Posted on 11/19/2003 2:10:14 PM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
Edited on 04/13/2004 2:44:56 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
NEW YORK (AP) -- Reviews have been mixed and the facts are in question, but the authorized biography of Pfc. Jessica Lynch will still claim a cherished position in the publishing industry: No. 1 on The New York Times' list of nonfiction best sellers.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Good for her.
I love capitalism.
Glad to see one of the good guys do with a break. She's going to need all the financial breaks she can get. I'll chalk it up to God's blessings.
The saga of “America’s sweetheart,” Jessica Lynch, the fresh-faced, female soldier with blond hair and blue eyes that Pentagon “spin doctors” hoped would spur female recruiting in the U.S. military, has suddenly gone sour.
The former Private First Class, whose innocent, teen-aged face adorned the covers of national news magazines after her dramatic “rescue” from Iraqi captors, is no longer just a country girl from the hills of West Virginia.
She has become a cash commodity for those who see “big bucks” in marketing this “heroine” for all she’s worth. And at last estimate – that’s plenty!
RAKING IN THE “BIG BUCKS”
Lynch has already landed a million dollar book deal, made a nice piece of change on a photo essay in VANITY FAIR magazine, signed on for a Diane Sawyer television interview, and been the adoring subject of an NBC “made-for-TV” movie. What’s next? A photo spread in PLAYBOY?
Darva Conger, [remember her?], the finicky blond who dumped her hubby right after an “on-air” TV show “marriage,” got close to half a million bucks, we are told, for posing in the buff for the famous men’s magazine. And it wasn’t her slender figure that earned her a high modeling fee from PLAYBOY. It was the “notoriety” of her fame. Jessica could easily command as high a price, if not more.
There’s been “no comment” from the Lynch camp regarding press reports of “nude photos” taken of Jessica back at Fort Bliss before she shipped out to Iraq. The embarrassing pix were allegedly offered to the GLOBE tabloid, who wisely turned them down. Not for the $200,000 asking price, but because even a supermarket newspaper would suffer from public wrath if they risked running such unflattering photos of a “media darling.”
THE ALL TOO CONVENIENT “MEMORY LOSS”
Something has smelled about the too-perfect story of “heroine” Jessica Lynch from the very beginning. The Pentagon deserves its share of the blame for leaking a totally false story to the Washington POST about the female PFC “firing her weapon” until she “ran out of bullets,” leaving the ground covered with dead Iraqi soldiers until she finally was overwhelmed with bullet wounds in the legs and bayonet wounds to the torso.
Just the right “Amazon image” to bolster feminist demands for women in combat. A regular female “Audie Murphy.” But it wasn’t true.
Worse, the actual heroics are shared by several “male” soldiers, including (see our earlier story) SGT. Donald Walters who actually did empty his rifle into the onrushing enemy. He was killed in action, shot repeatedly and stabbed with a bayonet. Neither he nor his family gets a million dollars, much less a full-time public relations spokesperson to “shoo away” pesky reporters with questions about what really happened that day a U.S. Army convoy took a fateful wrong turn on the road to Nasiriyah.
Few people believe the convenient “memory loss” story Jessica’s Army doctors floated after she was transported to a military hospital in Germany for medical treatment. Lynch is sticking to the official line, but its wearing a bit thin.
THE “SEX ASSAULT” ANGLE
Rick Bragg, the former New York TIMES reporter who resigned in the wake of an “ethics” scandal at the venerable “newspaper of record,” claims that Jessica’s medical records indicate she may have been the victim of sodomy after her capture. Never mind the difficulty in that happening with a female prisoner with multiple broken bones, or the vehement testimony by Iraqi doctors that they examined the young private and saw no sign of any sexual assault.
The public pretty much knows the Pentagon’s story. And since Jessica is still holding to the “amnesia” angle, she can’t discuss anything on a first-person basis anyway. So it’s up to Bragg to “spice up” the account of the young soldier’s ordeal by leaking to the New York DAILY NEWS (who printed an advance peek at the book: “I am a Soldier, Too”) the juicy “details” of Jessica’s supposed assault.
