A Challenge to Reporters: It's Time to Hawk the Chickens

[dweller]

by Linda Milazzo
George W. Bush decrees again and again that every American killed in Iraq was killed for a noble cause. Ann
Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Savage, Sean Hannity and Melanie Morgan fill the airwaves with bellicose
testimonials to the righteousness of the war. Tom Delay, Donald Rumsfeld, Rick Santorum, Elizabeth Dole and Kay
Bailey Hutchison profess that the war is necessary for the safety and strength of America, and freedom and
democracy in Iraq. Chickenhawk after chickenhawk forcefully proclaim the legitimacy of this war. Yet in appearance
after appearance on NBC, NPR, CNN, ABC, CBS, FOX, MSNBC, CSPAN, PBS, et al, I have yet to hear a media
host or reporter ask any one of them the most relevant question of all: 'Who in YOUR family is fighting in this war?' If
this question were mandatory for those who tout the war, then its most vocal defenders would be silenced. For aloft
in the bloggesphere, one can't fabricate for long.

And so, in the never-ending quest for truth, justice and the anti-war way, I launch this challenge to all media hosts
and reporters. From this point forward everyone interviewed who supports the war must answer the question: 'Who in
YOUR family has fought it?' If it's noble for one, then it's noble for all!

I know this is a lot to ask of hosts and journalists who've been spineless for five years, but allow me to offer an
inspiration for their renewed attempt at courage: Cindy Sheehan. Thanks to Cindy and the whirlwind that surrounds
her, the wimpy political press has been rescued from the customary news abyss of August, and awarded the biggest
'he said/she said' of our most recent time. Indeed, were I the political press, I would drop to my knees, kiss the
hallowed ground of Camp Casey, and gratefully salute Cindy Sheehan. Then in her honor, and in honor of all men
and women in service in this war, pose Cindy's poignant question to those who deploy them and to those who
destroy them: 'Who in YOUR family is fighting and dying for YOUR war?'

True, Cindy has her detractors, but regardless of their disagreement with her 'tactics,' even her critics agree she has
guts. Cindy's an inspiration, and a reminder to journalists that fierce independence, courage, and dedication to one's
principles are not only admirable, but attainable. Cindy's individualism should remind today's reporters of the
gumshoe days of old, when members of the press had guts, integrity and balls.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0817-33.htm

she said balls!
:thumbsup:
dp