Media sensationalism can have a dramatic impact on public opinion. It’s often times hard to ignore. Think about the Tiger Woods incident or what American Idol’s Adam Lambert, who Tracy used to adore, that performed his perverted sexual imitation on stage at the American Music Awards. Then there are the White House party crashers; the media just can’t seem to get enough of these stories that really have nothing to do with the substance of society except that they demonstrate how low we have sunk. The major news papers and most of the television news channels just can’t get enough of “Balloon Boy”, “The Octamom”, Tiger’s Sex Life”, “The Health Care Fiasco” and many other non sense stories and yet one of the most devastating- patriotism destroying morale destroying decisio ns of the century is getting very little coverage.
I’m talking about the impending court marshal of three Navy Seals for allegedly punching a terrorist in the mouth and giving him a bloody lip. This isn’t just some terrorist. It is the terrorist that masterminded the slaughter of four Americans, burned their bodies, drug them through the streets of Fallujah and hung them on a bridge. These three Seals are brave soldiers and should be commended for the capture of this mad man. Instead Mathew McCabe, Jonathon Keefe and Julio Huertas face a court marshal instead of receiving a heroism medal.
This story should be on the nightly news across the nation. It is a horrific act against the moral fiber of our soldiers and the sacrifice they make to keep us safe. Instead, short of Fox News, nobody is talking about it in prime time. Instead we hear about the part crashers and balloon boy for crying out loud. Where is our integrity?
I really don’t want to believe that our main stream media has an agenda. I really want to believe that we still cherish freedom of the press. But I have to ask myself, “What the Hell is going on?” As a former military person my heart goes out to these Seals and to every other former military person that is wondering the same thing I am wondering; whose side is this country’s media on? Whose side is this country on?
If I were still in the military I might just have second thoughts on when to pull the trigger; on whether to capture or kill; a decision that could get me killed. Just how do our young fighting men handle this? Will they lose confidence in our leadership? Will they lose confidence in our country?
Just how do we defend taking the word of a terrorist killer over three honorable Seals about a simple bloody lip? I got worse than that in boot camp for bouncing while I marched. We are at War – it’s high time somebody told the leaders of this country that. Better yet, why don’t we give them a gun and let them spend some time on the front lines in Afghanistan or Yemen. Even better, lets invite every investigative reporter from the major news media to be their point men.
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Friday, January 8, 2010
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