Whoever has been advising Jessica on what to do and say has fumbled the ball. First, as we reported earlier, Jessica’s recent photo-op “media event” at a local VFW post where she accepted fawning praise and a bouquet of red roses from well-meaning old soldiers flopped when an Associated Press reporter attempted to ask Jessica a couple of questions.
“No way,” said the private’s public relations person. “She is under contract to ABC and won’t be giving any interviews until later.”
SNUBBING THE MAN WHO HELPED SAVE HER
To compound the crass commercialism of her situation, Jessica openly snubbed Iraqi lawyer Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief when he came to Palestine, West Virginia October 29 to meet the hamlet’s most famous daughter.
Townspeople threw a big dinner in his honor and showered him with gifts and heartfelt thanks, but new media star Jessica Lynch was “too busy with other commitments” to meet with her benefactor that day. That was the word from her “spokesperson.”
Could it be that jealousy raised its ugly head, as the Iraqi refugee has already come out with his own book – “Because Each Life Is Precious” before Lynch could rush her tome to the bookstores? Some “free publicity” for her savior might cut into sales, and that would not please Knopf publishers, who are, pardon the pun, “banking on” a big sale to recoup Jessica’s sizeable advance payment.
Better to fatuously claim she doesn’t “remember” the Iraqi gentleman at all, implying he is fake, instead of her. Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief’s dangerous trek to American lines with news of Jessica’s whereabouts counts for little when measured against the almighty “bottom line.” Money must be made from the American public, and the more the better.
COURTING THE HOWARD DEAN CROWD
The latest gimmick to increase public interest in Jessica is to have her slam the Pentagon and President George Bush’s handling of the war.
“They used me to symbolize all this stuff,” Lynch whined. “It’s wrong. I don’t know why they (the military) filmed it (the rescue).” Of course not.
That might play good with the Howard Dean crowd, but appearing to be too calculating and ungrateful to the troops who allegedly risked their lives to bring her back safely, won’t go over well with middle America.
About the only thing Jessica can do now to try and salvage some of the enormous public adulation she’s squandered in the past few weeks, is to share some of her considerable loot with the families of those who died that day in the Iraqi ambush.
But that’s about as likely as seeing pigs fly through the air.
As time goes on, the American people will get over its infatuation with the seemingly sweet, wide-eyed country girl who so captivated everyone’s imagination in the first moments of her ordeal. But for now, there’s still “money to be made.” And you can be sure, PFC Lynch’s handlers won’t miss an opportunity to “cash in” while the getting is good.
Related Stories U.S. MEDIA BLACKOUT ON PFC JESSICA LYNCH “NUDE” PHOTOS FORMER UNIT MEMBERS TRY TO SELL PIX TO “GLOBE” TABLOID FOR $200,000 REAL “HERO” OF AMBUSH IN IRAQ – SGT DONALD WALTERS – HE PERFORMED HEROICS ORIGINALLY ATTRIBUTED TO LYNCH – TRUTH OF WHAT HAPPENED AT NASIRIYAH NEEDS TO BE TOLD MILITARY CORRUPTION
What a joke you are with your corrupt vendetta against Miss Lynch. Why don't you go after Capt. Troy King, the commander of the 507th who blundered his company back and forth through a hostile city and got 11 of his soldiers killed and 6 captured and many more wounded, No, your too busy with your smear Lynch obsession. Who cares about incompentent officers who lead their company into a bloodbath? Not you, you're more concerned with a private not meeting someone when you think she should have met him.
You're concerned about the plight of military veterans? Have you ever heard of PTSD? Lynch's doctors have told her that wounds on her body are not consistent with a vehicle crash and internal injuries can only be explained by forceable anal penetration. She doesn't remember any of this. How would you like to have a nightmare bombshell like that in your brain, just waiting to blow up when triggered by something, a voice, a face, maybe the Iraqi lawyer's voice or face. He claimed to have witnessed her being assaulted. He understands that she isn't ready to meet him, so what's it to you? That's Military Corruption? What a joke.
