PRESSING ONE’S LUCK
Re: George Neumayr’s Embedded
Patsies:
Isn’t it amazing that liberalism doesn’t pose a threat to
journalists’
objectivity, but being close to the military does?
— Mary McLemore
Pike Road, AL
Thanks to George Neumayr for another outstanding article. This one
got my blood boiling, but I’m predisposed to having articles on
this subject get it boiling.
— unsigned
I flew F-100s in Vietnam in ‘67 and ‘68 and was there during the
Tet offensive. Although the initial stages of that offensive were a
surprise (we had “stood down” in respect to the Vietnamese
holiday), it took only a few days to gain a remarkable advantage
over enemy forces that heretofore had remained dispersed and
covert. We flew close air support for our and South Vietnamese
forces that rounded up and wiped out formations of North Vietnamese
regulars and Viet Cong. In what appeared to be a major
miscalculation by the communists, the local populace did not rise
up in their support. Many of my squadron mates and I thought that
this was a major turning point in the war and that it would soon be
over.
While I felt that the war was a correct response to communist
aggression (and still do), it would be disingenuous of me to say
that I supported the way that our political leaders and top
military leaders conducted that war. The objective of something
less than victory led to an acceptance of sanctuaries and a focus
on body counts to assess progress. Regardless, the one memory that
still gnaws at me is the conduct of the news media. In spite of
overwhelming evidence to the contrary, the editorialists, TV news
performers, and headline writers treated the Tet offensive as a
victory for the communists. In spite of strategic and tactical
miscalculation on the part of the North Vietnamese, the leadership
of the news media treated the North Vietnamese as master warriors
who would prevail in any conflict, feeding doubt to the portions of
the American citizenry.
Here we go again! The recent media focus on casualties, which
remain low, and on the media’s own inference that our progress is
less than planned, makes the hair on the back of my neck stand. In
the run-up to the start of military operations in Iraq, the news
media covered the so-called peace protests in ways that have
ignored the odious nature of organizations, such as World Workers
Party and ANSWER, that have been instrumental in coordinating these
protests. It may be unfair and uncharitable to suspect the motives
of our media elite, but the media elite occupy last place on my
list of American political groups. They are not to be trusted.
— Pat Birmingham
Hilton Head Island, SC
What a great article. This is an extension of the loss of control
of the news by the few and their complaining about it. Been
happening since 1990 and will continue to erode their “mind
control.”
— Bruce Peek
All the home-bound journalists who complain about the embedded
reporters speaking well of those who would keep them alive fail to
realize those same military people are also keeping them alive,
albeit a little later.
— Allan Thompson
Woburn, MA
BRAVE MAN
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s Searching
for Ernie Pyle:
Mr. Tyrrell’s comments about Ernie Pyle are a welcome reminder
that high-tech video and fancy non-words like “embed” are no
substitute for good writing. I was first turned on to Ernie Pyle as
a young boy reading a 25-cent used collection of his columns called
Brave Men. It remains one of the best books I’ve read,
better than all the Gulf Wars reporting I’ve seen. Mr. Pyle was an
extraordinarily gifted artist.
Today we generally have newsreaders dressed in the latest combat
fashion, with no perspective beyond their location, saying
absolutely nothing on video phone connections. How does David Bloom
get his hair to do that? What will Geraldo find in Saddam’s crypt?
Do I dare eat a peach?
— Robert Martins
Alexandria, VA
After seeing the movie We Were Soldiers Iknew that Karl
Rove would note the effect on the journalist who was under fire
with the troops. It does change your “outlook.”
I remember Ernie Pyle. I think Ernie is back.
— Annette Cwik
CORNERED
Re: Wlady Pleszczynski’s Some
Instant Analysis (scroll down):
I ask, I receive. Thanks for the explanation, however brief. I
concur, for what it’s worth, on how the war effort is going versus
being reported. It is far better to not be glued to the tube or any
instantaneous reporting medium. The tenor can be understood by
“checking in” just a few times a day and trusting in our soldiers
to do their job. How refreshing to have complete trust in the
integrity and honor of the man who is President.
— Roger Ross
Tomahawk, WI
TICK TALK
Re: Lawrence Henry’s Conservatives
Get Liberal Talk Radio Wrong:
We received a call recently from our local public radio/TV
outlet inquiring why we had not renewed our membership. I
responded: “Two reasons — Bill Moyers and Daniel Schorr.” The
volunteer who called dropped her voice and replied, “I
understand.”
