Joel Wollin Lindsay Lohan,24, all over the news because she's acelebrity drug addict. WhileJustin Allen, 23, Brett Linley, 29, Matthew Weikert, 29, JustusBartett, 27, Dave Santos, 21, Chase Stanley, 21, Jesse Reed, 26,Matthew Johnson, 21, Zachary Fisher, 24, Brandon King, 23, ChristopherGoeke, 23, & Sheldon Tate, 27, are U.S. Marines that gave theirlives this week. No media coverage. Honor THEM by reposting.
I hate to be the jerk about this, but...as much as I understand and support the feeling behind the idea that our country's soldiers and Marines (and honest police and firefighters, teachers, et al) should always get the honor and attention they earn and deserve, especially when compared to shits and quitters like Sarah and Lindsay and Paris...the list of men noted on the original message were not all Marines, one wasn't even an American. Not that it should matter, but most were Army guys and all were casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq in July/August 2010.
What got me curious was, firstly) the fact that a certain someone who thinks facts and data are malleable toys to be shaped into whatever we need had copied and forwarded something without back checking the sources, and secondly) one of the names, Weikert, is an Army guy. Tertiary, I couldn't recall any recent event in which 8 Marines had been killed at a time, as what happens when Chinooks/Jolly Green Giants go down.
The moral of the story? I don't know, because the basic message doesn't change in that our society's obsession with Hollywood transcends all other pursuits. Look at OJ, look at Michael the pedophile Jackson, etc. But that doesn't mean we can just paste a bunch of names and label them as something sacrosanct, and run the group in order to make a guilty plea against "the leftist" media. FWIW, the VERY FIRST instance of this particular "group of Marines" came from a pro-Gun, Right-wing forum that includes derogatory quotes about the President and the "liberal media" and my personal favorite--"using ammo on libtards"... nice, patriotic message there, Duke.
Admittedly, I have mixed feelings about this issue. But I do know that the soldier's combat death (Weikert) was reported in our regional media for several days including in-depth interviews with his high school teachers, former bosses, family members, friends, et al. As it always has been when we lose someone close to us by relation or by vicinity, locals look after themselves all over America regardless of what the mainstream media finds fascinating, like Ms. Lohan's talent, beauty, poor parenting, and drug addiction.
It may be macabre, but I like to read about the foreshortened lives of the brave sons of bitches who ran toward the gunfire in order to protect their buddies and hopefully dispatch some terrorists at the same time. But what I'm NOT conflicted about is WHAT I choose to watch/read. What kind of real Libertarian would deign to tell ANYONE what we should or should not be consuming? (VQ, you are not the target here) A TRUE Libertarian would let the consumer decide for him or herself what needs to be consumed and let the market chips fall where they may. Got that Mr. JW?
BTW, for anyone who gives a shit despite the abhorrent choices of the American TV viewer, on 8-07-2010, SPC Faith R. Hinkley, of the 502nd MI BN, 201st MI Surveillance Group(?), from Joint Base McChord-Lewis, WA, was killed when her unit was attacked by insurgents in Baghdad. My editorial note includes the fact that that was the same day combat units were withdrawn from the country.
Ms. Hinkley was 23 years old. Raise your hand if you have ever been assigned to the 502nd MI BN at Ft. Lewis. Hats off to one of our own. For real this time and not because someone's trying to prove something about themselves that we already know.
XOXO-Ernst Wolfgang
3 comments:
You make an excellent point, JR, about the responsibility of knowing what you are forwarding. Of knowing from whence your information came and whether it is accurate.
But that takes time and energy. And interferes with more important activities like watching television from the time your feet step through the door at 6:00 until bedtime.
I've always liked the phrase "bread and circuses," and I think our society is overrun with circuses.
Well, you know Carrie that's exactly my point: it's about priorities. If we're content with circuses, then we can't complain too much when clowns are running the show, right?
ps-"from whence" is like "convicted felon", the "from" is as unnecessary to whence as "convicted" is to felon. Don't worry, lots of people make this error and most of the time I hear millionaire "professional" journalists get it wrong.
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