Jessica Lynch, Col. West: What's wrong with this picture?

townhall.com ^ | 11/16/03 | Mona Charen

[Chapita]

I wonder if whatever his men did, saved the lives of their buddies?

[Jeff Head]

I have corresponded with Col. West this morning. All of the details will come out. We are not being told what it was the others did that he reported as compared to what he did and the timing of events is disputed by both sides. Clearly, from my perspective, what the others did would in all likelihood be worse than what West did to extract information...but I do not know that for a fact.

I do know from corresponding with the man and from my own sources that he is a loyal, faithful, committed and honorable officer. Even men like that can make mistakes...but given the time-critcal nature of the situation he faced and given what he actually did compared to what our forces have had to do in the past in order to secure victory over abject tyranny...I will not fault him unless something much worse than what I have been told to date comes out. The article 32 going on now and any further action will make all of that clear in time. In the mean time, I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

[Consort]

Petty

[Valin]

then wrapped himself in the flag, and garnered the sympathy of a nation which had not heard the entire story."

Now as always I could be wrong. But I don't think he "wrapped himself in the flag", he admitted that what he did was wrong.

[HairOfTheDog]

If Silver Star winner Pfc. Patrick Miller had been a pretty, blonde female, the media would be treating him like a god right now.

This article suffers from the same sickness you have, Polybius. The idea that no other deserving story can get airplay unless it can first tear a new hole in Jessica Lynch.

For me, it cheapens them to get attention this way. I don't blame Miller for your behavior either. Miller has more class than to insult her in order to gain personal fame.

[Polybius]

If Silver Star winner Pfc. Patrick Miller had been a pretty, blonde female, the media would be treating him like a god right now......Polybius

This article suffers from the same sickness you have, Polybius. The idea that no other deserving story can get airplay unless it can first tear a new hole in Jessica Lynch.......HairOfTheDog

How does that quote "tear a new hole in Jessica Lynch", HairOfTheDog? That was a quote about how the media has handled this episode.

And what about the other quote in my post...."Author Rick Bragg, formerly a reporter at The New York Times, wrote in "I Am a Soldier, Too" that her public appeal was apparent from the start. 'She was a pretty, blond American soldier and would look good on television,'" he said.

That was a quote from Lynch's own book written by her own ghost-writer.

Are you now going to accuse Lynch's own gost-writer of "tearing a hole in Jessica Lynch" in Lynch's own book?

Even Jessica Lynch herself complained of the ridiculous media-generated hype about her that was swallowed hook, line and sinker by certain individuals on FR.

There is certainly one sickeness and that is how some individuals treat Lynch with all the blind obssession that some 14 year-old boys have for their favorite celebrity fan magazine covergirl.

[HairOfTheDog]

I treat her with the respect and support she deserves as one of our troops who went to the desert when told to.

This story has nothing to do with Jessica Lynch. We are only reading it because someone used her to get their headline noticed.

It is classless to insult one soldier in the promotion of another no matter how much more worthy you think the other is. It cheapens the cause.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

There is certainly one sickeness and that is how some individuals treat Lynch with all the blind obssession that some 14 year-old boys have for their favorite celebrity fan magazine covergirl.

I have to agree with this. It is bizarre that any discomfort with this story and the way it has been handled in the media is seen as personal criticism of Jessica Lynch. It is nothing short of dysfunctional.

[HairOfTheDog]

You know dang well that there is much bashing of Jessica Lynch personally. Many begin on the high horse of simply criticizing the media, but many descend into insults of her to prove their point about how worthless she is as a story. There is an unbelievably mean-spirited vein on these threads that just simply should not be on a board where a majority claims to support those who were sent to Iraq on our behalf. Not ~one~ of them deserve the ringer she has been put through HERE since the news of her rescue.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

You know dang well that there is much bashing of Jessica Lynch personally. Many begin on the high horse of simply criticizing the media, but many descend into insults of her to prove their point about how worthless she is as a story. There is an unbelievably mean-spirited vein on these threads that just simply should not be on a board where a majority claims to support those who were sent to Iraq on our behalf.

Then maybe you should focus your scolding on those who criticize her personally instead of someone like Polybius, who has a perfectly legitimate and reasonable view of this story. You may have noticed he's far from alone. Suggesting he had a "sickness" was, in my opinon, over-the-line - particularly coming from someone who cannot apparently tolerate even polite disagreement on this story.

You can't control everything people think and say about Jessica Lynch, and it's pointless to try. Not everyone sees this the way you do, and that's something you simply cannot control.

