Posted on 02/11/2002 11:59:41 PM PST by JohnHuang2
On Oct. 21, 1805, Adm. Horatio Nelson sent his famous signal to the British fleet as it neared its French enemy: "England expects that every man will do his duty." Whether because of the tremendous victory won that day at Trafalgar, or because Nelson lost his life winning it, those nine words have carried across the centuries. Less well known are Nelson's last words as he lay dying below deck: "Thank God I have done my duty."
In the aftermath of the attack on America, the sharp edge of duty has cut quite a few people and institutions in America. The expectation that duty will be done was solidified by the example of police, fire and rescue workers perishing in the collapse of the World Trade Center, and in the willing deployment of thousands of Americans to the middle of nowhere in Afghanistan so that they could, among other things, ride horses into the teeth of Taliban fire and burrow deep into al-Qaida-constructed caves in search of bin Laden.
The vast, vast majority of Americans are not called upon to do anything remotely dangerous. But they should do their jobs, and they should definitely follow the rule: "Know who you owe." Some organizations that botched the former did so because they lost sight of the latter, and they paid an instant price in the American public's esteem. Think Red Cross.
Last week, three more groups got sliced on duty's sharp edge: The Washington Post, NBC, and the United States Olympic Committee.
First, the Post chose the occasion of the president's submittal of his budget to Congress to raise this question in its editorial of Feb. 5: "Do uniformed personnel need another large across-the-board pay hike, the second broad increase in two years, or could the services meet their needs with more targeted pay raises?" Because I discussed this editorial on my radio program, I have been copied on some of the scores of responses the editorial drew, and the anger of the writers at the Post's obliviousness to the state of military compensation ought to have stunned even the comfortable pen-in-hand warriors of the nation's most influential paper.
It is the duty of editorial writers, especially powerful ones, to know their basic facts. The Post did not. (Although the Post received a huge volume of mail on the editorial, it printed only two letters, and those on Saturday – adding indifference to editorial arrogance and journalistic sloth. Some of the letters I was copied on would have added a great deal of understanding to the public's and the Post's limited grasp of the military pay issue. But they would also have embarrassed the Post. Thus the deep-sixing of the mail.)
The second case went beyond ignorance to action. NBC chose the day of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to drain the red, white and blue from its peacock logo which is omnipresent on its broadcast programming. The patriotic color scheme had been added in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. The timing suggests that the network does not wish to offend the world with jingoism. That "restraint" has angered millions.
Finally, inaction, too, can be a breach of duty. Both the United States Olympic Committee and its American corporate sponsors did nothing when they ought to have acted last week at the very beginning of the controversy over the treatment of the U.S. flag recovered from Ground Zero.
There is no saving the International Olympic Committee from itself, but that group of buffoons is not our concern. On Saturday, Feb. 2, the Coordinating Committee of the IOC rejected the USOC's recommendation that the flag recovered from Ground Zero accompany our athletes in the opening ceremony's parade of athletes. At that moment, the USOC, backed by public statements of Coke, McDonald's, Sports Illustrated and other big-dollar sponsors, ought to have gone public to insist on the USOC proposal. First, the USOC acquiesced. Then after a leak to the media and a growing uproar, a late night meeting was convened on Feb. 5 to discuss damage control. One of the participants, Anita DeFrantz, told me in a broadcast interview that the Americans in the room did not even ask that American prerogative be respected, and the initial American recommendation implemented. Instead they helped fashion a "compromise" that they then sold as "the best solution."
The opening ceremonies did indeed prove to be moving – how could they not be? But Sandra Baldwin, president of the USOC, should not have allowed the IOC to call her tune. The morning after the IOC imposed its protocol on the American flag, Baldwin was elected to the IOC. The New York Times called the deal a "sacrifice" on America's part, and applauded the USOC's willingness to give way to IOC protocol, but I and the great majority of people I have talked with and heard from – both on and off air – are not in the mood to make sacrifices to self-important international sports bureaucrats no matter how inflated their own self-image.
