"the Right's biggest blog?"

Wow, you give us far, far too much credit.

I think Glenn Reynolds, Michelle Malkin, Charles Johnson, Captain Ed Morrissey, and Hugh Hewitt might dispute that -- they're all in the top 10 of the ecosystem, while we tend to bounce around 16-17.

As far as why I, personally, haven't covered it... I don't see it as part of "the big picture." It's not a clear-cut case of wrongdoing, but people doing wrong things for wrong reasons out of good intentions. No one is saying that Tillman's death was part of a grand plot to manufacture a hero; it was a fuck-up of the sort that happens in wars.

It's kind of like Nixon's involvement in Watergate. Hardly anyone thinks he was involved in ordering the break-in. Likewise, I don't think anyone deliberately set out to get Tillman killed so they could have a hero.

Lynch... I never thought of her as a "hero," and didn't care to think of her as a "victim." I had my doubts about the "went down fighting" bit of her story (and I mean "the story about her," not "the story she told"_ at the time, especially in light of her injuries, but didn't really think too much about it -- I figured the one person to tell precisely what happened was her, and she had more important things to do -- such as heal.

The people who decided that the real stories of heroism coming out of Iraq and Afghanistan weren't properly heroic enough, and felt the need to manufacture a couple of heroes, need to be smacked around and smacked down. This is real life, not "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence."

(For the uninitiated: the killer quote from that Western is "when the legend becomes fact, print the legend.")

J.

I got a deal for you, David: you dump that silly Obama thing with me, I won't bring up this article:

http://www.americanthinker.com/2007/04/media_lynch_mob.html

Shake on it?

J.

Go for it! Did the Washington post give Lynch the Bronze Star too?

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/army/a/jessicalynch.htm

Read it over, I'd be curious to see the citation. The story that she "went down fighting" was completely fabricated by the media. But that doesn't mean she didn't perform heroically -- the Bronze Star's criteria:

3. Criteria: a. The Bronze Star Medal is awarded to any person who, while serving in any capacity in or with the military of the United States after 6 December 1941, distinguished himself or herself by heroic or meritorious achievement or service, not involving participation in aerial flight, while engaged in an action against an enemy of the United States; while engaged in military operations involving conflict with an opposing foreign force; or while serving with friendly foreign forces engaged in an armed conflict against an opposing armed force in which the United States is not a belligerent party.

b. Awards may be made for acts of heroism, performed under circumstances described above, which are of lesser degree than required for the award of the Silver Star.

c. Awards may be made to recognize single acts of merit or meritorious service. The required achievement or service while of lesser degree than that required for the award of the Legion of Merit must nevertheless have been meritorious and accomplished with distinction.

OK, I just found a quote of the citation: "For exemplary courage under fire during combat operations to liberate Iraq, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Private First Class Lynch's bravery and heart persevered while surviving in the ambush and captivity in An Nasiriya."

I haven't heard her "courage under fire" or "bravery and heart" questioned, only the "went down fighting."

I'd suggest we submit the matter to a neutral arbiter, someone well-versed with the notion of undeserved medals. Is John Kerry available?

J.

No, but I believe it is pretty unanomous in the Military Circles that based on the current number of awardees and comparitive deeds, she aint even in the ballpark.

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