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Dennis Goldman of Aurora writes:

During WWII and the Korean War, ‘the Greatest Generation’ volunteers included; A-list Hollywood actors, best selling Big Band leaders, celebrity entertainers and professional sports figures. In battle, some fought and lived, some distinguished themselves and some died. In the interest of maintaining National moral, the Press made each and every one of them out to be heroes and our Country was proud, Americans were inspired and we gained the inevitable triumph.
By contrast, Pat Tillman’s celebrity service stands nearly alone in the annals of today’s military. And today’s ‘drive-by’ Media seems to relish, in diminishing his ultimate sacrifice, by prominently featuring his accidental ‘friendly fire’ death and our Military’s desire to keep the legend of his service positive.
The U.S. Military, trying to downplay the specific circumstances of Tillman’s death or Jessica Lynch’s rescue (hoping to keep our Nation focused on the true threat of Islamo-fascism) apparently was too tempting for Rocky Mountain News political cartoonist, Ed Stein. His drawing (4/28/07) showing the Pentagon shooting and killing ‘the Truth’, equates those faulty Pentagon propaganda efforts with Al Queda’s stated desire to indiscriminately kill average Americans. The biggest challenge, to defeating Al Queda, is for Americans to take seriously the continuing threat posed to us by the Islamo-fascists. For Stein to suggest that our own Military poses a comparable threat is unconscionable and clearly shows Stein’s contempt for the very soldiers who fight and die to preserve (his) freedom and his right to free speech. Ed Stein’s cartoon is neither funny nor truthful and it is unworthy of Pat Tillman’s legacy.

This letter has not been edited.

READER COMMENTS

Where are the A-list actors today? Oh yea, protesting the war while they smoke dope...and to think people actually listen to them. Sad state of affairs...

Look what they did to Pat Tillmans memory and Lynchs story. That is called lying. Not faulty propaganada, although that is a bad enough description, or downplaying the specific circumstances of these stories: lying again.

Do we need to swallow lies to win? Do we need A-list stars to back this pitiful President, or can he make it on his own?

If the truth causes us to lose the war, well what the hell does that say about us.? Or about the war?

With a free press comes a responsibility to report the news - NOT to try and shape the attitudes of the masses by selective and biased reporting.

The press has abdicated its' responsibility and has shamelessly been cheering for our exit with our tail between our legs - all because they hate this President.

Is it any wonder that some lies (Tillman and Lynch) have been told in order to counter this assault? Not that it is right but you really don't understand that?

Is it any wonder that the readership for newspapers is down and viewers of the MSM are no longer tuning in? Other than the fact that young folks are not reading or watching because they have alternative sources and the demographic is dying every day due to old age, many folks are tired of MSM crap. Bad news 24/7 gets old.

A-:ist actors and the like have become nothing more than self-proclaimed dieties. They, and the media as a whole and other celebrities have felt themselves worthy to be gods and dictate what we should and should not do or get involved with. The situation is worse when you have people who live for the very idea of obeying them. Micheal Moore is a great example as was and is again, "Hanoi Jane" Fonda. I can hardly wait until she is taking pictures with Al Queda and the Taliban along side a downed US aircraft congratulating them for fighting and killin American men and women like she did in Nam.

I saw "Bowlilng for Columbine" and was impressed with the whole production. MM did a good job of filming what he wanted to show.

The letter at 7:47 asks us to understand those Tillman and Lynch lies, Not by me. Our military means to much to me to see it used, that early on in the war, to make this president look good. We had that kind of propaganda in the second world war, but usually the media found it out.

The whole tone of the original letter is apologetic for those lies, because there is a higher purpose for telling them.

"Our militarys desire to keep the memory of his service postive."

Some of the people in our military, made these nasty decisions, look how they treated the Tillman family. We don`t need this crap and if we need it to win a war, well what does that say about this war?

Nick, buddy...let it go, man. Jane Fonda pulled that idiotic stunt over a quarter century ago. A good percentage of Americans weren't even born yet - I'm in my 40s and I certainly don't remember it when it happened. She's said she was wrong - it may be time to move on with your life also.

Sheesh.

The letter writer's use of the wildly inaccurate term Islamo-fascists just shows that Mr. Goldman is not just an appologist for "propoganda" (read lies) he is also a disseminator. Wikipedia defines fascism as "an authoritarian political ideology (generally tied to a mass movement) that considers individual and other societal interests inferior to the needs of the STATE, and seeks to forge a type of national unity, usually based on ethnic, religious, cultural, or racial attributes. Various scholars attribute different characteristics to fascism, but the following elements are usually seen as its integral parts: nationalism, authoritarianism, MILITARISM, CORPORATISM, collectivism, totalitarianism, anti-communism, and opposition to economic and political liberalism. (Caps mine)" There is no such thing as Islamo-fascists but there is a fascist in the Whitehouse.

"Drive-by' media. Hmmm, I wonder what radio talk show the letter-writer listens to?

I can't really comment on Stein's cartoon, as I didn't see it. However, the passage "The U.S. Military, trying to downplay the specific circumstances of Tillman’s death or Jessica Lynch’s rescue (hoping to keep our Nation focused on the true threat of Islamo-fascism)..." is pretty striking. I've never actually heard someone defending the act of our government lying to us. I thought we were all on the same page that that's bad, but I guess I was wrong.

In the last paragraph it's pretty amazing that the letter-writer pulls out the old I'll-accuse-whoever-I-disagree-with (in this case Stein) of-not-supporting-the-troops. You can't really accuse other people of not respecting the troops when in your letter you defend the military lying about the circumstances of a soldier's death, or of fudging the details of another soldier's resuce to make it more ready for prime time (an act even the soldier herself has spoken out against).

Dennis,you are right,hollywood people now are self serving like the liberals in Washington.They believe they are elites and everybody else is put on this earth to serve them.They believe in keeping people down so they are unable to succeed on enriching themselves.

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