No sport is life.
Ted Williams knew this when he took time out of his superior baseball career, putting it as well as himself in extreme danger by joining up during World War II.
NFL player Pat Tillman knew this when he joined the U.S. Army after 9/11, leaving behind a multi-million dollar contract with the Arizona Cardinals to serve his country.
For his efforts, his diligence, his patriotism, Pat Tillman was slaughtered by his own unit. Now, friendly fire deaths are most often the result of misplaced artillery, mortar or airstrike ordnance, originating from a site unseen by the receiver.
This was not the case with Cpl. Tillman. He was in plain view of his own platoon, huddled behind a rock with them on his clear side.
I wrote about the travesty of Pat Tillman's death, its immediate and subsequent cover-ups, first by his unit then by the U.S. Army, right here in the May 11, 2005 issue ("Military Follies"). Now, four investigations later, following continued pressure from his survivors, the Army has announced it is re-opening the case for a fifth look into the incident.
Well, if I were to hold my breath for truth from any branch of the Military the result would probably be permanent blindness (which, due to a lack of funds, would not be treatable at a VA hospital).
As I am writing this, Dark Lord the Dick Cheney is being beamed to America (and the World, I suppose) via C-Span after crawling out of his secret bunker to speechify at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee. It frightens me when a Jewish organization consorts with the likes of Cheney, because it's doubtful that deep in his heart he's even remotely pro-Semite.
At one point Dark Lord stated in his unemotional monotone, and I quote, "Ladies and gentlemen, one of the basic truths of the world we live in today -- George W. Bush is a man of his word."
Having shivered when he said that, I will write the sentence once more to let it sink in: "Ladies and gentlemen, one of the basic truths of the world we live in today -- George W. Bush is a man of his word."
A basic truth of today's world? A man of his word? When was George W. Bush ever truthful? When did he ever keep his word?
Still, the scariest part came when the audience rose and applauded in blind allegiance. Like a snake oil salesman Cheney's peddling fear of Iran and Hamas to cover what this Jewish organization has forgotten they should really fear - Fascism.
He then used the magic word "democracy," and everyone dutifully stood and applauded. He reminded those in attendance that George promised to keep Israel a free state -- stand, applause. This exercise was repeated with practically every sentence from the side of Dark Lord's mouth.
This was eerily reminiscent of the masses cheering on Der Fuhrer, and underlings such as Albert Speer who would incite crowds praising the accomplishments of Germany's great leader, lined up like lemmings at party rallies that pre-dated that nation's collapse. Only now it's the Jews, the victims, trusting the new purveyors of "Fuhrerprinzip" and other New World Order doublethink mindsets to "trust us."
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