The USOC asked for the 9-11 flag and then did not defend it against insult. The USOC then allowed the IOC to cover its insult without apology. That the flag's power as a symbol of American resolve, recovery and freedom was not diminished is no exoneration of the USOC's shameful surrender of control over what our athletes would carry and when. The price the USOC has paid and will continue to pay is high. Ms. Baldwin's tenure on the IOC is simply illegitimate. How can she be expected to represent American interests when she could not do so when the pressure was on?
Know who you owe. Every American owes the military, and we should pay them a fair wage without grudging editorials. NBC owes everything to the country that birthed and continues to protect it, and it should not have drained the color from its bird just as the world arrived in Salt Lake. And the USOC and its corporate sponsors owed not just the athletes but every American – each one of whom owns a share in the symbolism of the 9-11 flag – a duty to stand up and say "No" to IOC meddlers and spin doctors.
No one knows how long this renewed expectation of duty being done will remain in force. Hopefully, at least through the course of this war, and beyond. Every time an American of even moderately high profile neglects this expectation, they will be reminded of it by the public. And that is a very good thing.
How about Cromwell, he overthrew the King for the people of England!
A good thing Bump!
Besides we should overturn our media!
Media Revolution!!
Sandra Baldwin, president of the USOC, is a sorry example of an American. All American Citizens:
Keep this sickening picture in your mind forever and the attack on the World Trade Towers, the death of those men, women and children will stay personal forever! When you get a peacelover whining in your ear, this is the cure. Show it to them!
Six columns from the left, in the middle of the picture you see someone holding an infant out of the building trying to give it fresh air. These folks are all dead now! Everyone of them! Keep this atrocity personal forever!
Do not listen to the whiners and weepers about the civilian casulties that our pilots accidentally cause. Remember foremost the three thousand civilians who died in the attack on the World Trade Center Towers. This terrorist attack was an intentional mass murder of innocent civilians. So tell Reuters and CNN to go somewhere else with their 'sad stories'!
America's Fifth Column ... watch PBS documentary JIHAD! In America -- here
Aye, aye, Captain Hewitt! Good history lesson, too!"...Know who you owe. Every American owes the military, and we should pay them a fair wage without grudging editorials. NBC owes everything to the country that birthed and continues to protect it, and it should not have drained the color from its bird just as the world arrived in Salt Lake. And the USOC and its corporate sponsors owed not just the athletes but every American – each one of whom owns a share in the symbolism of the 9-11 flag – a duty to stand up and say "No" to IOC meddlers and spin doctors.No one knows how long this renewed expectation of duty being done will remain in force. Hopefully, at least through the course of this war, and beyond.
Every time an American of even moderately high profile neglects this expectation, they will be reminded of it by the public.And that is a very good thing." - Hugh Hewitt
He must be a Harvard man. ;).
(If you want OFF - or ON - my "Hugh Hewitt PING list" - please let me know.)
On Oct. 21, 1805, Adm. Horatio Nelson sent his famous signal to the British fleet as it neared its French enemy: "England expects that every man will do his duty." Whether because of the tremendous victory won that day at Trafalgar, or because Nelson lost his life winning it, those nine words have carried across the centuries. Less well known are Nelson's last words as he lay dying below deck: "Thank God I have done my duty."Hey, Ivan - Any of you Brits know who this "Nelson" fellow is? ;-)
Not sure that I recall much about him from my publik skool days.From http://www.napoleonguide.com/sailors_ukexpects.htm:
(Of course, I do not remember what I had for breakfast THIS MORNING, so perhaps it is more a failure of my faulty MEMORY that of their insufficient curriculum.)
Nelson's Signal to the Fleet
England Expects That Every Man Will Do His Duty
The second case went beyond ignorance to action.Can one of you guys find and post BEFORE and AFTER images of the NBC peacock?
NBC chose the day of the opening ceremonies of the Olympics to drain the red, white and blue from its peacock logo which is omnipresent on its broadcast programming.
The patriotic color scheme had been added in the aftermath of the 9-11 attacks. The timing suggests that the network does not wish to offend the world with jingoism.
That "restraint" has angered millions.
