The Packaged War
We don't know how they die. We don't see the violence. Generally, the deaths are not named but merely listed as "2 US soldiers died in Anbar province." Two nameless, faceless soldiers.
Their funerals are not carried on TV; their pictures do not make the front pages. Uttering their names in public is treated as treasonous.
Violence and the consequences of violence are kept far from the public's view.
We live in the greatest media empire that ever existed. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world who devote their lives ostensibly to telling the truth, or at least, telling a story, and yet the people who die are left blank, empty, without content.
These are people, real people, with depth and contours, and flaws, and smiles, and stories. People who enjoyed that wonderful warm pleasure from their mom's cookies. And yet, we don't get that. It's not presented.
We are shielded from the violence. This is a packaged war.
Their funerals are not carried on TV; their pictures do not make the front pages. Uttering their names in public is treated as treasonous.
Violence and the consequences of violence are kept far from the public's view.
We live in the greatest media empire that ever existed. Hundreds of thousands of people throughout the world who devote their lives ostensibly to telling the truth, or at least, telling a story, and yet the people who die are left blank, empty, without content.
These are people, real people, with depth and contours, and flaws, and smiles, and stories. People who enjoyed that wonderful warm pleasure from their mom's cookies. And yet, we don't get that. It's not presented.
We are shielded from the violence. This is a packaged war.
posted by mikevotes at
4:56 PM
6 Comments:
Thanks for your diligent efforts at trying to rip open the package every day so we can see what's inside, even though it isn't easy to look at!
It shouldn't be easy to look at, but if we are going to let it happen, we should have to see it.
By
seenos, at 5:21 PM
Ya think!
sorry cynical today
By
Unknown, at 5:29 PM
Without depth to the people involved in the violence there's only an abstract loss, and that's part of the propaganda.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 6:18 PM
You're right, in general. I hear the last two soldiers, though, were beheaded.
Bush's "good week" is over. Now they have to hope the "cut and run" propaganda infects the American psyche.
By
NYC Educator, at 6:54 PM
Hang on, I just read a quote from your Pres, currently in Europe - "We are a transparent democracy, we debate things in the open."
By
Cartledge, at 6:56 PM
NYC. Yep, and watch the scare tactics start to come back. The Republicans have to win back the suburbs, so we should start to see threats to the "nesters."
Cartledge, I saw that too.
Mike
By
mikevotes, at 9:19 PM
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