Comments on: Numbers Game http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/ Wed, 08 Feb 2012 08:45:45 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: The Media and Its Milestones | Debating Myself http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/comment-page-1/#comment-788107 The Media and Its Milestones | Debating Myself Tue, 01 Apr 2008 18:33:56 +0000 http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/#comment-788107 [...] David Isenberg over at the Partnership for  Secure America has written a great post critiquing the media for making a big deal of the supposed “milestone” 4,000th American casualty in Iraq. He puts it much more thoroughly and eloquently than I can. [...] [...] David Isenberg over at the Partnership for  Secure America has written a great post critiquing the media for making a big deal of the supposed “milestone” 4,000th American casualty in Iraq. He puts it much more thoroughly and eloquently than I can. [...]

]]> By: Wolfpack SigO http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/comment-page-1/#comment-774873 Wolfpack SigO Thu, 27 Mar 2008 21:26:14 +0000 http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/#comment-774873 David, I hoped that the marking of 4000 dead Americans would have been a bigger deal, a wake-up call of sorts. A little like the spendthrift who finally opens a credit card bill and is forced to take action upon seeing the enormous debt that's been run up -- the truth of it is that as long as everyone has the choice to serve their country or stay home, we will continue to send our service members on ill-planned ventures because the vast majority of Americans have no vested interest in the mission. Empathy only goes so far, and the day each of us is faced with the prospect of going to war or sending a loved one will be the day we refuse to accept war rationale like what was offered in 2003. It's past time for a bipartisan, no-deferment draft. David, I hoped that the marking of 4000 dead Americans would have been a bigger deal, a wake-up call of sorts. A little like the spendthrift who finally opens a credit card bill and is forced to take action upon seeing the enormous debt that’s been run up — the truth of it is that as long as everyone has the choice to serve their country or stay home, we will continue to send our service members on ill-planned ventures because the vast majority of Americans have no vested interest in the mission.

Empathy only goes so far, and the day each of us is faced with the prospect of going to war or sending a loved one will be the day we refuse to accept war rationale like what was offered in 2003.

It’s past time for a bipartisan, no-deferment draft.

]]> By: Matt Rojansky http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/comment-page-1/#comment-770863 Matt Rojansky Wed, 26 Mar 2008 17:29:47 +0000 http://blog.psaonline.org/2008/03/26/numbers-game/#comment-770863 I share your outrage, David, on essentially all counts. What is particularly galling about the media playing with numbers to create a story is that so many reporters aren't working to find the substantive stories in the first place. We're at war on at least two fronts, with hundreds of thousands of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of allied troops serving in combat--doesn't it seem like our "war correspondents" should be bringing us constant updates on all aspects of this major story, and not just marking trite milestones like round-number casualty figures and anniversaries of this or that event? I share your outrage, David, on essentially all counts. What is particularly galling about the media playing with numbers to create a story is that so many reporters aren’t working to find the substantive stories in the first place. We’re at war on at least two fronts, with hundreds of thousands of Americans, and hundreds of thousands of allied troops serving in combat–doesn’t it seem like our “war correspondents” should be bringing us constant updates on all aspects of this major story, and not just marking trite milestones like round-number casualty figures and anniversaries of this or that event?

]]>