Kevin Tillman, the Army Ranger and brother of Pat Tillman (the NFL star who joined the Army because of patriotism after 9/11, went to Afghanistan, and was killed in a friendly fire incident), wrote a scathing critique of the nation's leadership.
Pat's birthday would have been celebrated on November 6th. Kevin wants folks to vote for change on November 7th.
Hat tip to BUZZFLASH.com and truthdig.com, and check it out below the fold...
I am struck by the true patriotism of people who are not afraid to admit that Americans have reaped what we have sown. We get the government we deserve. It is because of our laziness and apathy as a people that we are now led by such immoral louts. It is our inaction that has allowed Washington DC to become a den of iniquity and a hive of villainy.
But we also have the power to wake up - take action - and change our nation.
After Pat's Birthday
Posted on Oct 19, 2006
By Kevin Tillman
Editor's note: Kevin Tillman joined the Army with his brother Pat in 2002, and they served together in Iraq and Afghanistan. Pat was killed in Afghanistan on April 22, 2004. Kevin, who was discharged in 2005, has written a powerful, must-read document.
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 get 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 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.
Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,
Kevin Tillman
The link to the truthdig piece is here (some decent comments there):
http://www.truthdig.com/...
Buzzflash can, of course, be found here:
http://www.buzzflash.com/
The folks on this site are already on board with the message of change, so please do not think I am berating you folks for not doing enough to change our nation. When I talk about the apathy of America, I am speaking of the WHOLE nation, and not so much the folks here - who seem to be plugged in.
That said, if you are able to do so, you all need to blog less and GOTV more over the next few weeks. I applaud those who have already been door-knocking, phone-banking, and donating. Now, the rest of you can join the party. Kevin Tillman needs you, and so do the rest of us.