November 27, 2006
Man Immolates Self to Protest War
UPDATE (3:18 pm): Warner Todd Huston over at NewsBusters has more on this topic. And Moonbattery reported on it a couple of weeks ago.
Malachi Ritscher doused himself in gasoline and set himself ablaze near a Chicago highway off-ramp in protest of war in Iraq. (It took days for him to be identified, and it took longer for people to figure out what he did and why.) He left behind this statement:
"Here is the statement I want to make: if I am required to pay for your barbaric war, I choose not to live in your world. I refuse to finance the mass murder of innocent civilians, who did nothing to threaten our country," he wrote in his suicide note. "... If one death can atone for anything, in any small way, to say to the world: I apologize for what we have done to you, I am ashamed for the mayhem and turmoil caused by my country."
Apology accepted. Now that we have that out of the way, let's win in Iraq.
In all seriousness, this man was described as one who dealt with bouts of depression by friends and family. That he chose to burn himself to death with the excuse that it might help stop the war is sad, but it should not be seen as anything other than one person's tragic inability to cope with life.
Some, however, took the bait:
"This man killed himself in such a painful way, specifically to get our attention on these things," said Jennifer Diaz, a 28-year-old graduate student who never met him but has been researching his life. Now, she is organizing protests and vigils in his name. "I'm not going to sit by and I can't sit by and let this go unheard."
One wonders if Miss Diaz would hold a vigil in the name of a soldier who sacrificed himself in battle in the service of our country? A soldier whose presence assures us that we will be able to hold such protests and vigils? A soldier who did not enter the military to end his own life, but to protect ours?
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Ritscher is the kind of guy who could pass for a hero among moonbats: an aging hippie loser who killed himself because he couldn't see the point of his own miserable life.
Posted by: Van Helsing at November 27, 2006 11:04 AMAll Ritscher did is prove that Darwin was right. Survival of the fittest, indeed!
Posted by: reverse_vampyr at November 27, 2006 01:32 PMIt takes a lot more guts to die for your cause than it does to kill for your cause.
Posted by: ajbuckle at November 27, 2006 03:20 PMI would say that it takes more guts to try to deal with your problems, no matter what they might be, then to end it all with the excuse that you are furthering a cause...leaving behind friends and family with the guilt that "perhaps they could have done more" to stop you from taking that final, irrevocable step.
Thanks for stopping by...
Posted by: Pam at November 27, 2006 03:27 PMThanks AJBUCKLE for at least respecting this man's supreme protest. Every soldier's death in Iraq equally should be seen as a horror to this administration's travesty to -- what? capture weapons of mass destruction (so 2003!) institute democracy? (so 2005!) supervise a civil war G.H. Bush predicted in 1990? -- hardly seems worth thousands of our fighting troops lives. To dismiss this protester's sacrifice is exactly the kind of callous, soul-less, attitude that America so overwhelming voted against in the mid-term election. God save us from conservatives who care far more about protecting their pet theories than human life.
Posted by: Marc at November 27, 2006 03:27 PMI always find it amazing when a soldier's presence in occupied territory abroad (e.g. Iraq) is equated to protecting our freedoms here at home. Neither have anything to do with each other and I find it amazing that some continue to make this connection.
Posted by: mcstewey at November 27, 2006 03:44 PM"Apology accepted. Now that we have that out of the way, let's win in Iraq."
Wow. Thanks for clarifying matters. But you've you had your chance to "win in Iraq".
Not that you ever had even a modicum of an idea about what that phrase actually means.
You see, Bush, Cheney, Halliburton, et. al. have already "won in Iraq" and now - no matter what happens - you can and will blame the Dems for the quagmire that your party caused (and the Dems, being the pansy rollovers that they were, allowed Bush to do).
That's why the right, and more specifically the right wing neocons and their enablers are entering yet another of their historically observed periods of being ignored. That they are irrelevant and harmful doesn't seem to have led to their extinction though...Yet.
Posted by: KC at November 27, 2006 03:45 PMWin? Have you enlisted? When are you deploying to Iraq to help win?
Until you have done so, or a son or daughter of yours has put their life on the line, as mine has done, STFU!
Win? How? How many more will die for your "Win" before you realize Bush screwed up so badly no number of American deaths will pull out a "Win"?
If all you wingnuts would enlist so your sorry asses would be on the line for Bush's lies, you might have a different perspective. And for every one of you cowards who got yourself killed, the collective IQ of the right wing would go up a few points.
I salute all our brave Servicemen and Servicewomen, as well as anyone who cares enough about the cause of peace to die for it.