She makes a little cash from a book, that's Military Corruption?
Gen Tommy Franks (ret.) has a book coming out and is on a speaking tour. He'll be here in Detroit later this month at the Marriott where we can pay $40 to listen to him. Why aren't you comlaining about him?
Yeah, and no way they'll show up in this thread and face the fact that they were wrong. I've come to the conclusion that FR is fatally flawed by it's size and huge membership. It's not a thinking conservative's forum, just an off the cuff reactionary shout down contest. The quantity over quality, bargain basement, K Mart/Dollar Store, lowest common denominator version of conservativism.
Do you also condemn Audie Murphy for writing books and appearing in movies? He made his money while soldiers were dying in Korea.
IS A PHOTO SPREAD IN “PLAYBOY” NEXT? – FORMER PFC SNUBS IRAQI WHO HELPED SAVE HER,
She said she would meet him in private, isn't that what you guys want, for her not to get attention?
KNOCKS PENTAGON FOR FILMING HER “RESCUE”
Do you also condemn POW CWO Young for what he said here?
Lynch has already landed a million dollar book deal, made a nice piece of change on a photo essay in VANITY FAIR magazine, signed on for a Diane Sawyer television interview, and been the adoring subject of an NBC “made-for-TV” movie.
I see you're not immune to that ole liberal class-envy propaganda.
Darva Conger, [remember her?], the finicky blond who dumped her hubby right after an “on-air” TV show “marriage,” got close to half a million bucks, we are told, for posing in the buff for the famous men’s magazine. And it wasn’t her slender figure that earned her a high modeling fee from PLAYBOY. It was the “notoriety” of her fame. Jessica could easily command as high a price, if not more.
Why attribute something to her for something she hasn't done? Are you guys that desperate to put her down that you have to make up things?
THE ALL TOO CONVENIENT “MEMORY LOSS” Something has smelled about the too-perfect story of “heroine” Jessica Lynch from the very beginning. The Pentagon deserves its share of the blame for leaking a totally false story to the Washington POST about the female PFC “firing her weapon” until she “ran out of bullets,” leaving the ground covered with dead Iraqi soldiers until she finally was overwhelmed with bullet wounds in the legs and bayonet wounds to the torso.
Just a mistake from radio chatter. No conspiracy. Miller had run up to the Lynch vehicle and then killed nine Iraqis a few minutes later. Being that Lynch was the sole survivor of the Humvee, they thought it was her.
Neither he nor his family gets a million dollars,...
Lynch was the sole rescuee for several days, that's why we know her and why she got the book deal. Them's the breaks.
...much less a full-time public relations spokesperson to “shoo away” pesky reporters with questions about what really happened that day a U.S. Army convoy took a fateful wrong turn on the road to Nasiriyah.
It's well known what happened and has been for months.
“No way,” said the private’s public relations person. “She is under contract to ABC and won’t be giving any interviews until later.”
A contract is a contract.
SNUBBING THE MAN WHO HELPED SAVE HER To compound the crass commercialism of her situation, Jessica openly snubbed Iraqi lawyer Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief when he came to Palestine, West Virginia October 29 to meet the hamlet’s most famous daughter. Townspeople threw a big dinner in his honor and showered him with gifts and heartfelt thanks, but new media star Jessica Lynch was “too busy with other commitments” to meet with her benefactor that day. That was the word from her “spokesperson.”
She wanted to meet him in private. She is severely injured and it's not easy for her to get around. She can't just go somewhere on the spur of the moment.
Could it be that jealousy raised its ugly head, as the Iraqi refugee has already come out with his own book – “Because Each Life Is Precious” before Lynch could rush her tome to the bookstores?
That's ridiculous. This isn't a zero-sum game.
