In the last couple of days, the American press has been reporting that
special teams of US soldiers have been in Afghanistan since just days after
the attack on America. This morning, the Teleban says they capture of at
least one of those teams. Now the press is saying -- well, there really are
no special teams in Afghanistan.
I'm fed up with the press reporting bogus rumors and pretending it's news.
Our military isn't telling them anything, as well they shouldn't, so they're
making stuff up. Shame on them! Then again, what if the Bush team is
intentionally leaking misinformation to plug internal leaks? Now that would
be brilliant!
For years, I've been disgusted with the local press. They treat us like
children and think they must "educate" us on a second grade level. They
rehash the morning news every half hour as though we wake up in waves. A few
weeks ago, they even did a piece on the basic food groups! For crying out
loud, enough already.
I want real news and as a constant web surfer, I know it's out there. But
sadly, the press in Seattle hasn't discovered the web yet. Case in point...
did you know a gunman killed 14 people in the Swiss Parliament last week? If
you did, you didn't hear about it on our local news. Maybe they don't know
about Switzerland yet... that must be it.
We are at war and I pray the press will not think their "freedom" includes
live pictures of our troops in action like they did in Somalia. I had a
nephew in the Navy Seals and I was furious when the camera lights exposed
them on the beaches. We lost that skirmish, not to mention some good men,
and I put the blame squarely on the shoulders of our press corp.
Yes, we have freedom of the press and I'm all for it. But freedom shouldn't
override common sense. No wonder the world laughs at us.
In the last three weeks, Americans have grown up. It's time for the press to
follow suit!
Marti Talbott, author of:
A Shattered City - Earthquake in Seattle
www.carsonbooks.com