The Embracing of a Fallen Soldier

By now, we all know the story of Pat Tillman - pro football player turned soldier, killed in a friendly fire accident in Afghanistan. Pro-war hawks have been making sweet, sweet love to the image of this guy ever since he made the salary sacrifice to become a soldier and especially after he made the Ultimate Sacrifice in the War on Terror.

Turns out that Pat was a little more complicated than the turkeys in the Bush administration had hoped. He was not only a Pro-Bowler who put his young career on hold (permanently as it turned out), but he was also a critic of the war in Iraq and a fan of Chomsky. That the chicken hawks continue to use the memory of Pat Tillman to their advantage is pissing off the Tillman family.

I love a good PR victory, and the left, led by the feckless Democratic Party, rarely wins one. But I'd suggest a little caution when it comes to exploiting a death. If the Tillmans decide to join Cindy Sheehan among the growing number of military families to stand up against the war, great. But people are often more complicated than politics and PR allow, and the death of a loved one is a private matter. So maybe the Tillmans should decide how to honor Pat before we make him a poster child of the anti-war movement.