Posted on 08/28/2005 10:58:16 PM PDT by goldstategop
In another time and place, in a universe that seems sometimes far, far away, I was a member of the Old Guard.
I was part of the Media Elite, that effete corps of impudent snobs who filtered the news for the American people.
In fact, I had arisen to the very top of the food chain – the elite of the Media Elite, the small club of those who actually ran newsrooms in major metro dailies.
To maintain some contact with this dying culture and to amuse myself in reflective moments, I sometimes still read the trade journal of the newspaper industry, Editor & Publisher.
In one of those moments, I ran across an article headlined: "American Legion Declares War on Protestors – Media Next?"
This is one of those gems I long for in my perusal of E&P – an illustration of just how deep runs the political paranoia in the Old Media.
The un-bylined report, attributed to E&P staff, purports to alert media insiders to what the 2.7 million member America Legion decided about war protests at its national convention in Hawaii.
It was an important story, to be sure. The American Legion is a large, powerful and important organization. But E&P was not content to simply report the news of the event. Instead, it injected its own unfounded fears, probably broadly felt within the Old Media that something sinister was afoot.
Yes, the American Legion's 4,000 delegates voted unanimously to support the president, Congress and the men and women and leadership of the armed forces "as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life."
It also condemned in strong terms "public protests" and "media events" against the war because they aid and comfort the enemy we face.
As people like Cindy Sheehan are not just denouncing the war effort, but actually referring to those attacking American troops as "freedom fighters," the warning was timely. The U.S. anti-war movement is reaching a kind of hysteria not seen in this country since Vietnam.
And, so, without any supportive quotes from the American Legion to back the suggestion, E&P questioned whether the media would be next among the targets of the group's wrath and condemnation.
The American Legion, it seems to me, was making an excellent point. We have, in this country, the mechanism to make our voices of protest known through our elected officials – quietly, non-publicly. We can do this when we disagree with war policies without providing public support for our enemies – enemies who seek to kill as many Americans as possible in the days ahead, enemies who seek the wholesale slaughter of "infidels" the world over.
There are good and thoughtful and responsible reasons to question many of America's war policies. But the American Legion understands there is a fine line between protest and support of these enemies. And many of the protesters long ago crossed that line.
Take, for example, the demonstrators at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to greet severely injured returning Iraqi combat troops with signs like "Maimed for Lies."
It's sickening. It's disgusting. It's reminiscent of the agitators who met returning Vietnam combat soldiers as "baby killers." Worse.
The American Legion doesn't want America to go down this road of self-destructiveness again. That was the intent of this resolution.
But E&P, representative of the Old Media, which have provided so much fawning attention to these thoughtless, unconscionable, immoral protests, is worried that journalists might be the next target.
E&P quoted Thomas Cadmus, national commander of the American Legion: "No one respects the right to protest more than one who has fought for it, but we hope that Americans will present their views in correspondence to their elected officials rather than by public media events guaranteed to be picked up and used as tools of encouragement by our enemies." To which, E&P added: "This might suggest to some, however, that American freedoms are worth dying for but not exercising."
That editorial comment, of course, may reflect the opinions of the Elite Media Establishment. But it suggests to some that the Old Guard cannot tell the difference between what is legal, what is moral and what is responsible behavior in a free society.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
And P&G just added a new detergent to their product line. And OMC just introduced a new DAC to AC inverter for their new division at OMC. MC will be countering this market ing process by the end of 9.
And hopefully, the T.O.M. will pull down half the DNC with them.
"E&P questioned whether the media would be next among the targets of the group's wrath and condemnation."
Old media are the ones who run around yelling "free speech" the loudest when they're supporting some anti-American, treasonous hate speech by the left, and now they're critizing the American Legion for exercising it's free speech? Liars, fools, and now hypocrites; I'm running out of derogatory terms for the old media.
BUMP!
A Legionaire BUMP!
Bump
What we have in the E&P article is evidence of a guilty conscience... The MSM is very well aware that the Veterans are right and fearful they might be next.
Bwaaahhhaha
An important component of its delusional system is paranoia--both delusions of grandeur and persecution.
Paranoia can be dangerous, especially when it reaches psychotic proportions, and the more a delusional system is threatened by truth, the more defensive the deluded become.
The Left is increasingly defensive, jittery, and hysterical as circumstances continue to reveal the vast gulf between reality and their delusional beliefs and as this vast gulf becomes obvious to more and more people.
As long as the Left remains relatively impotent, though their frustration and hysteria will escalate, the real danger that they pose will remain relatively inconsequential, especially if they continue to get their message out.
As long as that remains, they'll always be good for a laugh--that is, if you don't mind laughing at the intellectually and morally handicapped.
Their willingness--eagerness--to follow their sociopathic leaders down the well travelled and well paved Road to Hell--and to drag the rest of us along with them--makes it much easier not to feel sorry for these worthless, deluded, paranoid, self-righteous morons.
How can they judge wants moral when its all relative.
Hahahaha! Well said.
You haven't been to many American Legion meetings. A LOT of these old vets are business owners. Business owners who represent the advertising lifeblood of the MSM. If a whole bunch of these business owners decide they really don't like a particular columnist, and make it known thru the paper's business office, the publisher WILL take notice
Yeah, I kinda liked that too. When I get cranked up I can rant pretty well.
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