Inverse Relationship Between Privilege and Patriotism
The Wife noted this morning the inverse relationship between patriotism and privilege in popular culture. For example, the mother of rescued POW Shoshana Johnson appeared in an interview today wearing a sweater bearing the American flag. Nearly every scene of rescued POW Jessica Lynch’s family home shows the American flag fluttering on the flag pole above the black POW/MIA banner. Other families of soldiers fighting overseas regularly appear wearing red, white and blue or sporting flags of various sizes.
Then there were the anti-war celelbrities such as Susan Sarandon and Martin Sheen. Sheen makes as much in one episode of the West Wing ($300,000) as Jessica Lynch’s father makes in 10 years of driving a truck. If Karl Marx crawled out of his grave (and did not have his head shot off by my zombie hunting son), he’d be hard pressed to explain why the elder Lynch was more nationalistic and anti-communist than Martin Sheen even though Sheen is a member of the bourgeoisie and should defend the Capitalist system at all costs. Mrs. M finished up by saying that while she appreciates free speech and all, she wishes that people like Sheen who really didn’t like the USA would just vote with their feet and leave – making room for those who do want to come here.
This is the rough equivalent of The Grateful Dead telling their fans to get a haircut and a job…
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I’m glad to see that NPR (Neverfails to Piss me off Radio) still maintains its bias against anything that smacks of American success in the war in Iraq. After all, nothing gets the blood flowing better in the morning than some poorly constructed journalism. This morning’s Cumadin-moment occurred after a story about how US soldiers were greeted politely in Tikrit – but not with the bouquets of wildflowers that some had received in Baghdad (I doubt that the US Marines were crushed by this “flower-free” greeting in Saddam’s hometown).
The next reporter then spoke about how Germany and France were concerned about being “locked-out” of the rebuilding of Iraq. One French business leader complained that France had been actively involved in the first Gulf War yet had not benefited from any of the contracts to rebuild Kuwait. The reporter then spoke about how Alcatel – the French telecoms firm – had rebuilt the Iraqi phone system after that war and was interested in rebuilding it again.
So where is the bias? First off, no effort was made by the reporter to provide an alternate viewpoint – for example, that France and Germany did not bury dead soldiers, actively sought to derail American efforts to contain the regime which in the end increased the likelihood of war and encouraged Iraqis to put up a fight that in turn lead to increased casualties on both sides. Secondly, the reporter failed to recognize and explore the connection between French/German insistance that the United Nations should rebuild Iraq and these contracts – even as the French spokesmen tap-danced around this issue. Finally, the reporter merely stated that France/Germany were “cool” to the idea of debt forgiveness for Iraq.
NPR is great for one reason though: no one listens to it. So if you feel like me and once supported your local public radio station, the next time they call to beg money tell them that you can’t because of their support of NPR. Demand that they let the power of the marketplace into one of the last remaining vestiges of Communism in the USA.
