Have you heard about the latest tragedy from Iraq?

[Ed Palmer]

One Of Their Own (Vanity)
1/30/06 | Saluki


Posted on 01/30/2006 5:00:59 AM PST by AT7Saluki


Have you heard about the latest tragedy from Iraq? If you haven’t, you soon will. And if you haven’t, you surely haven’t been paying attention. A journalist and cameraman have been injured. I’ll pause to let the gravity of that set in. All over the MSM this weekend and this morning is the story of how an ABC newsman, Bob Woodruff, and his cameraman, Doug Vogt, sustained injuries after an encounter with a roadside bomb. Curiously absent from the accounts though, is any mention of SOLDIERS who were impacted by the incident. And therein lies the basis for my vitriol. For lo these many months, we have been accosted with statistics, from the national and local media, of how horribly things have been going and how yet another soldier was killed (in this unjust conflict). Yet here we have an example of continuing sorrow and “our thoughts and prayers are with …” pontifications, because one of their own is involved. Admittedly, we all have a tendency toward imposing our small realities on the world at large, but I hold news organizations to a different standard. I remember our beloved Schlepard Smith, torn with anguish while reporting from New Orleans, completely fixated on his own surroundings and transposing that on the entire city (while justifying his denial of water to a child based on his own fear for survival). Perhaps I have too much of a Joe Friday expectation from a Maya Angelou organization. What I see in this is just another example of media bias. It’s not liberal or conservative this time; it’s personal. Woodruff’s story has been determined to be the lead news of the day. This is not because it matters to you and me. Frankly, I’m more concerned about Stan Soldier who was killed as his Humvee was blown up by a roadside bomb. Or maybe Michael Marine who was sniped while handing new textbooks to Iraqi children. But that’s not personal to those who decide what’s important enough to show. Certainly, Mr. Woodward was doing his job, and probably doing it well. But to fixate on his injury while at the same time ignoring the stories of wonder and tragedy set forth by those striving for the liberation of Iraq, not to mention our own personal safety, is frankly, nauseating. So as I eavesdrop on the coverage of events throughout the day, when I hear some anchor’s voice crack at the mention of poor Bob Woodruff, I will say a prayer for his family and, while I’m on the line, thank my Lord for the numbers of brave men and women who aren’t on camera.



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[Ed Palmer]

Do you remember that Monty Python spoof on the Zulu Wars when an enlisted man runs up to the officers and says "Sirs, 200 men were killed, 700 were crippled, 18 were blinded, and 400 cannot be accounted for..." (or something like that)

The officer annoyingly interrupts "Never mind that, man, an officer has lost a leg!!"


The camera clowns get no sympathy from me, mine is all for our soldiers.

[Ed Palmer]

Did you notice how quick they got him out of the sand box to a nice cushy Hospital WOW BOO HOO He got hurt ,WHAT ABOUT POOR OLE L/CPL WHATS HIS FACE , hE GETS TO STAY IN COUNTRY AND PATCHED UP SO HE CAN FIGHT AGAIN AND HARDLY GETS A hONORABLE MENTION.

SO BOO HOO FOR THE NEWS MEDIA

ED PALMER



ABC Anchor, Cameraman at German Hospital
Yahoo! News ^ | January 30, 2006 | DAVID BAUDER


Posted on 01/30/2006 4:58:03 AM PST by Kaslin


NEW YORK - ABC News led its broadcasts with its own journalists in the news: anchor Bob Woodruff and a cameraman had been seriously injured by a roadside bomb while reporting in Iraq.

Woodruff, the new co-anchor of "World News Tonight," and Doug Vogt both suffered head injuries, and Woodruff has broken bones. They were flown Monday to a U.S. military hospital in Germany, and the network said their families were at the hospital Monday.

"They're both very seriously injured, but stable," Col. Bryan Gamble, commander of the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in western Germany, said Monday. He said the two men were heavily sedated, and under the care of the hospital's trauma team.

Their body armor likely saved them, "otherwise these would have been fatal wounds," Gamble said.

Woodruff and Vogt, an award-winning cameraman, were embedded with the 4th Infantry Division and traveling in a convoy Sunday with U.S. and Iraqi troops near Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad.

They were standing up in the hatch of the mechanized vehicle, exposed when the device exploded. An Iraqi solder also was hurt in the explosion.

"Doug was conscious, and I was able to reassure him we were getting them care. I spoke to Bob also and walked with them to the helicopter," said ABC senior producer Kate Felsen, who had been working with Woodruff for the past two weeks.

It was another dose of bad news for ABC News, still recovering from the cancer death of Peter Jennings in August. Woodruff, 44, assumed Jennings' old job anchoring "World News Tonight" with Elizabeth Vargas earlier this month.

"Bob and Doug were in Iraq doing what reporters do, trying to find out what's happening there up-close and firsthand. All of us are mindful of the risks and the dangers," Vargas said Sunday night in a closing note.

