I\'ve lost respect for UMass people. . . (ridiculous article regarding Pat Tillman)

[antbach]

this is obsurd. . .

When the death of Pat Tillman occurred, I turned to my friend who was watching the news with me and said, "How much you want to bet they start talking about him as a \'hero\' in about two hours?" Of course, my friend did not want to make that bet. He\'d lose. In this self-critical incapable nation, nothing but a knee-jerk "He\'s a hero" response is to be expected.

I\'ve been mystified at the absolute nonsense of being in "awe" of Tillman\'s "sacrifice" that has been the American response. Mystified, but not surprised. True, it\'s not everyday that you forgo a $3.6 million contract for joining the military. And, not just the regular army, but the elite Army Rangers. You know he was a real Rambo, who wanted to be in the "real" thick of things. I could tell he was that type of macho guy, from his scowling, beefy face on the CNN pictures. Well, he got his wish. Even Rambo got shot in the third movie, but in real life, you die as a result of being shot. They should call Pat Tillman\'s army life "Rambo 4: Rambo Attempts to Strike Back at His Former Rambo 3 Taliban Friends, and Gets Killed."

But, does that make him a hero? I guess it\'s a matter of perspective. For people in the United States, who seem to be unable to admit the stupidity of both the Afghanistan and Iraqi wars, such a trade-off in life standards (if not expectancy) is nothing short of heroic. Obviously, the man must be made of "stronger stuff" to have had decided to "serve" his country rather than take from it. It\'s the old JFK exhortation to citizen service to the nation, and it seems to strike an emotional chord. So, it\'s understandable why Americans automatically knee-jerk into hero worship.

However, in my neighborhood in Puerto Rico, Tillman would have been called a "pendejo," an idiot. Tillman, in the absurd belief that he was defending or serving his all-powerful country from a seventh-rate, Third World nation devastated by the previous conflicts it had endured, decided to give up a comfortable life to place himself in a combat situation that cost him his life. This was not "Ramon or Tyrone," who joined the military out of financial necessity, or to have a chance at education. This was a "G.I. Joe" guy who got what was coming to him. That was not heroism, it was prophetic idiocy.

Tillman, probably acting out his nationalist-patriotic fantasies forged in years of exposure to Clint Eastwood and Rambo movies, decided to insert himself into a conflict he didn\'t need to insert himself into. It wasn\'t like he was defending the East coast from an invasion of a foreign power. THAT would have been heroic and laudable. What he did was make himself useful to a foreign invading army, and he paid for it. It\'s hard to say I have any sympathy for his death because I don\'t feel like his "service" was necessary. He wasn\'t defending me, nor was he defending the Afghani people. He was acting out his macho, patriotic crap and I guess someone with a bigger gun did him in.

Perhaps it\'s the old, dreamy American thought process that forces them to put sports greats and "larger than life" sacrificial lambs on the pedestal of heroism, no matter what they\'ve done. After all, the American nation has no other role to play but to be the cheerleaders of the home team; a sad role to have to play during conflicts that suffer from severe legitimacy and credibility problems.

Matters are a little clearer for those living outside the American borders. Tillman got himself killed in a country other than his own without having been forced to go over to that country to kill its people. After all, whether we like them or not, the Taliban is 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. For that, he shouldn\'t be hailed as a hero, he should be used as a poster boy for the dangerous consequences of too much "America is #1," frat boy, propaganda bull. It might just make a regular man irrationally drop $3.6 million to go fight in a conflict that was anything but "self-defense." The same could be said of the unusual belief of 50 percent of the American nation that thinks Saddam Hussein was behind Sept. 11. One must indeed stand in awe of the amazing success of the American propaganda machine. It works wonders.

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. For that reason, Tillman\'s service, along with that of thousands of American soldiers, has been wrongly utilized. He did die in vain, because in the years to come, we will realize the irrationality of the War on Terror and the American reaction to Sept. 11. The sad part is that we won\'t realize it before we send more people like Pat Tillman over to their deaths.

Source: http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/28/408f27f0591be

[antbach]

And the newspaper\'s response to obscene amounts of feedback:

 In yesterday\'s Editorial/Opinion section of The Massachusetts Daily Collegian, a column titled "Pat Tillman is not a hero: he got what was coming to him" appeared. In the piece, graduate student Rene Gonzalez wrote about the death of former NFL player and Army Ranger Pat Tillman, who was killed during a skirmish in Afghanistan last Friday.

A flood of feedback has poured in, nearly all of which is harsh criticism of either Gonzalez\'s words or of The Collegian\'s decision to run the column. In fact, reader response has been so great that we would like to take this opportunity to respond to our readers.

Rene Gonzalez is a graduate student at the University of Massachusetts who occasionally submits columns to The Collegian. While his views in no way reflect the opinion of our editorial board or staff, we base our decisions not on whether we agree with the opinion of students submitting opinion pieces, but on the backbone of journalism: The First Amendment.

As a news organization, The Collegian lists the First Amendment as its most important value and asset. We do not hold back from printing news stories, columns or editorials that may upset our readership - instead, we seek to both inform and stir debate through our publication. Our decision to publish Gonzalez\'s column - an opinion piece written by a member of our campus community - is the only way for us to live up to this ideal.

One of the most important points that we at The Collegian want to stress to our readers is the nature of the Editorial/Opinion page. Not one columnist or student\'s opinion printed on our page represents that of the paper at large. Gonzalez\'s opinion is his own, and it runs under our pages as a single voice on our campus. The Editorial/Opinion page is designed to give a wide variety of students a chance to speak through a large-scale medium. With that comes the possibility of discourse and disagreement, and that is an accepted reality for us.

