Soliciting donations for David Bloom????

O'Relly | April 8, 2003 | Hildy

[Hildy]

Did anyone just catch this? At the end of O'Reilly, he flashed an address to send donations to David Bloom's family to set up a trust fund for his children. Excuse me, but I find that during the current state of affairs that this is wholly innapropriate. David Bloom died of a heart attack. It's tragic, my heart goes out to this family. But he worked for NBC, probably making some good money, I'm sure he had life insurance benefits, etc. To be asking for money while young men with young families are being killed in the line of duty, I think, it tacky.

[tiredoflurking]

I agree completely. This is a sad thread.

Why do things have to be so mutually exclusive? Why does having a trust fund for David Bloom mean there can't be one for the families of those killed in action? This isn't the government, where there's only so much money to go around. Maybe David Bloom's kids will be well compensated by NBC, but if his friends or colleagues want to set up a trust fund and Bill O'Reilly wants to let people know where they can donate, where's the harm? He wasn't begging for money or trying to take it out of the hands of the soldiers' families. He was passing on info to people who DO want to donate as a way to pay tribute to a fellow journalist. I thought it was very classy. If we don't want to donate, nobody's forcing us. If anyone feels strongly that their money should go to the military families, put your money where your mouth is.

Personally, I don't see why this has to lead some people to speak ill of this man who just died. He obviously wasn't looking to commit suicide or jeopardize his family's security, and shouldn't be criticized for going to cover this war as if he asked to die. I'm personally quite thankful for the embedded journalist program and have a lot of respect for those reporters with the guts to do this. After all, these reporters haven't trained for these conditions like the soldiers have.

[Hildy]

Alot of people die...but their friends don't go on TV asking for money.

[SanAntoneBlue]

Envy? *rolling my eyes* .. I don't envy Mr. Bloom.. no envy at how wealthy he is/was and certainly no joy nor envy that he lost his life. Look Blacksheep, I've served, I know war is hell.. for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.. and obviously in this war it's hell for reporters too. I feel for his family, and I pray each night for all Americans and coalition forces over there. You think what you want, you donate if you wish or not if you don't..

[Hildy]

Nobody is speaking ill of David Bloom...see how the facts get turned around? It's a tragedy, everyone agrees a man who dies in the prime of his life is a horrible, horrible thing. But that isn't what this thread is about.

[Hildy]

Agreed, but that has nothing to do with this issue.

[nana4bush]

I heard a Fox News person tell Rick Leventhal to put on his vest on one news report from the field or his insurance would not cover him. I took that to mean that Fox's embeds were well covered in the war zone but had guidelines to follow. Probably the same for NBC.

[ontos-on]

I will give up trying to explain it to you. You obviously understand the point but are playing games with the "favorite cause" remark. I am against organized charity. This instance [David Bloom trust fund] is a perfect illustration of why. You probably think it is a grand thing for the state to set up a lottery and suck ignorant people into throwing away their money "for a good cause." It is a manipulative dishonest game, that dresses itself in sanctimony and tears. It has become a whole industry now, called "fund-raising".

[SanAntoneBlue]

I caught Shep telling him one night... Rick donned his gear.

[maxwell]

His kids will get his benefits, Social Security, etc. He had a wife who is young and beautiful...this happens every day to people who are NOT on TV. They manage.

They certainly will. Hell's bells, I put my own durn self through college. Didn't need no trust fund.

[jwalsh07]

I'll try to explain. I don't begrudge Mr Bloom or his children anything. However, David Bloom will leave a 7 figure estate.

The families of victims of 9/11 were, through the generosity of the American people, compensated with 7 figures as well.

The military men and women who died in Afghanistan and Iraq will get a small plot of land, a flag and whatever insurance payout they were able to afford.

I have no problem with O'Reilly helping out the Bloom family or the American people donating money to the survivors of 9/11. I do have a problem with not knowing where to send a check for the surviving family members of America's dead soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines.

[F16Fighter]

"I'd rather give (and did give) to the children of dead marines and dead law enforcement officers who were killed on the job."

HEAR, HEAR! Well worth repeating.

And maybe O'Reilly ought to remind viewership of the same -- these are REAL heroes worthy of support.

[nana4bush]

He sure did put on that gear, even though it was hot. And I thought I heard him mention something about a child.

[Hildy]

This is what I wrote to O'Reilly, is it PITHY enough?

If you and other journalists want to help out your colleague, David Bloom's family I say, more power to you. But by using the media to raise money for the family of a well paid journalist who died of a heart attack is a slap in the face to the families of the young men and women who died in the line of duty.

[Spirited]

"All those that have participated in this war and all other wars deserve our respect and admiration."

Had this man not been in the restricted environ of a tank to give us insight on the war he would not have had the DVT result.

Why, when we expect mercy for ourselves do we exhibit none for others? When we can unashamedly ask, "God Bless America" how is it that we are free to condemn with our tongues our own fellow citizens who went there to serve us?

Perhaps too few of us believe that we reap what we sow. Or, "what goes around, comes around". God, help us all.

[LWalk18]

Instead of complaining, why don't those who talk about the children of soldiers do more than talk and act? Free Republic gets a lot of hits, why can't we start a fund? People can then give where they want to give. It will do a lot more than complaining about a fund for Bloom's children will.

[Keith in Iowa]

>>...died of a heart attack...

But he didn't die of a heart attack...

[Boundless]

> I am ashamed of the comments on this thread.....

I've seen some threads on FR that I would classify as
insensitive gloating over the misfortunes of the
opposition, but by and large this isn't one of them.
I acknowledge you for calling it into question however.

> How many of you would have done what he did.

What he did, in my estimation, was intended to boost his
career, and little else. He works for NBC. He didn't take
the assignment to ensure that a "fair and balanced" story
got out about the troops.

Most of the reporters in Iraq (including ALL of the
westerners downtown) see themselves as the next Peter
Arnett (less the screwups). By staying on with a known
likely fatal condition, Bloom put career over family.
He also had to know that if he died, as his doctor
predicted, he'd become even more of a distracting
burden to his embed unit.

> ... try a little sympathy and humility ...

I didn't express sympathy or contempt in my post. I just
posted what may be facts someone might want to consider
before donating.

Here's another: did NBC before or after his death have a
fund for the families of deceased servicemen and women?
Didn't think so.

> ... at a minimum the guy was a brave American.

So is any race car driver, but they aren't putting their
life on the line to keep mine free, and neither was Bloom.

I would have expected NBC to have had adequate coverage for
their field reporters. This is a very dangerous mission.
Failing that, I'd expect them to pass the hat around the
office.

But to put a solicitation out on the net exposes the inflated
view that journalists have of each other. It's not surprising
that it raises eyebrows in the general public. It raised mine.

[hotpotato]

Asking for donations does no harm. Without a doubt, there will be many request for donations for the children of servicemen in the next few months. Bloom seemed like a nice man, and he (like Michael Kelly)left young children. You don't have to contribute to any of these request.

It's not about whether or not anyone _has_ to make a contribution.

The servicemen/women won't get the benefit of two days of "in tribute" television coverage of their service with heart tugging family pictures as well as other benefits of NBC. I agree with Hildy. It was one more of a long string of overdone and redirected attention towards someone that was there who could have opted to stay at home _with_ his kids. An option not open to the service men and women there fighting for our security. It's tacky.

[Hildy]

Close.