'Dumb Jock Killed in Afghanistan'

[Brk]

http://portland.indymedia.org/en/2004/04/286523.shtml

(Text from James Taranto of OpinionJournal.com)

The Portland, Ore., branch of the Independent Media Center--one of the most virulent Angry Left Web sites around--has a page devoted to the death in combat last week of Pat Tillman, the pro football player turned Army Ranger who died in combat in Afghanistan last week. This is offensive stuff, so you might want to skip it, but we think it's worth shining a light on. The page begins with a Washington Post story about Tillman's death under the headline (Indymedia's, not the Post's) "Dumb Jock Killed in Afghanistan." This is followed by reader comments. A sampling (quoted verbatim except for expletives):

• "Tillman chose to go to Afghanistan. He's partially reponsible for the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands of Afghan civilians. No need to feel sorry for him, other than feeling bad that he was brainwashed into serving as a grunt."
• "it's amazing the kind of attention this insignificant incident is going to cause. well, he was rich, white, and an american. 10,000 (brown) iraqis get killed, and it barely merits a mention in the american news. how utterly f---ing sad."
• "To be honest I wish I could feel sorry for the guy, but the truth is I really feel nothing at all. To many have died and too much money has flowed into the pockets of **** Cheney to even worry about it."
• "if he 'sacrificed' anything it was his common sense. He had a good American thing going and blew it."

In fairness, not all posters agree. "I'd like to correct the ridiculous headline that preceeds this story," writes one: "Brave American sacrifices friends, family and fortune in defense of his country. Pigs on IndyMedia can now continue to exercise free speech, sacrifice nothing and spew hate."

[Prey521]

That's some pretty sick sh*t!!

[SGTMAJRET]

That's some pretty sick sh*t!!

That is an understatement. The writer of that article needs to go live with the Taliban and understand the freedoms he is mocking.

[CiscoKid]

those idiots need to get their heads out of their a$$es and realize WHY we're in Afghanistan! all 3,000 reasons!

[tao_jones]

while everyone is entitled to their opinions this is one of the most classless/tasteless displays i have ever seen

[Indy]

"if he 'sacrificed' anything it was his common sense. He had a good American thing going and blew it."

This person obviously values monetary wealth higher than moral wealth...

"Tillman chose to go to Afghanistan. He's partially reponsible for the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands of Afghan civilians. No need to feel sorry for him, other than feeling bad that he was brainwashed into serving as a grunt."

This person has no idea what it's like to serve in the military, nor does he understand the reasons for serving in the military. I'm sorry that he feels this way and that he's brainwashed into believing that the only reason we're over there is to kill Afghani's...

"it's amazing the kind of attention this insignificant incident is going to cause. well, he was rich, white, and an american. 10,000 (brown) iraqis get killed, and it barely merits a mention in the american news. how utterly f---ing sad."

It's utterly f---ing sad how little of a clue this person really has about what's going on. The reason he got the attention that he did had nothing to do with the fact that he was white, rich, or an American. It has to do with the fact that he gave up a multimillion dollar contract in the NFL to pursuit a set of beliefs that put serving his country above making money. THAT's why he's getting the attention that he is...