The Right Of The People To Keep And Bear Arms Shall Not Be Infringed !!
An Armed Citizen, Is A Safe Citizen !!
No Guns, No Rights !!
Molon Labe !!
Too true, and a good point, as far as it goes...
But sometimes I wonder if President Bush and Hugh Hewitt remember how much they owe the Republican base.
Se habla loyalty?
Se habla soveriegnty?
Se habla deportacion?
"...Last week, three more groups got sliced on duty's sharp edge: The Washington Post, NBC, and the United States Olympic Committee.See also, from:First, the Post chose the occasion of the president's submittal of his budget to Congress to raise this question in its editorial of Feb. 5: "Do uniformed personnel need another large across-the-board pay hike, the second broad increase in two years, or could the services meet their needs with more targeted pay raises?" Because I discussed this editorial on my radio program, I have been copied on some of the scores of responses the editorial drew, and the anger of the writers at the Post's obliviousness to the state of military compensation ought to have stunned even the comfortable pen-in-hand warriors of the nation's most influential paper.
It is the duty of editorial writers, especially powerful ones, to know their basic facts. The Post did not. (Although the Post received a huge volume of mail on the editorial, it printed only two letters, and those on Saturday – adding indifference to editorial arrogance and journalistic sloth.
Some of the letters I was copied on would have added a great deal of understanding to the public's and the Post's limited grasp of the military pay issue.
But they would also have embarrassed the Post. Thus the deep-sixing of the mail.)" - Hugh Hewitt
Sorry for the confusion. It is NOT a poll.Please send them an E-MAIL to express your concern:
Just a bone-headed lead editorial, which includes the quote posted above, here in a litle more context:"...No doubt Congress is eager, as it should be, to pay generously for the fight against terrorists. War is expensive, and so is the kind of global presence that the United States should maintain both to deter conflict and to participate in peacekeeping. The events of the past year have definitively laid to rest the notion, popular among some reformers, that the Pentagon could safely skip a generation of weapons and devote itself mostly to research.(This editorial is from the Washington Post, and we are under a court order NOT to post their FULL TEXT.)But Congress should ask whether the Defense Department, under the heading of fighting terrorism, has decided that it doesn't have to make any tough choices. Do uniformed personnel need another large across-the-board pay hike, the second broad increase in two years, or could the services meet their needs with more targeted pay raises? What's happened to promises of more businesslike practices and elimination of duplication among services? To ask such questions reflects no lack of zeal for the war. Nor should the administration let Congress off the hook for its support of unnecessary bases and weapons programs, simply because now it's easier to pork up than to fight back..." - from a Washington Post editorial on 2/5/02 (click here for MORE)
letters@washpost.com
"...The USOC asked for the 9-11 flag and then did not defend it against insult.See also:
The USOC then allowed the IOC to cover its insult without apology.
That the flag's power as a symbol of American resolve, recovery and freedom was not diminished is no exoneration of the USOC's shameful surrender of control over what our athletes would carry and when. The price the USOC has paid and will continue to pay is high. Ms. Baldwin's tenure on the IOC is simply illegitimate. How can she be expected to represent American interests when she could not do so when the pressure was on?" - Hugh Hewitt
Hugh Hewitt is devoting his entire show today to the WTC flag issue
and the ridiculous dictates of the IOC.For real audio go to KRLA WEBSITE
PHONE -- 1.800.520.1234
Se habla deportacion?Se habla PRIORITIES?
Each of us has only so much time, energy, and in Hugh's case - airtime - to address ALL of the problems that are currently facing America.Perhaps if the illegal aliens were blowing up buildings and KILLING people, rather than cleaning toilets for sub-minimum wages, and breaking their backs picking strawberries - under conditions that no one ELSE seems to want to, they would get as much attention as Osama and Company. (IMHO.)
What precisely would you have them - Hugh Hewitt and President Bush - do?
Messages to Hugh posted on this forum about Klamath got him to devote considerable attention to THAT issue. Perhaps he would respond to similar (sharply FOCUSED) advice on THIS one.
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