— J. Shenk
Harrisburg, PA
Are you neglecting all the really interesting local talk radio
stations such as KSFO? The national talk show hosts such as Rush,
Michael Savage, etc.? Many of the local talk stations use national
hosts such as Michael Reagan, Brian Wilson, Gordon Liddy and others
who are fascinating. Even liberals like Bernie Ward and Ronn Owens
can be interesting. Don’t like Ray Taliaferro? Sure he’s annoying
like Noam Chomsky but it’s much more interesting than NPR. He
doesn’t make believe he is giving news like NPR. He just tells it
as he sees it. And he doesn’t beg for money.
— unsigned
THE DEATH DISEASE
Re: W. James Antle III’s The
Abortion Debate’s Future:
I believe the abortion debate, and continuing cultural decline
(i.e., assisted suicide, biotechnology, violence in our schools,
political correctness, etc.) has served to clarify that these are
symptoms and not the disease. Granted, symptoms must be treated,
but we must also diagnose and treat the underlying disease.
An excellent, in-depth analysis of that disease and its cure is
covered in a remarkable book published in October of 2000 entitled,
Healing The Culture: A Commonsense Philosophy of Happiness,
Freedom and the Life Issues, Ignatius Press, written by Robert
J. Spitzer, S.J., Ph.D., the President of Gonzaga University. It is
the foundation for an educational project called, The Life
Principles (website www.lifeprinciples.net),which
is gaining remarkable success within a secular, and skeptical
culture. In fact, we have been overwhelmed with request for
materials and presentation, not only within the United States, but
also from several countries on different continents.
Our cultural decline did not occur overnight, and will not be
cured by the overturning of Roe v. Wade and its progeny.
Those events would certainly help mitigate the symptoms however.
But ideas do indeed have consequences, and it is upon the
battlefield of the individual’s worldview that this will be won or
lost. The continuing polarization of our culture serves to
highlight how urgent the need is.
— Dan L Kennedy, C.E.O.
Human Life of Washington
Center for Life Principles
BEN HUR, DONE THAT
Re: R. Emmett Tyrrell, Jr.’s In
the Middle of a Tremendous Fight:
In Secret of the Incas, Charlton Heston scares a
hapless bar hound away from Nicole Maurey, telling him “I’m bigger
than you.” Heston is bigger than the execrable Michael Moore in
every sense but one — his fat rump. From most accounts you only
have to know Moore to hate him, which I suppose tells everything
about the no-talents now ruling films. A few years ago, the
Detroit Free-Press couldn’t find room for Heston in its
100 famous Michiganians. If you know the Free-Press, you
will accurately imagine how deep it had to go into the flotsam and
jetsam washed up on our Great Lakes’ shores to accommodate its
politically correct precepts.
— J. R. Wheatley
BEST LAID PLANS
Re: Reid Collins’ Awe,
Shocks:
I agree with Reid Collins about the initial stumbling in the war
with Iraq. All the bragging about what we are going to do made me
very nervous as it fell into the trap of telling the enemy just
what our plans are. Better to have used Ike’s way of planning the
Normandy invasion — shut the hell up and just do it. The attempt
to nail Sodamn Insane just prior to the invasion gave support to
the charge that the war is a personal thing between the Bush family
and the Butcher of Baghdad. This gives ammo to the protestors who
can now scribble up a whole new bunch of nasty signs to wave in
front of the television cameras. It smacks of the same mistakes
that are made when the politicians thousands of miles away make the
tactical decisions when what should happen is that once the overall
objective is established, leave it up to the military to carry out
the plan. Huffing and puffing in front of the press looks foolish,
especially when things don’t go as advertised.
Since some of our support element troops have been captured and
taken hostage — no way are they POWs — and our ground forces are
temporarily stalled up against increased resistance, there are
mutterings that the war is not going well. Wars never go as planned
on paper because there is always the element of surprise and the
military leadership of the Iraqis is not made up of fools. I
understand that there are still some 6 divisions of hard-core and
dedicated Iraqi troops yet to be engaged. They knew we were coming
and have had time to plan specific and clever ways to stall us.
Plus, they are fighting in their homeland while we have to
transport ever bullet, biscuit and bomb thousands of miles just to
get into the neighborhood. With our recon and armored divisions
moving at a 100 mile per day pace, the supply and maintenance lines
are stretched thin and the personnel involved do not have the
training or firepower of our front line assault soldiers. The Iraqi
stealth fighters hunker down as the bombs fall and our best troops
pass through on toward Baghdad. It is after they have cleared that
the Iraqis come out of their holes and do their dirty deeds. We
need to provide cover and protection of our support troops and
attach rat hunting units to root out the enemy tucked away.
Otherwise, we may very well repeat the mistakes the Russians made
in Afghanistan and end up bloody and beaten by a ragged native
enemy.
— Al Martin
Depoe Bay, OR
I believe we have Torie Clarke to thank for this war’s plan. Is it
possible that she’s the real Sec. of Defense and Rumsfeld is only
the titular head? .
— D. Sevakis
Bloomfield, MI
