Hamill is now a "hero"????

[Bake]

Is there a more overused word in the English language???

Thomas Hamill, Halliburton truck driver and former hostage/POW, is now being referred to as a HERO?? I'm as glad as anyone that he is now free, but a HERO?? Did he save ANYONE'S life? What exactly did he do that was heroic? He managed to escape from captivity, i.e., he walked away from an unlocked room, got thirsty in the desert, went back to captivity, walked away again. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he's free. BUT A HERO???

Please.

Bake

[movonne]

1. I guess we are trying to find hero's in this debacle in Iraq. Just like

the Jessica Lynch story.

[malatesta1137]

2. He's no hero.

Please! He's just another capitalist pig trying to make a buck out of the Iraqi people's disgrace. A pig will always be a pig.

[guitar man]

7. He might not be a hero

But I would hardly call him a "capitalist pig" either. He is simply a guy who found himself in the position of needing to find a way to support his family after rethuglican economics ravaged his family business. His wife had medical problems and bills piled up to boot. So like many of us in the current economy, he found himself faced with a Hobson's Choice to try and take care of his family's needs.

While he may not be a hero to the nation in any sense, I am sure he is a hero to his family for putting himself at risk trying to take care of them.

[fortyfeetunder]

12. I'd agree with that

The rampant loss of family dairy farms in comparison with those megamilking conglomerates resulted in that guy volunteering to over to Iraq.

Big problem I see is people without means are considering going to war/going into the military as a viable option because of the lack of meaningful employment.

[guitar man]

14. tell him what he's won, Bob!

You hit the nail right on the head. Who needs a draft when they can starve people into signing up?

[MissRegina]

3. Any Soldier Who Puts His/Her Life on the Line

to protect our country is a hero. God bless 'em all.

[movonne]

4. I don't believe he is a soldier...

[Zen Democrat]

Another definition of a "hero"

from my father, who fought in Saipan and Okinawa with the Marines in WWII is "the heros didn't come back."

[Rowdyboy]

6. He was a truck driver, a private contractor, employee of

Halliburton. He was not a soldier and he was not a hero.

He was VERY, VERY, VERY LUCKY! Glad he made it

[Webster Green]

15. Protect our country?.......WTF??

How, by any stretch of the imagination are they protecting our country?

They are invaders, storm-troopers for the 21st century.

[TahitiNut]

17. A carpetbagger, not a soldier.

It's claimed he's a truck driver. In our eagerness to "liberate" Iraq (from their oil) we don't seem to be able to find Iraqis that can drive a truck? Sure. Right.

BUcLoLuSgHhIT!

[tkmorris]

20. Unfortunately

We don't have any soldiers left actually doing that. They are all being used to further the private agenda of a small group of sociopathic rich white men.

[kdmorris]

24. He's not a soldier

He's a truck driver for KBR. But just out of curiosity, how are the guys that are soldiers in Iraq protecting OUR country?

[Justitia]

5. You knew it was coming..... -eom

[Algorem]

8. They're already shooting "Goober Gets Away" TV movie.

"Moran in Suspence"?

[Mikimouse]

9. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! I told you, I told you, neener, neener, neener!

I posted exactly that on another thread earlier and was gently admonished for it, the reply being that he had a hard time in the present economy and had gone there to try and make money. Well Boo de hoo hoo. I love it when my predictions come true! (Actually, though, I don't love it nearly as much as I would love being absolutely off base; now, THAT would really make me happy.)

[madrchsod]

10. i talked to someone that was

thinking about driving truck over there but she changed her mind after the attacks and the kidnapping of this guy..she got laid`off from a 22 an hour job and is making 7.20 now. he`s no hero but just a guy trying to get by in bush`s america

[nonconformist]

11. I'm not surprised at all, honestly

I guess this is still relevant:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1482712

[Bake]

13. Two guys at lunch yesterday

Were talking about how they could go to Kuwait for exactly one year and get $250K without paying income taxes in the U.S. How they'd gladly sign up for Kuwait but not for Fallujah.

I guess they're heroes too.

What a fucking crock.

Bake

[roguevalley]

16. There are no heroes here, just survivors. I'm not going to dog pile on

dead people or people with families they can't feed. God. I am sooooo
tired of kicking people in the nuts. Desperation drove him. It drove my dad from Oregon to the Alaska pipeline. He had to sit in a frozen little trailer eating 'soup' made from ketchup and water to get a chance to drive pipe for three terrifying, terrible months because he got here one day too late.

Did he want to be there? No. Did he suffer incredibly in the fear of being too late for the hope of work in Nixon's Phase Four Amerikkka?
Yes. Terribly. Walk a mile in someone else's shoes before you jump down their throat. A lot of people will eat shit to feed their families. That's heroism to me. Doing what you have to do to take care of your kids and obligations. That's what we have all come to now, risking a bullet in the head to feed your family. Been there. Done that.

[Mikimouse]

19. Rogue, I believe that we usually agree on most things, and...

I completely understand what you are saying about your father. He took a hell of a risk to take care of his family. The difference I see here, and I am not saying that I am necessarily right, but this guy went to Iraq, knowing that the Iraqis were being frighteningly exploited by the US. I differentiate what your father did from Hamill's actions on the basis of that. No way Hamill didn't know the situation in Iraq, unless he was sequestered in a hole somewhere. I tend to think of people like him as the quintessential type that would advocate a saying like: "Kick their ass, take their gas." I find it very difficult to have sympathy, let alone consider him anything even remotely resembling a hero. Truce, from one who loves the real frontier as much as you do. I will always consider that part of my soul is still wandering around in Alaska, enjoying everything. :pals:

[dudeness]

18. most definately overused..

the term is employed by propagandists on both sides (martyr springs to mind)..to inspire people to levels of self sacrifice..it is a term that was being introduced into the australian vocabulary, however i feel the general population rejected the term being associated with people just doing their job..

[Christ was Socialist]

21. He is Exploitive Capitalistic Scum <nt>

[VolcanoJen]

22. Not a hero. Not a bad guy, either.

Screw the Hannity-types that throw the word "hero" (as if they knew what that word meant) around as loosely and thoughtlessly as they throw a pack of cigs, a Diet Coke and a bag of Munchos onto a convenience-store counter. Screw them. Screw them into the deepest depths of earth.

I like to think of it as the "Crying Wolfowitz" syndrome. Say it too many times, and everyone stops taking you seriously.

[deacon]

23. I believe the iraqi's let him slip out the back door- they wanted him...

to escape. It didn't just happen. It's another jessica lynch story.