Pat Tillman

The retired general being considered for demotion over his handling of the death of Pat Tillman now wants to speak. Don't know what he'll say but the blackout of coverage on this story on the right wing blogosphere is telling in light of the explosion over the Scott Thomas Beauchamp story. Tillman's military record is beyond reproach and the circumstances surrounding his death aren't likely to help further their Malkinesque military fetish. He was an atheist and opposed to the war in Iraq and unfortunately conducted himself in no way other than honorably.

Beauchamp it seems did as well but recorded conduct by himself and others which viewed through the lenses of an armchair conservative moralist looks... well unfortunate. The more unfortunate fact for them though is that none of it was illegal and certainly nothing but an indication of trivial insensitivity on the part of combat troops, who obviously have a bit more on their minds than choosing their words properly to suit the image of them that the Weekly Standard would like to peddle.

I can't help but think that if they really appreciated the sacrifices made by US military personnel then they would be able to have a slightly more nuanced view of them than something we might see in WWII recruitment films. They don't have a mature view of the military, the war, or the world in general and thus can brook no challenge.

Lindsay Graham's odd view of our military

At about 2 mins Graham and Webb start discussing whether or not the troops support the war and Graham repeats the often heard mantra "they want to win... let them win." Well obviously they want to win. This idiotic, jingoistic philosophy somehow encompasses the belief that people in opposition to the war believe that soldiers enlist in the military to lose wars. But more important it seems strange to me that Graham, and the right, conceives of the military as some kind of autonomous body of policy formulation. Does he understand that the military is under civilian control and that what the troops want to do is no more important than what I want them to do? I may be crazy but I thought that political leaders (the president) were elected to command the military to serve the interests of America as expressed by the people. I wasn't under the impression that the military made up its mind about what it wants to do and we the citizens who they apparently serve must defer to their wishes despite what we find our interests to be. According to Graham the military apparently commands itself. I'm quite sure that the situation was similar in South American military juntas.