After Pat's Birthday by Kevin Tilliman

[Boston Critic]

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....


http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday

[MADem]

1. OUCH. This kid says exactly what I've been thinking for years now

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....

[GOPBasher]

2. That's one of the saddest, yet most beautiful things I've ever read. n/t

[applegrove]

3. After Pat’s Birthday - By Kevin Tillman

After Pat’s Birthday
Posted on Oct 19, 2006
By Kevin Tillman
@ truthdig.com

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 America has become a country that projects everything that it is not and condemns everything that it is.

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.


..................SNIP"

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday/

[babylonsister]

4. The same?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x241363

[applegrove]

8. Yes. I alerted Admin. Tks.

[Why Syzygy]

5. Big Chill Bumps

Yes. Let us honor our men and women. And bring them HOME. Deliver them from Hades.
They can guard the ports, the stadiums, the Pentagon. Wouldn't that be better than having them die in a hell hole of the neocon's making?

[patrice]

6. That IS wonderful! Everyone in Amerika shold read this.

I love how he repeats "somehow". It removes what he says from simple blaming one side or the other. It really makes you think about who you are.

[applegrove]

7. Yes. That repetition. Points to I think all the secrecy of the Bush WH.

They have run around for 6 years making sure nobody had enough information to make informed decisions since they got power. So America walked into that war not knowing all they needed to know. And somehow... one thing led to another. We are only now beginning to get to reality. And with the renewed good information..people can make informed voting decisions. It really has been a creepy time. People squeezed into division because of bad info.

[patrice]

9. Yes! and don't you think, because the information was ssssoooooooo

bad, many people were driven to the internet, and because there were so many people looking for information and because of everything that was happening and how horrible it's been, the life of internet communities was given a jump start that would have taken quite a bit longer had things been different. And now we see how this living internet has affected an election cycle - in ways that people like Karl Rove didn't anticipate. What do you think?

e.g. I would quite likely NEVER have read what Kevin Tillman wrote if the whole thing hadn't happened the way it did.

[applegrove]

10. I think you have a point. Lots of people used to the TV gave up on MSM for

a bit. Or required more internet because it at least came close to reflecting how they felt when the TV didn't. I do think it speeded stuff up.

There is a book called "Everything Bad Is Good For You" by Steven Johnson. It goes into the internet and connector type people (who are the ones who lead large groups in trends and information). And how the internet allows connectors to reach a whole new bunch of people and connect in ways not possible before.

All of us are baby connectors when we reach out for something political that makes sense to us, and then there are the big real CONNECTORs like Skinner & Earl G who make a big difference.

Look at myspace too.

I think the GOP were out in front on using the internet and direct mail and such.. but the liberal responce on the internet is really grass roots instead of astroturf. So I think the GOP is finding itself "turfed" these days. Money doesn't replace numbers and true passion and beliefs. Appealing to people's baser instincts probably only works for short periods of time..only about 4% of the population are constantly mean and envious and vicious.

But yes... you are right. Bullying the TV airwaves to talk Bush WH talking points and ignore the Liberal message may have very well speeded up the process of Liberals going online. Let us hope that it remains democratic and free of elite corporate rule. Doesn't take much in the way of start-up to come up with a site & concept. So sites like DU should remain pretty independant.

[patrice]

11. I watched Bill Moyers on "Net Neutrality" on PBS the other night.

That's an issue we are going to have to take responsibility for soon.

God, I hope you're right about that 4%. I have the sense that most stimuli of various types loose their ability to evoke a response in most people, eventually anyway, soon I hope.

[applegrove]

12. Some things will always scare people. The scary part is when the

anti is "upped" to get people to act like sheeple again. I don't think the Bush WH can push it any further than they have today (with that new ad) without facing criminal proceedings or impeachment.

Unfortunately some things do hurt again and again. And can traumatize people. Let's hope AMericans (I am not one) are soon no longer traumatized. I'll drink to that.

[Theduckno2]

13. I read this yesterday, a must read.

Comprehensive and yet consise, the "Somehow" bulletpoints were quite effective at encouraging the higher level of citizenship needed to put this country on a better path.

I mentioned the posting to my father yesterday and will attempt to get him to read it today (along with anyone else I can).

I like to think that after reading Kevin Tillman's posting, if I were to break my leg on election day, I would drag myself to the polling place.

[Hav]

14. .

What was the best a dumb Bush bot could come up with?
"It's a phony letter."

[krkaufman]

15. "traitors to the nation, to the world and to humanity"

From my perspective, the following was Kevin's sharpest statement on support for the war and related policies, as well as insufficient resistance to the same ...

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/200601019_after_pats_birthday

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.