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A Challenge to the Media
Replace
Bill Kristol with Everyday Americans
by
Mary MacElveen January 22, 2007
Earlier this month, I wrote Pundits
No, Everyday Citizens Yes which was published by
the Consortium News. Within this piece
I pushed back against the media in interviewing
the same old pundits on their various talk shows
instead of ‘John and Jane Q. Public’
With that said, I was outraged when Bill Kristol
(a student of Leo Strauss and a writer for
the Weekly Standard) had this to say of those
within congress who are opposed to the
escalation of troops within Iraq that they are,
“leap-frogging each other in the degrees of
irresponsibility they’re willing to advocate.”
Kristol said, “It’s just unbelievable. … It’s so
irresponsible that they can’t be quiet for six
or nine months,” adding, “You really wonder,
do they want it to work or not? I really wonder
that.”
In this past election, Americans did not go to
the polls and elect any congress member to
be quiet as Kristol says that they should.
I would suggest that he read my past editorial in
which I wrote, “At times, it leaves the viewer
frustrated that these pundits just do not get it.
They do not get what life is really like out
here in America.”
At this time, I would suggest that folks like
Kristol be quiet and listen to what the American
people are saying. I would suggest that
Kristol be quiet since on Saturday we lost 25 soldiers.
Does he even know what it is like to be in their
boots? As many who are opposed to this
escalation have voiced their concerns to the
Bush administration, they include Congressman
Jack Murtha who did serve. They include
Senator Chuck Hagel who also served. Those
like Senator Ted Kennedy who also served have
questioned this troop increase while those
like Kristol decided not to serve in any branch
of the military.
Besides, folks like Kristol were NOT elected by
any American to have a say in which
direction our country goes in.
This is the problem that I have with various think-tanks
such as PNAC (Project for a New
American Century) in which many of the founders
of it were students of Leo Strauss. These are
men turned pundits like Bill Kristol. Many
of these men have not served in any branch of our military,
yet will use them for their ill gotten gains.
They live within a vacuum in which they are not hearing
ordinary Americans. They are simply there
to promote their own agendas instead of what is best for America.
Those like Kristol should visit the VA (Veterans
Administration) hospitals to see the affects that
these wars have on our soldiers. Many come
home without limbs; faces burnt off and will live with
that pain and suffering for the rest of their
lives. What do men like Kristol do? He continues to go
on talk show after talk show spewing his garbage.
He (Kristol) should listen to men such as Senator
Jim Webb who has actually served and has a son
serving in Iraq. Then perhaps by some grace
of God he will finally get what why so many have
opposed this war.
What I find irresponsible is that the man he supports
namely President Bush was the one who
did not act in any responsible manner.
He chose to send our troops into harms way by invading
and attacking Iraq. Note to Bill Kristol,
Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.
When Kristol said of those who oppose this troop
escalation, “You really wonder, do they want it
to work or not? I really wonder that.” As one
looks at the sectarian violence that has thrown Iraq
into a civil war and a war that has lasted longer
than World War Two, the United States government
must come to the realization, it did not work
at all.
How much time should we give these people who
support this wave of military action within Iraq?
Do we give them one month, on year or as the
San Francisco Gate reported on October 5, 2005,
"The United States must be prepared to fight
the war on terror for decades to bring peace to Iraq
and the rest of the Middle East, Vice President
Dick Cheney said Wednesday."
At this point, I do not see Americans having the
resolve to confront this for decades to come.
It is not up to us to bring freedom and democracy
to Iraq and any other Middle East nation,
but to restore what freedoms have been lost to
us all during these past six years. It should be
about restoring our own democracy in which ordinary
Americans are indeed given a voice in
the direction of this country.
While I do not pay much attention to polls since
only a fraction of the American people are polled
the AP has reported, that most think that our
country is on the wrong track. Here is what they reported,
"Americans seem sour on the state of the union
in advance of President Bush's address on the subject.
A poll finds most believe the country is on the
wrong track — a complete flip from five years ago."
This article also reports, "Most people also
are not confident that Bush and the Democrats who now
control Congress and share responsibility with
him for running the country can work together to solve
its problems,” Something is broken within our
country, yet we want to repair what we see as being
broken in another country? Both elected
officials and pundits alike are not seeing this disconnect.
Perhaps President Bush, this congress and Bill
Kristol should start asking Americans what their concerns
are instead of telling us what we should be concerned
about. A country’s direction should never come
from a think-tank that exists within a vacuum,
but from the American people. I again challenge the media
itself to invite ordinary Americans on their
respective talk shows and ask what the best course for this nation is.ee