As sharp-eyed readers learned a few months ago from single-paragraph articles buried deep inside their newspapers, Pat Tillman died pointlessly, a hapless victim of "friendly fire" who never got the chance to choose between bravery and cowardice.

Tillman made that choice when he turned down a lucrative career to sign up. A slug like Rall would never understand that in a million years.

The Left, including way too many people in the media, seems comfortable with the U.S. military in only two roles: hapless victim of society and our leaders--usually uneducated and poor--or William Calley-type psychotic killers and torturers of helpless victims.

The delight you saw in the news stories when the circumstances of Tillman's death came out was exceeded only by the handsprings they turned when the Abu Ghraib photos were released. THAT was the military they wanted to see.

BTW, even most liberals think Rall is an asshole.