Woodruff, a father of four, has been at ABC News since 1996. He grew up in Michigan and became a corporate lawyer in New York, but changed fields soon after a stint teaching law in Beijing in 1989 and helping CBS News during the chaos of the Tiananmen Square protest.

Vogt, 46, is a three-time Emmy award-winning cameraman from Canada who has spent the last 20 years based in Europe covering global events for CBC, BBC and now exclusively for ABC News. He lives in Aix-en-Provence, France.

ABC said that at the time of the attack both men were in an Iraqi vehicle — considered less secure than U.S. military equipment — to get the perspective of the Iraqi military. They were aware the Iraqi forces are the frequent targets of insurgent attacks, the network said.

Dozens of journalists have been injured, killed or kidnapped in Iraq since the 2003 U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein.

Jill Carroll, a freelance reporter for The Christian Science Monitor, was kidnapped by gunmen Jan. 7. She was among 250 foreigners who had been taken captive in the country since the U.S. invasion; at least 39 of those foreigners were killed.

The most visible among the U.S. TV reporters was David Bloom of NBC News, who died from an apparent blood clot while traveling south of Baghdad on April 6, 2003.

The Blooms and Woodruffs were known to be close friends, and when NBC News executives had to tell Bloom's widow that her husband had died, they made sure Woodruff's wife, Lee, was there to offer support.

Woodruff spent three days in Israel last week reporting on the Palestinian elections, and was to have been in Iraq through the State of the Union address on Tuesday, according to ABC.

ABC News' Jim Sciutto, who is covering the war in Iraq, said of Vogt: "He's the cameraman we all request when we go to the field because he's so good, a fantastic eye. He's won so many awards for ABC."

On CBS' "Face the Nation" Sunday, anchor Bob Schieffer abandoned his commentary to wish Woodruff and Vogt well. "It just hit us all like a lightning bolt because we've all been there," he later told The Associated Press.

NBC "Nightly News" anchor Brian Williams said he had been in touch with Woodruff's family and is praying for the families of both men. "There is no way to cover the story in Iraq without exposure to danger," he said.

[GunnyL]

God Bless you for this thread Ed. The media will get no sympathy from me, they spend all of their time trashing the Marines and Soldiers over there who are actually making a difference. When one of theirs gets injured, it's all over every channel, Headlines and Front Pages.
God Bless all those Men and Women in Uniform who are over there doing the real work. Too bad we'll never hear their story on World News Tonight unless they can find something negative they can use to trash them.

GunnyL

[Bill Thompson]

Let us not forget that Woodruff is/was a lawyer. I wonder how long it will be before he sues the President and the militrary for letting him get injured.

[Ed Palmer]

Offensive Washington Post Editorial Cartoon
Washington Post ^


Posted on 01/31/2006 5:04:18 AM PST by PurpleMan

THIS IS WHAT THE MEDIA THINKS ABOUT US
I am furious.

If you haven't seen it check out yesterday's WaPo editorial "cartoon" by Tom Toles. It is so offensive that I don't want to even have it appear on this site, so you must go see it.

This "cartoon" from the 6th ranked newspaper in the country depicting a multiple-amputated serviceman in a political cartoon is one of the most disgusting, callous and vile items I have seen. I expect to see it at a Code Pink protest or at the DailyKos.

I, for one, am canceling my subscription and including a copy of the picture so they know exactly why they are no longer to receive my money.


(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/Ed15Palmer/c_01292006_520.gif

[Ed Palmer]

A good picture from Iraq.
defendamerica.mil ^ | 21 Jan 2006 | Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.


Posted on 01/30/2006 4:50:35 PM PST by SirChas


U.S. Army 1st Lt. Paul Waldoff, 2nd Platoon leader, Bravo Troop, 1st Battalion, 71st Cavalry Regiment, gives an Iraqi boy a soccer uniform and soccer shoes in Baghdad, Iraq, Jan. 21, 2006. Waldoff knew the boy was a soccer fan and had the uniform sent from the United States.
U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Kevin L. Moses Sr.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v733/Ed15Palmer/pi012706a10.jpg

[Osotogary]

Wow! All I can say is that this cartoon has me spinning every which way.
Many years ago I saw a cartoon about a restaurant who's main entree was frog legs. Guess who was bringing the frog legs from the kitchen to the table? A frog on a dolly. At that time I thought the cartoon was funnier than all get out.
The cartoon above is not in the least bit funny at all and definitely disrespects our Armed Forces personnel. It is, however, thought
provoking, especially when there is always someone trying to put some sort of self serving spin on the War on Terror at the expense of our Armed Forces personnel. Maybe, that is the purpose of this cartoon. My first take is that Rumsfeld is waxing a politically correct media response to the growing resentment over this nations KIA and WIA.
You are right, Ed, this cartoon is vile and distasteful and you wished to God that there was another way to present the subject matter but I don't know if there is...at this time.