBTank

The initial story was that they were ambushed and he was killed by enemy fire. What was the final story? Classifying that as a "lousy job" of telling the story is very generous.

Yes you're right, I am the one who needs to read up. Because Democracy works by allowing the government to lie to its people. That's a brilliant stance to take.

Wait a second. Condoning and understanding the Government's attempt to lift morale in time of war has ZERO to do with "allowing Democracy to work", which implies that a Goverment must outright lie for it to function. Thas a HUGE HUGE jump yuou just made there.

Yet another libitard talking point, completely out of touch with reality.