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A Story That Breaks An American Soul

TruthDig.com
This Story Breaks My Soul

After Pat’s Birthday
Posted on Oct 19, 2006
By Kevin Tillman
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 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.
Somehow those afraid to fight an illegal invasion decades ago are allowed to send soldiers to die for an illegal invasion they started.
Somehow faking character, virtue and strength is tolerated.
Somehow profiting from tragedy and horror is tolerated.
Somehow the death of tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of people is tolerated.
Somehow subversion of the Bill of Rights and The Constitution is tolerated.
Somehow suspension of Habeas Corpus is supposed to keep this country safe.
Somehow torture is tolerated.
Somehow lying is tolerated.
Somehow reason is being discarded for faith, dogma, and nonsense.
Somehow American leadership managed to create a more dangerous world.
Somehow a narrative is more important than reality.
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, virtue-less, vacuous, malicious criminals are still in charge of this country.
Somehow this is tolerated.
Somehow nobody is accountable for this.
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. Most likely, they will come to know that “somehow” was nurtured by fear, insecurity and indifference, leaving the country vulnerable to unchecked, unchallenged parasites.
Luckily this country is still a democracy. People still have a voice. People still can take action. It can start after Pat’s birthday.
Brother and Friend of Pat Tillman,
Kevin Tillman

QC’s Weekly BitchFest 2006!

Welcome to QueerClick’s new WEEKLY edition called BitchFest 2006!! It appears so many of you have so much stuff you need to get off your chest with a sounding board. So here is your chance. Each week QC will give you a topic or theme and you can sound off about it all you want. We want to hear your gripes, complaints and sounding off about your life, but we do ask you follow these simple guidelines:
I. Stick to the Theme/Topic
II. DO NOT bash others for their sounding off.
III. Leave comments and bitches in the COMMENT SECTION.
Here is this weeks topic: The Huge Dessert Debate For Thanksgiving.
Should it Be Pumpkin Pie, Mincemeat Pie, Cake or Pudding?



Please feel free to also comment in the comment section.
Doc. Feel On MySpace

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Butt, the Book

Celebrating Butt magazine’s fifth anniversary, this book is a selection of the most fantastic and the most ridiculous interviews and photos that have appeared in Butt so far.
Like the magazine itself, this book offers an often amazingly realistic view on today’s homosexual man, including conversations with Michael Stipe, Gus van Sant, Rufus Wainwright, Marc Jacobs, as well as contributions from Wolfgang Tillmans, Terry Richardson, Hedi Slimane, Asianpunkboy, and Helmut Lang, just to name a few. “Butt has single-handedly pioneered the notion of a smart, literate gay magazine yet also manages to be very dirty,” notes filmmaker Bruce LaBruce in his foreword. “Butt matters. Butt fills a hole.”

DX3: Hot Guys in 3-D

Our friends at Queerty turned us on to DX3, which features hot nearly naked guys which pop out from the page via those fun 3-D glasses you wore as a kid. Issue three just hit publication and includes 77 pages of 111 anaglyphs for 25 bucks (includes glasses). Unfortunately, “Real boys…not included. ” If you have a pair of glasses sitting nearby, be sure to check out the gallery of images.
Now only if we could get QC in 3-D…

Happy Weekend!

Have a great one folks! We’ve all earned it! 😉

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QC’s Weekly BitchFest 2006!!

Welcome to QueerClicks new WEEKLY edition called BitchFest 2006!! It appears so many of you have so much stuff you need to get off your chest with a sounding board. So here is your chance. Each week QC will give you a topic or theme and you can sound off about it all you want. We want to hear your gripes, complaints and sounding off about your life, but we do ask you follow these simple guidelines:
I. Stick to the Theme/Topic
II. DO NOT bash others for their sounding off.
III. Leave comments and bitches in the COMMENT SECTION.
Here is this weeks topic: Is Coming Out A New Fad-Phase Or Freedom?
Wow, so many celebrities coming out lately. What do you think is behind it all?


Please feel free to also comment in the comment section.
Doc. Feel On MySpace

Caption the Sign!

What should the yellow sign say?