doodle
05-12-2011, 03:31 PM
Did Franken go too far in criticizing blend of fiction by top government officials when reporting news to tax payers?
Thursday, May. 12, 2011
BOB FRANKEN: Why embellish the military narratives?
Why do our leaders, both in and out of uniform, find it imperative to take a superhuman military exploit and embellish it with an exaggerated narrative. And why do they do it so often?
Inevitably, they wind up taking shining victories and tarnishing them. They should know better. Is it some sort of compulsion? This is brought to mind by the awkwardness that followed the astonishing heroics of the Navy Seals who took out Osama bin Laden. Ten years of pent-up frustration would have exploded into celebration in the same way, without U.S. counterterrorism chief John Brennan garnishing the saga. The claims that bin Laden was armed when he was shot dead and that he had used one of his wives as a human shield were great drama, but fiction.
Look at the hard feelings that fester still today over the combat death of former NFL star Pat Tillman. His valor was a legend itself, but now his legacy has been turned bitter because of the top-level attempts to suppress the truth that he had been killed by friendly fire.
Jessica Lynch was another case in point. In April 2003, she was captured after being seriously injured in southern Iraq. News media at the time bought the Pentagon's story that PFC Lynch had been badly wounded and taken prisoner after she had blazed away during a firefight. She was so embarrassed, she felt compelled to set the record straight.The truth, as she acknowledged after her release, is that her injuries were the result of a Humvee crash that occurred as she and the others in her unit tried to flee.
LINK (http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/12/1684057/bob-franken-why-embellish-the.html#ixzz1MAy6Jrud)
Thursday, May. 12, 2011
BOB FRANKEN: Why embellish the military narratives?
Why do our leaders, both in and out of uniform, find it imperative to take a superhuman military exploit and embellish it with an exaggerated narrative. And why do they do it so often?
Inevitably, they wind up taking shining victories and tarnishing them. They should know better. Is it some sort of compulsion? This is brought to mind by the awkwardness that followed the astonishing heroics of the Navy Seals who took out Osama bin Laden. Ten years of pent-up frustration would have exploded into celebration in the same way, without U.S. counterterrorism chief John Brennan garnishing the saga. The claims that bin Laden was armed when he was shot dead and that he had used one of his wives as a human shield were great drama, but fiction.
Look at the hard feelings that fester still today over the combat death of former NFL star Pat Tillman. His valor was a legend itself, but now his legacy has been turned bitter because of the top-level attempts to suppress the truth that he had been killed by friendly fire.
Jessica Lynch was another case in point. In April 2003, she was captured after being seriously injured in southern Iraq. News media at the time bought the Pentagon's story that PFC Lynch had been badly wounded and taken prisoner after she had blazed away during a firefight. She was so embarrassed, she felt compelled to set the record straight.The truth, as she acknowledged after her release, is that her injuries were the result of a Humvee crash that occurred as she and the others in her unit tried to flee.
LINK (http://www.modbee.com/2011/05/12/1684057/bob-franken-why-embellish-the.html#ixzz1MAy6Jrud)