Better to fatuously claim she doesn’t “remember” the Iraqi gentleman at all, implying he is fake, instead of her. Mohammed Odeh al-Rehaief’s dangerous trek to American lines with news of Jessica’s whereabouts counts for little when measured against the almighty “bottom line.” Money must be made from the American public, and the more the better.
You accuse on no evidence, typical of bashers.
COURTING THE HOWARD DEAN CROWD The latest gimmick to increase public interest in Jessica is to have her slam the Pentagon and President George Bush’s handling of the war. “They used me to symbolize all this stuff,” Lynch whined. “It’s wrong. I don’t know why they (the military) filmed it (the rescue).” Of course not..
What about CWO Young linked above, why do you not criticize him for saying worse of the Army? And Lynch has said nothing of the president.
That might play good with the Howard Dean crowd, but appearing to be too calculating and ungrateful to the troops who allegedly risked their lives to bring her back safely, won’t go over well with middle America.
She called them heros.
About the only thing Jessica can do now to try and salvage some of the enormous public adulation she’s squandered in the past few weeks, is to share some of her considerable loot with the families of those who died that day in the Iraqi ambush.
Socialism? She was doing her duty, others were doing their's. She has no responsibility to be a slave to them for the rest of her life. They were all serving their country, not just each other.
But that’s about as likely as seeing pigs fly through the air.
Because she is not their slave. They were serving their country. It was their duty to rescue her, not a favor.
As time goes on, the American people will get over its infatuation with the seemingly sweet, wide-eyed country girl who so captivated everyone’s imagination in the first moments of her ordeal. But for now, there’s still “money to be made.” And you can be sure, PFC Lynch’s handlers won’t miss an opportunity to “cash in” while the getting is good.
America is business. Audie Murphy knew it too and yet you say nothing of him. You're inconsistent.
It's went in that direction. The simplest of points are debated endlessly here instead of intelligent points unlike just a year or so ago. Either that or you have to deal with those who can't post intelligently that act like schoolyard gangs who post trash that has nothing to do with the topic of a thread and are simply insults and cartoons. They've ran off a lot of the more intelligent people. Who wants to discuss something intelligently when all you get is dumb pictures meant to insult?
They've had a treasure trove this year. Plus all the threads attacking a person's physical attributes aren't the best either. It's a good thing Lynch is pretty, they'd be attacking her looks relentlessly if she wasn't.
More anti-Lynch hysteria debunked:
http://www.military.com/NewContent?file=Defensewatch_111803_Ideas
"Lynch was painted as a bitter, anti-military young woman who was used by her own military for unseemly propaganda." "In an interview on Fox News last week, Bill O'Reilly asked Diane Sawyer about her own interview with Lynch. Sawyer emphasized that she had sensed no bitterness in Lynch. On the contrary, according to Sawyer, Lynch was proud to have served, and wished that the military had not singled her out for its publicity effort. Lynch feels that she should have been treated no differently than her fellow prisoners. It seems that the news media took her statements out of context."
http://waxmanmedia.com/cgi-local/news2.cgi?transcripts&08315085203
With all the criticism of Jessica Lynch for all of the publicity surrounding her, she has been universally condemned for greed and for using her army experience to get rich. I have reported on this website since October 27 that her proceeds were pledged to the Jessica Lynch Foundation to benefit the children of military personnel who were injured or killed in action. I can now confirm that according to the records of the State of West Virginia, the foundation was formed on October 7, 2003 on her behalf by her lawyer, Stephen Goodwin. So all the radio and TV talkers who have insisted that Jessica is getting rich on this are WRONG. Am I the only one who took the trouble to verify this?
Miss Lynch and her family are owed many apologies by the lowlifes who have been bashing her. They won't get any from those bottom feeders, so I apologize to Miss Lynch and her family and friends if they've had the misfortune to see any of the crud posted about her here. Please understand that those bashing you hate and are jealous of you because you had the guts to go to a war zone while they played on their computers in their underpants in their mommy's basement.
"Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity." - Anonymous
"Support bacteria - they're the only culture some people have." - Stephen Wright
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