The picture
By David Cox / Mar 2, 2010
I want you to look very closely at this picture and try and keep it in your minds eye. This was a perfectly healthy 22-year-old young man who in the service of his country got half of his head blown off. I think that’s important, I think that’s newsworthy. Let me tell you how newsworthy I think it is. I think that it’s more important than chocolate cake recipes and far more important than comic book reviews. It is more important than who fell and who’s swell at the winter Olympic games.
It is far more important than any self-serving load of crap banged out by pseudo doctor Amy. It is more important than American Idol or Lost or any other mindless goat droppings the public chooses to chew on. This is some American mother’s son, her little boy, he may be gay or straight or transgender but his life is screwed forever.
How did this come to happen to this poor mother’s son? It came to happen because the people in the media who are supposed to foster a public debate on such public issues as war instead used their franchise to promote articles about chocolate cake and comic book reviews. They see their free press as free to choose not to look when bad things happen. They feel no need to explain to his parents or to anyone that the war that blew off half of this poor boy’s head was based on out and out lies.
It was a war perpetrated by people who hoped to gain from it — be it in oil or pipelines or service contracts — and like the media they don’t care that this mother’s son is mangled and mutilated. Do you care? I’ve been married twice for a combined 25 years and in that time I doubt my wives ever baked a chocolate cake. I don’t read comic books or watch goat crap TV but you see I’ve got a son about this boy’s age. My heart aches and my mind fills with rage because the people that have the power and authority to show this picture would rather talk about American Idol and from where I sit that makes them an accomplice to a war crime.
Because not content to ignore the current victims they support more crimes and call for more wars. Several years ago in Iraq parents waited for their children at a bus stop. An errant coalition missile struck the bus stop and blew the elementary school age children to pieces. Needless to say this wasn’t widely reported but the parents in a frenzy began fighting over the body parts of their children. Little arms and legs, little headless torsos identifiable only by the shirt or dress they were wearing. Imagine the horror, imagine the type of people who could do such a thing. How do they live with themselves? How do they sleep at night?
They do it by watching Lost and American Idol and by eating chocolate cake. They read comic books and watch sports. It makes life easy because the media will not intrude on their fantasy world but instead will promote the fantasy. Oh, but who won the gold metal in curling and who was eliminated on American Idol.
Iraq war Coalition Deaths 4,696
Injured 30,000
Iraqi civilian deaths and injured, 1,366,650
Afghanistan coalition Deaths 1,659
American taxpayers bill as of today $964,044,305,874
Source / Signs of the Times
Thanks to Diane Stirling-Stevens / The Rag Blog
You have just turned this soldier into a pawn for the press with your words. You,sir are an idiot.
You appear to have genuine concern until you ty to take the superior high road by suggesting that most Americans don’t care about what happens to the troops. This is not World War 2, where all were asked to sacrifice something for the war effort.
Times are different, unfortunately. And who, prey tell has had a hand in that?
Imagine where we would be if the *media* used the kind of thinking that we all don’t agree with war, but it’s our Country and we must do what we can. Instead, the President is vilified, even with congressional support and they too, used the troops as pawns when they would deny funding. Instead, you have the people who do give a damn (and of which you must have no clue with the broad strokes you painted about the rest of us living in our fantasy land) but don’t get a whole lot of coverage by the media.
Ever hear of Patti Patton-Bader? OperationAC? Valor-IT? Wounded Warrior Legacy? Gathering of Eagles?
I’m betting not.
And just because the President asked us as to continue on with our daily lives, there are some of us who do indeed go the extra mile because we want to. It doesn’t take much to care or *do* something. Why must you be asked? Why must you chastise those you think are not paying attention? Get the hell over yourself. Go do something instead of judging others by your superior standards.
And another thing that you seem to forget. When I served, it was a voluntary thing. The same for the boys and gals now, who serve. They did it voluntarily signing on to the risks associated with the job. I always knew there was a potential for going to war and I signed anyway. If that man in the photo knew anything upon his service entry, he knew that. So stop saying they had no clue and they were used. You’re the one who is lying. And, You insult this young veteran by not using his name. He has one. Find it and source it.
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Because not content to ignore the current victims….
You just did by ignoring his name, sacrifice, and story…classy, but hey, gotta stick to the theme right?
FYI for the assholes who want to use this soldier as a prop. His name is Staff Sargeant Jose Pequeno. He was a Marine who volunteered a second time for the NG to brig others home safe. Now STFU with your lame bullshit. This man is a hero and not someone you feel sorry for. He understood something that people like you never will.
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