[HairOfTheDog]

I know he is not alone. I know that very well.

The 'sickness' criticized was the tactic of attempting to promote another soldier by demeaning Jessica Lynch. Telling us how worthless she is compared to ~this~ soldier... -as if her fame is a great prize to covet. ...Using her name recognition to push a cause that claims to resent her name recognition. This article did it, and Polybius's post did the same thing. If he is trying to affect opinion on Miller, he should know that some who read it find that tactic to be really distastful.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Comparing the treatment of two distinct individuals is a perfectly legitimate thing to do. To say that a military institution or the media would have treated or has treated a man far differently than Lynch has been treated is not a personal criticism of Lynch.

Are other people's observations about it really that uncomfortable to read?

[HairOfTheDog]

This isn't about me and my issues. Why are you on all the threads? There are a few issues that grab us, and we follow them. I show up on these threads because I am appalled to find so much disrespectful treatment of Lynch by FReepers. I register my views so that anyone reading will at least know that there are a few here who do not think she deserves the public dissection that she has suffered here, and that she has my support.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

This isn't about me and my issues. Why are you on all the threads?

I find it interesting that you should ask me that question. To answer it: I am on the threads because I loathe the way the media has focused in on one soldier to the exclusion of others. (And I've been here long enough to know that a few will interpret my daring to mention that disparity as criticism of "Jessica", but I cannot do anything about their inability to distinguish my disgust with the media from personal criticism of Lynch.) I can only speak for myself, but I'm here merely to express my opinion - not to scold other people or shame them for their legitimate observations.

[HairOfTheDog]

but I'm here merely to express my opinion - not to scold other people or shame them for their legitimate observations.

Oh - and I thought you were trying to scold me.

This is all about opinion here. I don't need that explained to me.

[HairOfTheDog]

I find it interesting that you should ask me that question.

I asked and answered it. I wasn't wondering.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

Oh - and I thought you were trying to scold me.

This is all about opinion here. I don't need that explained to me.

Since you consistently seem to be trying to stifle others offering their opinion on Lynch, you will understand my mistake.

Regarding your impression that I was trying to "scold" you, I don't think you have any room to be calling Polybius sick for his views - that's all. You give the impression that you believe you and those who agree with you are the only ones with a legitimate view of this story, and the only ones with "class". If that's not condescending, I don't know what is.

[HairOfTheDog]

Stifling other views? - Oh dear. I am so outnumbered I don't even have the affect of appearing to do that. I try to persuade and offer argument behind my point of view. Most see it as just that. Like you, I can be a judge of what I think is sick, rude, tacky, classy or fair.

[DaughterOfAnIwoJimaVet]

When you use words like this, I get the impression that you would stifle some people's remarks if you could:

"that just simply should not be on a board..."

I know there are people here who have been vile and personally insulting to Lynch - but Polybius has not been one of them. That's my point to you here.

Have a good day, Hair.

[HairOfTheDog]

The whole sentence was pretty clear in what I meant.

"There is an unbelievably mean-spirited vein on these threads that just simply should not be on a board where a majority claims to support those who were sent to Iraq on our behalf. "

Context is everything.

I am pointing out a shallowness in support for the troops where Jessica is concerned. It seems out of place on this board where a majority claims to support the war effort and the troops. That is how I see it. There are always more unsung heros than those given songs. Sometimes the best never get a song and only a few of us know about them. But I wouldn't cheapen their honor with sour grapes. It looks like jealousy. Jealousy never attracts the kind of attention that was wanted, it only looks ugly. It seems to me a bigger wrong to tear her down than it was to build her up. It's unseemly. I am glad after all that has been said about her she had a chance to at least tell her side to those with enough interest to still listen. I hope she fades away before the media and her critics eat her alive.

The press is at any given time 'overdoing' some story. Be it Laci Peterson, Jessica Lynch, Nicole Simpson or Jon Benet Ramsey. Which came first, the story or the public's interest in it? Like it or not, Jessica is still interesting to people and her name in the headline gets more reads than others.

What irritates FReepers is that she isn't the 'kind' of soldier they want to see publicized. They fear what she may do for acceptance of women in the military, an issue they already lost but don't know it. The women are already over there, in the desert, right now. Many hold the unglorious types of positions that Jessica held. And many are at just as much risk every day of ending up at the wrong place and time. And I support all of them.

It is the idea that ~they~ might read these threads and discover that our support is more shallow and politically motivated than they deserve that keeps me on these threads. Whether it is the media that is being criticized or the soldier herself when people are calling her names is a subtlety that may not make a lot of difference to them.