Monday, January 16, 2006

Santorum Insults Americans

You gotta hand it to Sen. Santorum; he manages to keep his name in the news for one reason or another. He might consider being a little more careful though or risk alienating the media that keeps giving him all that press. Last week, at Valley Forge Military Academy and College outside Philadelphia, Santorum went off the deep end and attacked the media for drawing the public's attention to the deaths of American servicemen and women in Iraq. According to Santorum’s logic, to focus attention on the "tragic consequences" of the war was "helping Islamic fascism win the battle."

The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette didn’t take kindly to Santorum’s criticism and published this response:
We would answer Sen. Santorum in two ways. First of all, the Post-Gazette's coverage of the Iraq war seeks to be as broad and as comprehensive as space permits. We write factually about the progress of the war, including full coverage of the elections there; efforts to form a democratic, inclusive government of the different Iraqi political and religious factions; and American cooperation with Iraqi police and military units that is meant to establish the level of security that will permit U.S. troops to be withdrawn.

We write about the speeches of President Bush and other members of his administration that seek to provide a positive interpretation of what is occurring in Iraq, alongside interpretative evaluation of developments there.

For Sen. Santorum to suggest that we and other American media should not report about the tragic loss of American lives -- a death toll that now stands above 2,200 -- is to sell our readers short and to suggest that they do not need to know, nor do they want to know, how many brave Americans are dying there.

It is to say that they are either immature -- fragile souls who need to be protected from such information -- or that they don't care, which everyone knows is not the case. For Sen. Santorum to cite national security and the claim that knowledge of U.S. losses might encourage America's enemies, as reasons for not telling the public the truth, is insulting to the American people.

Their response was great, but I'd like to add one more thing: American citizens need to be protected all right; we need to be protected from politicians like Santorum who seek to whitewash the atrocities of war – a war based on lies. Talk about your “tragic consequences.”

UPDATE: My favorite Aussie and expatriate, Acoustic Dad, has a response to Santorum on his website that I recommend you read. His opinion reflects mine and those of many other Americans that Santorum "is hardly indicative of somone who cherishes Democracy, honesty, integrity and ethicality. The American people don't deserve this and particularly not the families of servicepeople overseas."

6 comments:

mikevotes said...

It's amazing, isn't it? The real weird high point in all of this was that nightline episode where they just read the names of the deceased.

How am I supposed to honor their service when the Bush administration wants them forgotten?

Mike

Kathy said...

Bush doesn't care about honoring their service. He wants their names and faces kept out of the news because then it becomes too personal for Americans. To lose a friend, neighbor or loved one to an honorable war is one thing, but to lose them to a war based on lies is a waste of a life.

Thankfully, more and more people are speaking out against this senseless loss of life.

Anonymous said...

Bush doesn't care about honoring their service. He wants their names and faces kept out of the news because then it becomes too personal for Americans.

It's more insidious than that. Bu$hCo want's all of its dealings kept secret. Once the public is used to a new level of secrecy, then anything neo-cons do can be hidden with minimal effort and no supervision by the other branches of government.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kathy,

I had started to write a comment, however it quickly became longer, and longer and longer. So ultimately I just devoted an entry to it on my blog.

What can you say about all this that hasn't already been said? Not only is it insulting to the American public, it flies in the face of the freedom and democracy the war supposedly seeks to protect.

The truth - as difficult as it may be to digest - is a necessary component of proper decision making. By seeking to censor or hide the truth from the public the government is trying to prevent them from participating in their own democracy.

The more people are in the dark, the more likely they are to follow and not question; and the easier it is to get away with anything.

The levels of disinformation and propaganda being propagated by this administration - and their ongoing attempts at censorship - leaves little to be misconstrued as to their true motives.

Anonymous said...

What a tool. Every once and a while I remind myself and my readers of what we've lost. Santorum has had some real brain-dead momemnts. Has anyone checked for arterial-flow problems in the brain?

Oh, btw, congrats on Steelers. Is the city still alive? Or did everyone have massive heart attacks at that fumble?

Kathy said...

Kvatch, you bring up a good point, and of course there's the whole profit motive they derive from that unchecked power. Unfortunately, I'm not too sure the Dems and GOP aren't in bed together with all the latest scandals coming out. That leaves the rest of us out in the cold without representation.

LaPoppesa, my husband checked with some relatives back in Pittsburgh and they're still alive, but the anticipation of how far the Steelers will go is killing them!