Imagine a world in which the media gave as much attention to the soldiers who are...

[Fridays Child]

...dying in B*sh's bloody, illegal war as they're giving to the missing Mt. Hood climbers. I know one climber has been found deceased, and I'm not trying to be crass about it, but I get angry when the press perseverates on these stories, while ignoring the crimes committed by a president whose depraved actions they have willingly aided and abetted.

[Hush_sLimbaugh]

1. The media isn't as powerful as it once was...

The media may not be giving it much attention, but I think the American public has gotten the picture. They shot a Texas cowboy out of the saddle and fired a lot of his ranch hands in November.

[Skittles]

2. that bastard is not a Texan and he is NOT a cowboy

otherwise, I do get your point :hi:

[Sal Minella]

3. I think of him as The Kennebunkport Kowboy, pretty much.

Rumor has it he's afraid of horses, and if he owns a gun I'd bet there's an ambossed profile of Roy Rogers on the white plastic grip.....

[newyawker99]

18. Hi Hush_sLimbaugh!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[leftchick]

4. you are not being crass at all

it is shameful how the US media latches on to these sensationalist local issues. They continually ignore the biggest issues of climate change, war crimes and criminals in the WH. It is so much better for ratings.

:puke:

[Fridays Child]

16. Thanks. I know that the missing climbers are the only important...

...story in the world, to their friends and family, and my heart goes out to them. But I can't give the media a pass on this issue. Someone down thread likened this to the missing white girl syndrome--Natalie, Laci, the runaway bride, and so on. And, as cynical as I've become, in recent years, I even find myself wondering if the story of the missing climbers would be sucking up so much air time, had the guys not been white. It's worth considering, at least, but that really wasn't my original point.

I look at the kids going to Iraq and I know for sure that my youngest son would have gone, too, if he could have. A car rollover, when he was in high school, has kept him out of the service, though, and I have to say that it's the silver lining in the cloud of that whole accident.

I'm not anti-military, either. My father served in WWII, my husband served in Vietnam, and my oldest son served in the Gulf, just after the first Gulf War. I'm proud that my family members have chosen to serve this country, and I take a back seat to no one when it comes to supporting our troops. But, to me, support means, first and foremost, never sending them into harm's way for an unprovoked war based on lies, greed, and arrogance.

Of course, that's precisely what Bush has done, and the corporate media is complicit by both commission and omission--by the lies they have uncritically reported and by the truth that they have so willfully ignored.

Sorry for the rant. It just makes me sick.

[karlrschneider]

5. I've been on the verge of posting almost exactly what you did for 2 days.

57 U.S. troops killed in December so far.
:grr:
http://www.icasualties.org/oif/

[nam78_two]

6. Agreed

I find it bizarre that the press and most people focus on one death here, this family's death there etc. when : a) It isn't like discussing to death these individual stories will help the deceased, when it a freak accident, b) we are ignoring genocide and illegal wars happenning all around this planet :shrug:

[EFerrari]

7. The thing is, it shouldn't be an ''either / or" situation.

But the poor guys on Mt. Hood aren't as damaging to BushCo.

I wish none of them needed covering. :(

[valerief]

8. Breaking Non-News! That's all they give us. People die in

accidents every day, especially when they're extreme sport risk takers.

I wish we weren't the Communist Soviet Union our teachers warned us against in the sixties.

[personman]

9. What about the Iraqi civilian casualties?

If we agree that American life is not worth more then Iraqi life, certainly the 2/3rds of a million dead Iraqi civilians might be worth mention.

[Fridays Child]

10. All lives are equally worthy. nt

[progdonkey]

11. it's just like the "missing white girl" stuff...

It's a tragedy, but it has absolutely no reason to be a national story. Especially a rescue story such as this, where there isn't any sort of public safety aspect that there possibly could be to a "missing white girl" story (killer on the loose, etc).

The only people who need to be constantly updated on the condition of these climbers are their families and the rescue squads involved.

[sallyseven]

12. I agree with you.

They are showing more about the deaths now than they did. I guess they are defying bush by doing this. How about the wounded they are not mentioning them at all. This war is awful and we should get out and apologize to the Iraqis and leave.

[jtrockville]

13. Unfair to classify "world" media this way

The "for entertainment purposes only" media in USA has earned your anger. But media around the world is far more enlightening than the USA counterpart.

[Fridays Child]

17. "Imagine a world" was meant as a rhetorical device.

I agree with you that all media should not be painted with the same brush. In addition to reliable international sources, there are many excellent alternative media sources, here in the United States. My comments are directed toward the American corporate/mainstream media. Thanks for reminding me to clarify that point. :)

[roody]

14. Agree. That is why I don't watch the MSM. I even

turn of NPR after giving it a try.

[Disturbed]

15. I said the same thing to my family tonight.

The Corp Media digs out every last factoid out of stories like this. Is it voyeurism?

[ieoeja]

19. A war in which only a few soldiers got killed?

And seldome enough that it would be big news instead of a daily occurrence? You're right. That would be great.