“Pinch” Sulzberger, chairman of the NY Times company, famously apologized to a graduating class that his generation hadn’t been able to change America to their image of a correct society. It isn’t for lack of trying. Sulzberger will keep trying until the NY Times stock price is zero. The Times’ most recent attempt at mind changing is an article that purports to show that the American military is full of murderers. The article has been the object of furious rebuttal. The reactions at Huffington Post, which printed the story in its entirety, were predictable:
I’m sure it has been mentioned before on this thread … but I would like to take a moment and comment that these murders are only the tip of the huge problem surrounding PTSD in our returning warriors.Of the many lies and obfuscations foisted on we the people about the Iraq war by the Shrub administration, “We support the troops” is probably the most reprehensible.
Yup, they certainly don’t support the troops at the NY Times. Or the Huffington Post.
This all happened before, in the 1960s, for which “Pinch” is so nostaligic. C.G. Burkett, a veteran of the Vietnam War wrote Stolen Valor in response to all the “crazy vet” stories that the news media were spreading after that war. He points out how many are fraudulent. I teach medical students and it is common for them to be interviewing a male patient in the County Hospital and to be told he is a Vietnam vet. Most of them would have been less than ten years old at the time all US troops were gone from that country. Yet the myth of the homeless veteran persists and is embellished by the NY Times stories and many of the followup stories from the left.
Ten years ago, Thomas Ricks, a military writer for the Washington Post, another left wing newspaper, pointed out in his book Making the Corps, that since the end of the draft, most civilians in this country have no experience in the military. The gulf between the military culture and civilian culture is the widest since the 1930s when “Soldiers and dogs get off the grass” signs were a (possibly apocryphal) indication of the attitude of civilians toward the soldier. This is not unique to America or to this time. Rudyard Kipling, the bard of the British Army, had something to say about it. Today, the British public treats their soldiers even worse than the left wing does ours. Ricks, in his book, pointed out that the widening gulf between civilian and military in this country could even become a hazard. With the country seemingly ready to elect an anti-war president next fall, we are all in danger from this nonsense. The lefties don’t think the jihadists will ever disturb their gated community, latte sipping lives. I wonder.
Kipling knew what he was talking about.
MORE: Why I like Iowahawk. Should we be worried about psychological pathology in newsrooms?
So “Pinch” Sulzberger is out to change the world. I thought he was supposed to report the news.
I didn’t find the NYT article especially compelling. The murder rate they cite for returning Iraq vets doesn’t seem much higher than the murder rate for that cohort of the population in general. I wish they would have put in a few more statistics so we could get a better handle on the magnitude of the problem the Times thinks that we have.
The personal stories they used did not seem too convincing. The prominent one was a case of self defense. Then there was an accidental shooting. Then someone shooting his mistress after she threatened to kill his family. I wouldn’t put that in the “persuadable story” category. Then a traffic accident by someone high on starting fluid. And a murder/suicide, with no details.
The persuasion level here just doesn’t seem very high.
This has been bothering me. The veterans I know are all pretty straight up guys. All of them. Most have an innate honor, and most took advantage of the VA loans and benefits and made something of themselves.
I’m starting to get suspicious of all the homeless vet stories. The local papers have reallky been hyping it lately, from Missoula to Honolulu I was picking up the same agitprop from local nonprofit mouthpieces.
But are the guys really veterans? Were they in for a while but got en early discharge? A lot of the guys who couldn’t hack it found ways to get out and it wasn’t that hard to do toward the end of the Vietnam era. I know a couple guys who just decided they didn’t like it and got out. Are they still “veterans”?
Hello Dr K,
I’m enjoying your blog tremendously. I know you have a daughter living in Spain and thought you might find the following blog to be of interest. http://iberiannotes.blogspot.com/ It’s written by an American who lives in Barcelona. I especially like his regular reviews of the Spanish media which he translates and “Fisks.” His was the first blog I ever read and has constantly remained one of my favourites. He has recently written quite extensively about the Spanish health care system which I’m sure you’ll find of interest. He’s been writing for many years so there’s quite a large archive which can be accessed from a link on the top left hand corner.
Here is the correct response to the nonsense from the NY Times:
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/01/a-public-servic.html
Satirize them!