"Those who discuss the current war in terms of frivolous talking points make a big deal out of the fact we have been in this war longer than in World War II. But, if we are serious, we would know that it is not the duration of a war that is crucial. It is how many lives it costs. More than twice as many Marines were killed taking one island in the Pacific during World War II than all the Americans killed in the four years of the Iraq war. More Americans were killed in one day during the Civil War. If we are going to discuss war, the least we can do is be serious."
. . . If we are going to discuss war, the least we can do is be serious . . .
More than twice as many Marines were killed taking one island in the Pacific during World War II than all the Americans killed in the four years of the Iraq war. More Americans were killed in one day during the Civil War.
. . . and some substantial fraction of the number of lives lost to enemy action in Iraq would have been lost, just as tragically, to auto accidents had those same young men been at home in peacetime. 50,000 more Americans were killed in Viet Nam over a period of ten years or so than have been KIA in Iraq.But of course, the fundamental point is that American journalism is inherently frivolous. When it comes to meeting deadline, "there's nothing more worthless than yesterday's newspaper." And if yesterday's is worthless today, how much will today's newspaper be worth tomorrow? Then how much can it actually be worth today?
American journalists claim that journalism is objective. And that is a frivilous claim with no possible means of intellectual support. If it were true it could not be proven, and it is not true because journalism makes that claim from self interest. Journalism identifies the public interest with journalism's own self interest. And considering hoow bad news for America is good news for journalism, that is just about the lowest depth of hypocracy.