Hungry Heroes

True connoisseurs of celebrity shenanigans know that, out of all the different subsets of famous people, athletes throw the best tantrums. There's just something about watching a grown man attacking a Gatorade bucket or pouting on the sidelines that, well, it's good for the soul.

And while nothing will ever compare to Charles Barkley punching a mascot, in November of 2003 former University of Miami tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. threw a tantrum that created a bit of a firestorm outside of the sports world. After a particularly tough loss to Tennessee, Winslow ranted, "It's war, they're out there to kill you, so I'm out there to kill them. We don't care about anyone but this U. ... I'm a fucking soldier."

At the time, the war in Iraq was a little more than half a year old. Commentators seized on the incident with glee, tripping over themselves in a frantic competition to see who could condemn Winslow with the most self-righteous, fervently patriotic zeal. For sure, he is an ass who deserved it. But the visceral reaction was also a product of our country's sensitivity to the human cost that the then-young war had already wrought, a sensitivity that seems to have long ago faded to the back of our collective minds.

Destiny's Child currently has a hit song called "Soldier," which makes equally ludicrous comparisons: "I need a soldier," the girls croon, "That ain't scared to stand up for me." Standing up for your girl is all well and good; I suggest merely that facing gunfire and suicide bombers on a regular basis is a bit more daunting. Eminem has a hit song called "Toy Soldiers," which chronicles his verbal feud with fellow millionaire Ja Rule. In the song, Eminem also declares himself a soldier.

Not to get all Bob Dole on you, but all this does beg the question, where's the outrage? It's true that no song lyric can match a locker-room tirade, but the idea remains the same: that to be tough in your daily civilian life is to be a soldier. The uncomfortable silence that met these foolish declarations is troublesome, not because I think musicians should be taken to task for the stupid things that they say, but because it's a symptom of a much larger problem: that we truly have lost touch with the reality of this war. The horrific has become routine, and it has left us comfortably, shamefully numb.

Conservatives complain of a pervasive pessimism in the mainstream media, that as far as Iraq is concerned weak-kneed liberal reporters play up casualty reports while burying stories about all the good that's happening. But in the hours of glowing Iraqi election coverage I watched, I didn't see a single person point out that the goal of promoting democracy was merely the most recent rationale for war. It makes for a good sound bite, but it's not worth more Americans dying than already have. And those daily casualty reports aren't a sign of liberal bias. They're one of the things that happen when you go to war.

And yet, who took time out of their day to think about the 37 American soldiers that were killed last Wednesday? Their families will get a sorrowful letter, probably not actually signed by the Secretary of Defense, and $12,000. America got an extended press conference from President Bush, literally half an hour after the news of the bloodiest day in Iraq was reported, at which he talked mostly about social security, charmed the press corps and successfully muted the story's impact. It was a sharp PR move: as Daily Show correspondent Rob Corddry said, "He called us 'good folks,' Jon. How can we be expected to maintain our objectivity?"

The Pentagon knows full well how desensitized we have become. Against the background of preparing for inaugural festivities lavish enough to make Imelda Marcos blush, Walter Reed Army Medical Center quietly began charging certain outpatient soldiers for meals, according to salon.com. Since the cost to eat there is more than the monthly allowance they receive for food, these veterans are being forced to pay out of their own pockets. Hell, the country's running a deficit; why shouldn't they? Meanwhile, the Bush administration is gearing up to tap Congress for another $80 billion for the war in Iraq; their rhetoric, no doubt, will be all about "supporting the troops."

A young soldier once asked, "What passing bells, for those who die as cattle?" A different war, a different time, and yet so little has changed. Meanwhile, these broken and battered heroes will continue to limp back home long after shouts of freedom and liberty ring hollow, long after we've forgotten why we sent them to war in the first place. The least we can do is feed them.

Eliot Sherman is a senior English major from Philadelphia and editorial page editor of The Daily Pennsylvanian. Diary of a Madman normally appears on Tuesdays.

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