This morning, NPR had a piece on the Change of Command Ceremony for Lt Gen Sanchez as he departs Iraq. A CoC is a formal affair, but levity is acceptable. What is not acceptable is how NPR chose to cover it.
“General Sanchez spoke for a while talking about successes and failures. But he never mentioned the Abu Ghraib scandal.” Of course, that had to be in the forefront of his mind, and he was simply suppressing the image. So, the reporter helped him out by asking him about only one thing–Abu Ghraib. Sanchez said that it was a defeat, but those guilty are being prosecuted, and the investigation into others’ activities is continuing.
That scandal is now a speck in the past to men like Sanchez who have bigger issues to confront. It is being dealt with, and always has been. In his tenure as Commander in Iraq, Sanchez accomplished far more than this reporter will in his entire life. Maybe that’s what is stuck in the media’s craw.
How must a reporter feel spending his/her whole life pointing out the worst in society, and many times searching tirelessly for flaws in good men and women?
All the while knowing that all their efforts will not amount to a hill of beans, unless they become noted for destroying someone else.
Such a sad way to live. A life not constructive, but destructive.
Comment by John — July 1, 2004 @ 10:05 pm
True, John, which is why the reporter dreams of a return to power for the Democrats, so he can go back to playing up the nice things and downplaying the scandals and disasters.
Comment by Francis W. Porretto — July 2, 2004 @ 5:22 am