MSM Encounter

This past weekend my (second) wife (Sexy Squirrel) and I traveled out of state for a wedding. One of Sexy's oldest girlfriends was finally getting married and Sexy was to stand up with her. The groom's family was great, but his sister is a television journalist at a local station in Washington, D.C.

When the sister found out that I am a vet she made it a point to "praise" me and all my buddies for our great work, even though she didn't "agree with the reasons we went there." Damn. Now why did she have to go and qualify her "praise?" I explained that the vast majority of the military deeply believed in what we are doing over there and she argued with me! She cited a recent Washington Post article that featured dissenters. I kept my cool and offered that the MSM is always willing to shine their benevolent light on dissenters and broadly ignored any good news. Again, she argued with me!

I actually pretty much just let it go. What could I do? I decided that I wouldn't waste my time on her as she clearly had uncannily full knowledge of all world events... even though I was the first OEF and OIF vet that she had met. Wow, I'm getting my blood pressure up all over again.

I let it go because I am a gentleman and am able to foresee that creating problems with this family now may make things uncomfortable in the future.

I guess that I wish that I could have had more of a conversation with her (preferably one way). I found her exclamations of support for the troops (she even has *gasp* a yellow ribbon magnet on her car) to be disingenuous. As far as I'm concerned, you can't support the troops if you don't support the mission. My feeling is that all the negativity and obstructionist posturing of the MSM (and the left) is killing more Americans. You cannot have it both ways. I will elaborate further on this thought in the future.

Another problem in my new "friend" the journalist's eyes was that we were creating even more anger in Iraq. Guess what! Once we crossed the berm and finished slapping around the opposing Iraqis, we found that we were fighting foreigners. Seriously, we ran counter-intelligence and counter-insurgency missions on a regular basis and found that there weren't any Iraqi suicide bombers. The Iraqis were now free! These folks aren't about to kill themselves for anyone! The Iraqis were more interested in making a better life for themselves and their families. I'm sure that there are exceptions that prove me right, but the fact is that the insurgency isn't what it appears on the Boob Tube.

The left (including the journalist) passionately believes that if we could just sit down with these people, that we could come to an understanding. They believe that diplomacy and cooler heads (read compassionate and understanding liberals) can reason with those that wish us harm. They could not be any further from the truth. These folks are absolutely intent on killing us. The Hollywood star doesn't realize it, but his/her movies fuel this hate! They aren't enamored by that stirring nude scene... they are out for blood over it! They will firebomb video stores that sell it. For example, I was once in Pakistan (following Friday prayers) and saw a mob throw rocks through a video store window because of the 'suggestive' American video poster that was displayed. For some reason, their lack of self-control in looking at sinful pictures is not their problem. How nice for them. I can think of a whole segment of our country that is certain that their trials and tribulations are not a result of their own choices and lack of discipline. They are called "democrats."

Whew. Nice to vent a little bit.

I should also disclose that I speak Arabic, have lived abroad in the Middle East, have an Arab wife, and enjoy storing nuts in trees.