"The Truth Needed to be Supressed"

I haven't offered any comments on Alberto "Henceforth to be known as Gonzo" Gonzalez, and the debacle formerly known as the Department of Justice. The politically motivated firings of eight key Justice Department attorneys, Gonzo's dismal showing at a Senate hearing last week, and Bush's reaction of "increased" confidence in the attorney general, failed to register any surprise with me.

Today, however, I read something that sparked a little fire. Pat Tillman's brother accused the military of "intentional falsehoods" and "deliberate and careful misrepresentations" in portraying the football star's death as heroic, rather than what it was: a tragic accident by friendly fire.

"We believe this narrative was intended to deceive the family but more importantly the American public," Kevin Tillman told a House Government Reform and Oversight Committee hearing. "Pat's death was clearly the result of fratricide," he said.

This registers with me because here is a family personally affected by the war on terror. The Tillman family, like a small number of other military families, has had to carry the burden of the President's crusade, while the rest of us have been instructed to "go shopping."

Pat Tillman's death is also a microcosm of the administration's handling of the war in general: covering up the truth and painting a rosy picture for the American public. Jessica Lynch was also on-hand today to hammer away at the ruse the administration has perpetrated on the American people. You remember Jessica Lynch, right? The Army private famously rescued from Iraqis then turned into a poster-girl for the war on terror. Today, four years later, she had this to say, "The bottom line is the American people are capable of determining their own ideals of heroes and they don't need to be told elaborate tales."

Much of the War on Terror has been nothing more than an elaborate work of fiction by a handful of neoconservatives and their recently baptized President. Brave Americans have died for this fiction. Careers have been ruined for trying to reveal this fiction. Billions of dollars have been lost for this fiction.

Marry Tillman, Pat Tillman's mother, said today she was "appalled" when she realized how much the military had mislead her about her son's death. The sad truth is that her son did an honorable thing by leaving his football career to join the Army. He trusted the military with his life. And when that life was gone they couldn't even honor his death with the truth.

The president and those who put personal loyalty above the good of the country do not deserve your sympathy. They do not deserve your trust. They deserve your good judgment which is based on the truth