We would also like to draw attention to the fact that The Collegian has reported and commented on Tillman\'s death, and life, on a number of occasions in the last few days. Two columns written by editors on our staff have been published in praise of Tillman\'s life and his willingness to sacrifice it for what he believed in, including one column that ran on the page next to Gonzalez\'s. This was done intentionally, to display to our readers that we do not publish any opinion piece with more favor than any other - instead, we adhered to one of our missions: to create discussion, with dialogue on the merits of each argument.

The opinion of Gonzalez, though it dissented from that of the other two columns, deserved its space within the debate. Through the Web site feedback, phone calls and e-mails we have received, it has become very obvious to us at The Collegian that Gonzalez\'s opinion has caused a lot of controversy and frustration. We cannot, however, compromise the mission of our publication for the sake of ensuring the constant happiness of our readership. Gonzalez has just as much right to the opinion he presented as anyone else does, and we at The Collegian hope that this incident will foster a relationship with our readers that shows we are open to all opinions, not only the ones many people agree with.

We welcome all feedback on the issue, and hope that this represents growth in our relationship with you, the readers.

Sincerely,

The Massachusetts Daily Collegian Editorial Board

source: http://www.dailycollegian.com/vnews/display.v/ART/2004/04/29/4090744e398cd

[kindm's]

I don\'t see how this opinion piece is a reflection of UMASS attendees.

It was an opinion piece written by 1 person. Understandable if you do not agree with the author but he is entitled to his opinion

[DocEllis70]

what does umass have to do with this guys opinion???  obviously umass didnt agree because there was harsh criticism and what not...

[Wolfman]

Seriously Tony, you\'re gonna judge 15,000 students based on one article by one student?  I\'m sorry that you have "lost respect" for me (a UMass alum) because of an article in the stupid Collegian.  If you went to UMass, you would know that there are articles like this in the Collegian every day because kids get off on seeing  how much anger they can stir up.  It\'s meaningless.  He probably made a drunk bet with his buddy that he couldn\'t get 500 people to respond to one of his articles, so off he goes.  Don\'t sweat it, it\'s just one kid trying to get attention.  There are lots of him in every town and at every school.

[obsession600]

Originally posted by kindm\'s
I don\'t see how this opinion piece is a reflection of UMASS attendees.

It was an opinion piece written by 1 person. Understandable if you do not agree with the author but he is entitled to his opinion

you hit the nail on the head

Ten years ago my college paper had a huge negative response because a student wrote from a conservative viewpoint on a couple of topics. Then, as now the purpose of a student newspaper should be to expose the students to a variety of opinions while outlining the facts of the matter.

plus it helps to stir up interest in the paper

[antbach]

eh, the subject of this thread was a little harsh, I just flipped a lid hungover this morning when I read it, and then saw that Mr. Gonzales was a UMass grad student. wasn\'t meant to be perceived as a shot at all of UMass, especially the Alums. I apologize, and next time I will not be so ignorant. . .

[obsession600]

thanks for the thread

[leith]

I had heard abt this artucle and now having read it, what\'s all the fuss? He stated his reasons for feeling this way many if not all I find VERY valid. HE is correct in that the American propaganda machine works. I applaud Pat Tillman for showing the guts to throw away millions to enlist but was it a worthy choice ? Only Pat and his God know that. I wish every serviceman/woman who died in these worthless wars got even .0125 of the attention he did. That is what I find sad!

[FrankZappa]

I cont believe it - abc channel 8 in ct is reporting on the contriversy caused by this article. Apparently nothing else is happening in the world. Here is a list of things that have not happened recently:

Apparently a bus didnt get crushed by a runaway bulldozer in columbia on thursday morning, killing 23 children on board, and injuring 36 others.

apparently there wasnt a major diesel spill in san fran pipeline on thursday that was barley contained, but not reported on.

Apparently The town of Orania, South Africa isn\'t trying to instate its new "White-Only" money, just TWO DAYS after the 10 years anniversary of the country officially put an end to apartheid.

Apparently The itialian government didnt pass a media law which allows prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi\'s control over 90% of television and allows him to acquire more newspapers and radio stations, of which he already personally owns three.

Apaprently A new law doesnt go into effect in Britian this week that will make sexual acts by anyone under 16 illegal. "Touching" is considered a sex act, and sexual touching, the Act says, includes doing it "with any part of the body", "with anything else", and "through anything". So, anyone who is under 16 in the uk and touches anyone else is in violation of this law.

Apparently there are no new updates in the fight on cancer such as the discovery that cancer cells to not die like other cells, but insteadcan live forever, leading to new avenues of treating the disease.

Apparently the Patagonian ice in San Rafael Glacier in Chile isnt going through a rapid reduction in size, due to historically high tempeture, which are completley unrelated to the ozone.

Apparently the rover Opportunity didnt complete its main mission on mars yesterday.

Apparently Afghan journalist Sami Yousafzai and his driver working for Newsweek were not secretly detained for six days.

Apparently Internet access is not still only available to government officials while at work and being monitored in cuba, and apparently the chinese government is no longer hunting down people that have go to web sites from outside of china and arresting them, as well as illegally shutting down any sites that link to or repost information that was origionally from sites outside of china.

and you dissagree about the american propiganda machine?

"We don\'t have to burn the books, we\'ll just remove them" - Rage against the machine

[tiedyetoga]

Colleges are liberal, bottom line. Oh and Mass., is the most backwards state in the union.

*This is not directed at anyone, its just my opinion on things.*

[Wolfman]

Originally posted by antbach
eh, the subject of this thread was a little harsh, I just flipped a lid hungover this morning when I read it, and then saw that Mr. Gonzales was a UMass grad student. wasn\'t meant to be perceived as a shot at all of UMass, especially the Alums.

Right on, I figured the subject was just an over the top thing for whatever reason.