Posted by: liberalpercy at November 27, 2006 03:47 PMAgree with mcstewey. Was our country being invaded? You may think spreading democracy may be a good long-term goal, but it's a bit of a stretch to directly equate it to defending our own democracy. Besides, it seems to me the Iraq war has done more to erode our first amendment freedoms (i.e. Patriot Act) rather than protect them. It's ridiculous to speculate on what his 'real' motivations may have been. Of course, it's pretty silly to think that one death will change anything, since the thousands of others certainly haven't. Besides, he was just a 'moonbat' right, so you must be glad he's dead. Speaking of which, you conservatives (sorry, I don't use cute political nicknames) should think of expanding your vocabulary.
Posted by: Alex at November 27, 2006 03:54 PM"...let's win in Iraq."
I could not agree more. So, let's McCain have his way and ship another 20,000 to 50,000 troops to Iraq. They should not be too difficult to find. Blogmeister and his chickenhawk friends will the first the go, immediately followed by the College Republicans. Time to put your service to the country where your mouth is, chickenhawks!
Posted by: Devil's Advocate at November 27, 2006 04:02 PM"Ritscher is the kind of guy who could pass for a hero among moonbats: an aging hippie loser who killed himself because he couldn't see the point of his own miserable life."
Kind of like Terri Schiavo was for the wingnuts, I guess.
Posted by: KC at November 27, 2006 04:02 PMAlex, these guys are not conservative. They would not know a real conservative if they stumbled upon one. You know? The kind that wants fiscal responsibility, the government out of our lives, the ones that don't want religious crackpots dictating to the rest of the us...
These guys are hardline radicals. They are authoritarians. They don't care about democratic principles. They don't want law and order. They just want order as long as they are the ones giving the orders. In other words, these are people who want dictatorship.
Calling them conservatives is insulting the real conservatives.
let's win in iraq? what does that mean? will the shia or the sunnis surrender? if one of them wins this civil war, does that mean the US posts a de facto win?
no...i'm afraid there is no winning this thing. and the chicken-hawks bear responsibilty for the deaths of each and every soldier, for each lost limb, and for each innocent iraqi killed. and making light of anothers troubled life will not assuage that debt.
U R A DICK.
Posted by: John at November 27, 2006 04:32 PMI think you all ought to read the following article in The American Conservative, written by a conservative about the Iraq War as seen from the offices of the National Review.
Very Interesting:
http://www.amconmag.com/2006/2006_11_20/cover.html
Posted by: KC at November 27, 2006 07:11 PMThis was well worded: "A soldier whose presence assures us that we will be able to hold such protests and vigils?"
Notice, it doesn't say presence "in Iraq." You'd have a hell of a time arguing that our rights here at home have in no way been protected by our invasion and occupation of Iraq. What Afghanistan was for bin Laden and his brood in the 90s, we've made Iraq for the future. And now torture, domestic wiretapping, voter fraud, war profiteering, gay-baiting, and lying to the American people to justify going to war are the benchmarks of "conservativism." Check out the icon on the right side of the page. Someone is represented as being an authoritarian. The joke is, it's Al Gore.
Posted by: Kevin Allison at November 27, 2006 07:18 PMmh, and how will you win a civil war you're not part of?
Posted by: Sirkowski at November 27, 2006 07:56 PMOh, and while we're at it, let's save Terri Schiavo!
Posted by: Sirkowski at November 27, 2006 07:57 PMNatural selection at work once again.
Posted by: Yippee at November 27, 2006 08:11 PMWell, it doesn't seem this post has had its intended effect, but has only highlighted the cowardice of the 101st Fighting Keyboardists compared to this suicidal hippie. His suicide, regardless how irrelevant you want to say it is, has obviously alarmed you enough to provide a knee-jerk long-distance post-mortem psych exam ("but it should not be seen as anything other than one person's tragic inability to cope with life"). Very funny.
Really, guys, if you don't like being called cowards for cheering on this war from the sidelines, a war that you obviously are enjoying, then the solution is easy: enlist.
Posted by: Paul at November 27, 2006 09:34 PMMy goodness, quite a collection of comments you have here!
Posted by: Anna at November 28, 2006 09:07 AMReally, guys, if you don't like being called cowards for cheering on this war from the sidelines, a war that you obviously are enjoying, then the solution is easy: enlist.
Posted by: Paul at November 27, 2006 09:34 PM
Don't hold your breath, Paul. These cowards will never enlist. I bet the College Republicans are now sweating bullets over McCain's call for a massive infusion of forces in Iraq and Rangel's proposal to reinstate the draft. The same goes for the rest of the 101st Keyboardists.
Posted by: Devil's Advocate at November 28, 2006 10:32 AMMarc shared:
"To dismiss this protester's sacrifice is exactly the kind of callous, soul-less, attitude that America so overwhelming voted against in the mid-term election."
