MY 'HERO OF THE GAME' CAN'T ATTEND
Monday marks the 60th anniversary of my first White Sox game. There was no hero of the game that August 6, 1952, for two reasons. Early Wynn and the Tribe pummeled the Sox 7-1, denying any Pale Hose from donning a hero's mantle. Secondly, it would be over 50 years before the White Sox instituted their Hero of the Game feature in which a military man or women, usually someone coming back from a war zone or re-enlisting, is brought out to receive a tumultuous ovation from 20 to 30 thousand fans.
I do not stand and I do not cheer in spite of my respect for the awesome bravery and dedication of the honored. I view the event as a free commercial for the Military-Industrial Complex which has brilliantly woven adulation of military personnel into our culture so we will sheepishly avoid the hard and critical questions why we continue to squander trillions to spill oceans of blood in the Middle East while our own country flounders. This strategy has worked brilliantly as the only mention of foreign affairs in this election consists of each candidate one-upping the other in terms of financial and moral support they give Israel to attack Iran.
But after following the exploits of my beloved Sox in over 9,500 games since that first one, I do feel entitled to recommend my own choice for "Hero of the Game." He's an Iraq war vet who truly loves his country and served it, and indeed, humanity, well till no longer permitted. This soldier followed his conscience and in return was detained and held under the following conditions for eight months: stripped to his underwear, isolated from exercise and most normal detention activities, sleep deprived and allowed use of eye glasses for a single hour daily.
An international outcry finally forced this serviceman to be granted more humane conditions of detention. Even UN torture expert Juan Mendez who investigated the initial detention, concluded that he had been held in cruel and inhuman conditions. This soldier has been incarcerated another eight months and won't get his day in court till sometime next year. Many believe this unconscionable delay is to postpone the embarrassment his trial will cause Uncle Sam. His crime? Telling the world the truth about our senseless, and murderous and bankrupting Iraq war.
At my next Sox game I will stand and cheer when the service person trots out to a standing ovation. But my cheers will be for the soldier who can't be there to receive them for his unfathomable sacrifice to the dictates of his conscience: My Hero of the Game? Private Bradley Manning.
I do not stand and I do not cheer in spite of my respect for the awesome bravery and dedication of the honored. I view the event as a free commercial for the Military-Industrial Complex which has brilliantly woven adulation of military personnel into our culture so we will sheepishly avoid the hard and critical questions why we continue to squander trillions to spill oceans of blood in the Middle East while our own country flounders. This strategy has worked brilliantly as the only mention of foreign affairs in this election consists of each candidate one-upping the other in terms of financial and moral support they give Israel to attack Iran.
But after following the exploits of my beloved Sox in over 9,500 games since that first one, I do feel entitled to recommend my own choice for "Hero of the Game." He's an Iraq war vet who truly loves his country and served it, and indeed, humanity, well till no longer permitted. This soldier followed his conscience and in return was detained and held under the following conditions for eight months: stripped to his underwear, isolated from exercise and most normal detention activities, sleep deprived and allowed use of eye glasses for a single hour daily.
An international outcry finally forced this serviceman to be granted more humane conditions of detention. Even UN torture expert Juan Mendez who investigated the initial detention, concluded that he had been held in cruel and inhuman conditions. This soldier has been incarcerated another eight months and won't get his day in court till sometime next year. Many believe this unconscionable delay is to postpone the embarrassment his trial will cause Uncle Sam. His crime? Telling the world the truth about our senseless, and murderous and bankrupting Iraq war.
At my next Sox game I will stand and cheer when the service person trots out to a standing ovation. But my cheers will be for the soldier who can't be there to receive them for his unfathomable sacrifice to the dictates of his conscience: My Hero of the Game? Private Bradley Manning.
posted by Walt Zlotow at 2:59 PM
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