Strike The Root Blog

I heard this interview with Mary Tillman, mother of the late Pat Tillman, on National Public Radio this morning. It’s well worth checking out.

An excerpt:

[Interviewer Steve Inskeep:] So on these two issues – what happened to Pat Tillman and what did the military do with the information that it had – the military says they made critical errors in reporting what they knew, but there was no criminal wrongdoing in the shooting. It sounds like you’re not satisfied.

[Mary Tillman:] No, we’re not satisfied with that. We’re not saying that Pat was intentionally killed…We may have some questions about that, but that’s nothing that we could ever prove. And I don’t want to get into that. But, he died on [April 22, 2004]. His memorial service was May 3. They could have told us the truth. And if they didn’t want to tell us the truth, they could have said that we don’t know, we’re doing an investigation. But what they did is they made up a story. That’s not a misstep, and that’s not an error. They made up a story. It was presented on national television. And we believe they did that to promote the war.

Needless to say, this woman has no special love or affection for the military wing of the U.S. Federal Megastate, which she sums up perfectly in three simple words: “They always lie.”

What’s absolutely hi-friggin’-larious is that she apparently became quite upset at a recent meeting with U.S. military officials to discuss her son’s death, and Steve Inskeep said that Uncle Sam’s minions reported that she was “abusive” toward them. Guess in all their tough guy training those guys never learned how to deal with an angry mother who won’t put up with any bulls**t in her quest to find out the truth about her son’s death.

Just one final note: Mrs. Tillman’s vague allusion to the possibility of her son having been deliberately murdered, though she stressed that she wasn’t making any accusations, sort of jumps out and Inskeep doesn’t pursue it any further. Interestingly, some time after I had written my own piece on Tillman for S-T-R, I came across a story claiming that Tillman had arranged a meeting with leftist war critic Noam Chomsky that was to take place once Tillman had returned to the U.S., which of course was made impossible by his death.

Kinda makes ya wonder.

Congratulations to the brave Mennonites in Missouri who would rather move than betray their religious beliefs. The state of Missouri now requires a photo on all driver’s licenses, no exceptions. This requirement does not sit well with the Mennonite community, some who are selling their properties and businesses and moving to Arkansas which offers a religious exemption.

These are peaceful, skilled individuals that are being pushed away from their homes by useless, bureaucratic nonsense that offers no useful purpose, outside of maintaining control over the lives of the collective. If only more of us had the guts to take such principled action. .

Resistance is futile:

There is no higher calling than killing for Jesus. “Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death (MAT 10:21):”

“If anyone tries to harm them, fire comes from their mouths and devours their enemies (Rev 11:5):”

“I kill for the state and they give me this shiny trinket:”

Arnold gets in touch with his inner Mexican:

Another professional athlete is moving from the playing field to the killing fields. This should help fill the void created after the sacrifice of the late Pat Tillman. It will also likely help feed the dark souls of the Amerikan war freaks to see another talented individual join Bush’s Band of War Criminals.  If they’re lucky, perhaps these flag waving perverts will soon have another corpse to rally around.  It can only help build support for the war effort.  It certainly has worked before.

The usual scripted explanation is offered: “The way I look at it, we’re spreading freedom, and you have to support the troops and you have to support the war.”

Yep, you just have to.

I was reading an article about Al Gore’s testimony before Congress on Global Warming and found this gem about Gore: ”He’s charismatic,” Rob Berridge, a Boston program manager for a coalition of environmental groups and investors called Ceres, said after the speech. “Yeah, he’s a sage.”

I’m still laughing as I post this.  Al Gore is charismatic?!  A sage?!  What is a “program manager for a coalition of environmental groups and investors”?  Sounds like a group of intellectually challenged fascists (is their any other kind) to me.

The earth is nearing a catastrophic event that will greatly purge the gene pool.  However, it won’t be because of Global Warming, directly.  It will be because of the idiots who believe that man causes it and that the Government needs more power to punish society and free-markets to make a War on Weather.  The War on Weather will cause more harm to our liberties than the War on Poverty, War on Drugs and the War on Terror combined.

The stench of death is a constant in Iraq:

It all depends upon your point of reference:

A graphic representation of the latest U.S. Federal government budget:

When the empire finally falls, a massive cleanup awaits in the DC swamp:

“Please forgive me for my $30,000 per month carbon footprint. Please do as I say, not as I do.”

“Just who are these people I‘ll be killing?”:

Tyrone Brown was a 17 year old on probation for a $2 robbery when marijuana was found in his blood stream. The punishment? Life in prison. It took 17 years before the bloody state of Texas would release him. How many others are suffering the same injustice?

You can get some background on this story here, and here.

I spent over 2 hours yesterday going to another city by Metro rail and then bus and spending a considerable amount of time lost on my feet trying to find a friend’s apartment. I was completely exhausted at the end of the day, which was a 12 hour one for me. And yet, despite all that pain and effort, I’ll consider it preferable to spending another minute at the Department of Motor Vehicles.I hate dealing with the DMV. They’re not there to serve you, you’re there at their mercy.

I don’t have a driver’s license, and have managed for years with only a learner’s permit, which I’ve rarely used to drive, anyways. I mostly walk and take the Metro wherever I need to go. But after practicing during the last few months I agreed with my dad to go to the DMV and take the road test to get a license, my general anxiety about giving up any information for the government aside.

(more…)

In the new, free Iraq, everyone is a suspect:

The state eats (alright, tasers) its own:

“I picked this booger, now what do I do with it?”

Anti-Amerikan graffiti- nothing a fresh coat of paint can’t fix. Surely, this will change the reality on the battlefield:

Bush is loved in South America:

The U.S. military is desperate for new recruits:

Make sure to watch and listen to Jimmie Vaughn (“a free independent, sovereign Texan”) performing Down with Big Brother at a recent Texas Independence Day celebration in Austin, Texas.

Don’t want no shackles, Don’t want no shackles on me.

I say, ‘Down with Big Brother, always trying to track and trace me!’