Sacrifice? Please. I feel sympathy for him and his family and friends, but to frame a depressed man's suicide as some sort of Great Sacrifice For Peace is f***ing ridiculous. Yes, that's a dismissal - one which this individual entirely deserves. Personally, I think this fella was just looking for a good excuse to kill himself - I really wish he hadn't found that excuse, but here we are.
That does not make him a hero. That makes him a selfish asshole who decided to saddle his family and friends with his feelings of failure. Now he's dead, and the people who loved him get stuck with cleaning up after him. How generous.
I'm sure the family member or friend that had to identify the body and now has the sight of his charred corpse forever seared (with pun very much intended) into their memory is oh so grateful for the 'sacrifice'. If he wanted to make a real 'sacrifice to end the war', he should have headed to the nearest armed forces recruiting station and signed up.
Posted by: n. nescio at November 28, 2006 11:06 AMbtw, Pam H: don't know if you can already tell by the frothing, but you've made the Daou Report :)
Posted by: n. nescio at November 28, 2006 11:09 AM"Win the War in Iraq".
Hilarious!!
You did mean that as a joke, right?
Posted by: Robert at November 28, 2006 01:21 PMYour capacity for self-delusion is apparently boundless. It should bother you that there are American citizens out there who are taking their own lives because they are so distressed by the damage that Bush, Cheney, Rummy and YOU are doing to this Great Republic and its God-given Constitution.
It should offend you in precisely the same way that killing an unborn in the womb "bothers" you - after all, we are talking about a loss of precious human life.
But, clearly you are not bothered by this - which puts the lie to anything else you might say. You now have no credibility and have proven yourself nothing more than a death-monger who cheers for Satan and the destruction of the United States.
Posted by: fiskhus jim at November 28, 2006 01:44 PMI cannot believe the level of hysterical hatred and just plain nastiness generated by this very reasonable post. I would ask these foolish posters - what WOULD you consider dying for if not your country which affords you the highest standard of living and the MOST comprehensive freedoms in the entire world? Do you not feel guilty that you have done NOTHING WHATSOEVER to EARN the bounty you enjoy in this nation so blessed by God?
Posted by: Gayle Miller at November 28, 2006 04:16 PMActually, n.nescio, I think that the man's self-immolation was wrong on many levels -- firstly, I consider suicide a sin. However, I am appalled by the dismissal of his death, just as appalled as I am that the multiple thousands of soldiers deaths in Iraq are so often easily dismissed by the war's supporters. It is the tone -- that if one disaggrees their life is meaningless anyway and deserves to be trashed in print. It is possible to argue without resorting to vile ad-hominem, which is one reason why the conservatives LOST big-time in the last election, they're inability to be civil.
Posted by: Marc at November 28, 2006 04:27 PMGayle Miller wrote:
what WOULD you consider dying for if not your country which affords you the highest standard of living and the MOST comprehensive freedoms in the entire world?
As a husband, parent, son, brother, friend and business owner supporting 3 employees, I make sacrifices all the time. However, I wouldn't consider sacrificing myself for "victory in Iraq" because victory is not possible, and because the mission was spectacularly ill conceived to start with.
Also, I take issue with your mischaracterization of the USA. While we do have a high standard of living and many freedoms, we don't not lead the world in either respect. There are plenty of other countries that surpass us in both standard of living and freedom. Get yourself a passport and see.
Do you not feel guilty that you have done NOTHING WHATSOEVER to EARN the bounty you enjoy
I have done and continue to do plenty to help my country, and don't feel guilty at all. I understand that contributing to a senseless conflict is not a real contribution.
But Gayle, you obviously don't understand that. So I ask you, exactly what sacrifices have you made to help the US in the war in Iraq?
Posted by: Paul at November 28, 2006 06:35 PMDid you really just make light of a person who set himself on fire? Really?
I don't care whether he was depressed, or what you think about the war or his death as an act of protest.
The simple fact here is that someone was so pained, by either his own life, or the world around him or both, that he took his own life in a very public and painful way.
That act, by itself, deserves real respect and condolence. Whether he did it to prove a point, or because of his own internal pain, that suicide deserves more than a flippant "well, now that's done".
You should be ashamed to call yourself a compassionate, Christian, conservative, or anything else.
Posted by: ARP at November 29, 2006 03:26 PMfiskhus jim,
Your ridiculous comparison shows a bit of your own self-delusion. It isn't even remotely logical to equate a person who CHOOSES to end his life (for whatever reason) with a helpless baby whose life is snuffed out by their selfish mother. One is suicide, one is murder. Both are wrong and sad, but they're not the same.
Ritscher's suicide was a stunt intended to up increase the "absolute moral authority" of the anti-war side. Unfortunately, I think he was manipulated into it by a constant diet of anti-Bush, anti-war, and anti-American propaganda.
Posted by: reverse_vampyr at November 29, 2006 03:38 PM
