i know that it's unpopular to speak out against the war in iraq and afghanistan. i know that it's especially unpopular to speak out against someone like ex-NFL football player, pat tillman, who died during combat in afghanistan. yet, rene gonzalez of the daily collegian did just that, writing an article describing how pat tillman "got what he deserved."

now, i don't agree with everything that mr. gonzalez has to say. he does make some good points in his article, but unjustifiably takes blatant cheap shots at pat tillman. i mean, c'mon, dude, the guy just died in a war. and it would take an extreme circumstance for me to ever say that someone who was brutally killed "got what he deserved." but, aside from the childish attacks, which are unfortunately overabundant, gonzalez does have some good points.

not surprisingly, gonzalez is being lambasted. surely, the attacks against gonzalez' childish insults are warranted. but, to say that he is an american hater? that's basically just taking it to the other extreme. of course, the people criticizing gonzalez don't see it that way. they think, "how dare he say that pat tillman is not a hero?! the man died for our country! he died for you! for me! for us!"

yeah. great. what were you saying? sorry, i wasn't really paying attention. i was too busy picking out all the chocolate pieces in my chips ahoy.

look, it's not that i'm unsympathetic. any man who serves in the military of any country has my utmost respect in regards to self-sacrifice. of course pat tillman showed tremendous courage. of course pat tillman is not your typical american. in fact, the irony of this is that pat tillman is the most celebrated unamerican american in recent memory. after all, what is more american than hoarding money? yet tillman turned down millions to go fight in afghanistan. that is definitely unamerican. i mean, what true american is going to throw away a few million dollars for a chance to die?

the real problem here is that no distinction is being made between what tillman believed he was doing and what he was actually doing.

pat tillman believed that what he was doing was important. in actuality? well, apparently he wasn't too bright. or he was a republican. and let's be honest, there's not much difference. as gonzalez pointed out, it's not as if the united states was under attack and mr. tillman was defending his country. he volunteered to go overseas, to a hostile environment, to participate in a war that was started by the united states to protect the interests of united states politicians. that doesn't necessarily include your and my "security."

it's a tricky situation. i mean, the war that tillman fought in is a complete travesty. but it's unfair to criticize him for being so blinded. after all, ingorance can't be seen by the ignorant. so were his actions heroic? it's hard to say.

let's say that, for example, you are standing in the woods. all of a sudden, a big, scary looking wild animal approaches you. in the immediate proximity of that animal you are by yourself, but off to the side there are two animal experts who are close by. one expert tells you that the animal could attack you at any moment, and there's not really much you can do to prevent him from attacking you should it decide to, so to be aware of whats going on. the other expert tells you that the chances of that animal attacking you are extremely low unless you provoke it, so you should just slowly walk away from the animal and no harm will come to you.

so, you start to back away... then, all of a sudden, out of nowhere, a random person comes charging at the animal. he fights the wild animal valiantly, as you quickly move to safety. unfortunately, the animal kills the man.

so, is that man a hero? did he save your life? did he protect you?

maybe. but, it was probably pointless. you probably would've been fine without his help. so, should you laud his stupidity?

it's a yes and no kind of thing. yes, he was brave and did what he did because he thought he was being helpful. but, no, he really didn't do anything except get himself killed.

it's sort of like not being religious and having someone tell you they're going to pray for you. to them, what they're doing is helpful. to you, it's like, "whoop-de-shit."

i guess i just don't understand why this is such a big deal. i mean, do i really need to see his eulogy on television? two hours on espnews? fuck. enough is enough. i don't need to keep seeing pat tillman on television for a month and a half. just like i didn't need to see michael jackson holding his baby over the hotel balcony for a month, or howard dean screaming like a buffoon for two weeks.

personally, i'd feel worse for a guy who got killed while trying to save a 7-11 clerk from getting shot, or a woman from getting raped, or a boy from being kidnapped, than i would pat tillman. that's just how i see it, and i'm not going to apologize for it.

look, i don't have anything against the guy. he's not the one who is pissing me off. again, i do think that what he did was incredibly brave and totally unselfish, and he certainly deserves credit for giving up a shitload of money for something he believed in. but, truthfully, it shouldn't be automatically labeled as "heroic."

let's be honest. if he, for example, became a born again christian and decided that he wanted to serve god and be a priest, would people think that what he did was great? maybe a few. but most people would be saying to themselves, "this guy passed up millions of dollars to violate the poop chutes of little boys? what a moron."

it hurts me when i hear about the stories of other famous athletes whose lives were tragically taken from them, as well.

roberto clemente. thurman munson. darryl kile. reggie lewis. hank gathers.

those are just a few men whose deaths will always sadden me. now i will add pat tillman's name to that list. but, the difference between pat tillman and those other athletes is that he put himself in harm's way.

the bottom line is that the problem i have is not with pat tillman. it's with the media, who once again is oversaturating the shit out of something and making it more relevant that it really is; and it's with assholes who can't accept that some people don't find what pat tillman did heroic. in fact, some of us find it kind of dumb.

that doesn't make his death any less sad or tragic. on the contrary. from where i stand, his death is more disturbing.

look, whether or not you agree with the opinions that mr. gonzalez and i have (although, mine is certainly more forgiving than gonzalez'), at least give us the right to express them, especially if they are educated and well-thought (which, to be fair, much of gonzalez' weren't). it's one of the rights we have under the constitution that pat tillman thought he was fighting for.