I had something longer to drop for tomorrow but I saw some stories that left me spitting Chiclets both about the Biden-Harris Administration and the media that works for them.
First, Arlington Cemetery Controversy Deepens as Trump and Harris Trade Attacks
This is a headline that doesn’t match the article. Kamala and Trump didn’t trade barbs. Kamala accused Trump of using Arlington as a campaign prop and in general impugned his character. Trump did not “trade attacks” but merely posted messages from the various Gold Star families who attended the ceremony. Those families stated that not only had they invited Trump, but they asked his team to take pictures and video. They also slammed Kamala and her administration for having no one there.
So what about the other nail that the Democrats are hanging their Arlington narrative on? That Trump’s use of pictures and video for campaign purposes was inappropriate? That’s what Army Secretary Christine Wormuth had said earlier. To CNN’s credit they quoted Sen. Tom Cotton saying that “neither the families nor President Trump violated cemetery regulations or policies.”
Of course they added the qualifier that Cotton was “…not present during Trump’s trip to the cemetery.” Neither CNN nor Wormuth were present, so Cotton had just as much right to comment as they did. CNN also failed to mention that Cotton wasn’t just an “Army veteran,” but had served in the Old Guard which is responsible for memorial affairs at Arlington; he also wrote a book about it. Seems like a critical factor.
The form of the article gives voice to both sides in order to claim fairness, but in reality the article exists to further the narrative that Trump did something wrong. More importantly it provided stray voltage to deflect criticism of Kamala by the Gold Star families and others for what her administration did in Afghanistan. I’ll touch on the media’s conflicted relationship with “Both-Sideism” in a later post. Let me rewrite the headline for CNN:
“Gold Star Families Attack Harris for Using Arlington Ceremony as Campaign Prop”
or
“Former Member of Old Guard Slams Army Secretary for Disrespecting Gold Star Families”
There, glad to have cleaned that up.
The other story? Quite a bit more serious. I’ll pick NPR, but it’s got the same vibe as other outlets, Israel Recovers Bodies of 6 Hostages, Including Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
Recovering bodies? Sounds very passive, as if they had died from various causes over the previous year, maybe COVID or from a kitchen fire. In the third paragraph the article states: “The military is not giving anymore specifics about how the hostages were killed,” leaving you with the notion that it wasn’t clear how the hostages died. You have to get to the bottom of the article to read “Israeli military spokesperson Daniel Hagari said the six were shot shortly before being rescued.”
Why cannot NPR just say that they were murdered? Well we know why.
Let me rewrite this for them:
“Hamas Murders Six Hostages, Including One American”
“On August 31, American Hersh Goldberg-Polin and five other hostages were murdered by Hamas as they were about to be rescued. Mr. Goldberg-Polin was an attendee at a music festival on 10/7 and was one of 200+ innocent civilians who were kidnapped amidst a rampage of murder and sexual violence that killed the most Jews in a single day since the Holocaust. Goldberg-Polin was held prisoner for nearly a year and was used as a human shield and bargaining chip by the terrorist group Hamas, in violation of the laws of war, to escape retribution for the 10/7 atrocities.
“The Biden Administration has been working with Hamas for the past year in order protect them against Israeli attacks, provide them with air, and ensure their survival so that they can continue to attack innocent civilians.
“The Biden-Harris Administration and the State Department, which serves as an unregistered foreign agent for Hamas and its Iranian sponsor, have issued pro forma statements condemning the attacks, and promises to bring the people involved to justice. When asked for his opinion, former president Trump pointed to a picture of the tomb of General Solemani, and said he, unlike Kamala Harris, has an excellent track record of bringing those who kill Americans to justice.”
Mike: “Let me rewrite this for them:”
Now we know why you will never get a job with NPR, Mike! Good writing ability, but you would not really fit in.
Also, see this:
https://nypost.com/2024/08/31/us-news/gold-star-families-blast-harris-in-blistering-videos-after-vp-criticizes-trumps-arlington-visit/
It’s not as if any of us aren’t smart enough to know why Biden spent the day on the beach and Kamala and Waltz, the battle hardened “vet”, were as far away as possible. Too bad for them that it’s so easy to dig up the campaign spots of Biden doing the exact same thing. I’m old enough to remember when there were these things called news rooms that did that sort of thing where now we have to depend on amateurs.
From my point of view, the current crop of Administration wannabes does not care at all about civilian or military casualties. Their fear is the world stage of statesmanship. On said stage, they can be observed genuflecting obsequiously to the vague emotions of the representatives of non-democratic, non-free “leaders”. They fear more causing ripples in the cesspool of diplomatic relations than the reactions of US citizens at their outrages.
IOW, the people of the country they ‘represent’ are of less consideration than ruffling the feathers of other diplomats. Cocktail party invitations being of considerably more importance.
State always wants ‘stabiltity’ over accomplishment. They forget that to steer the Ship of State, it must be in a moving current or the rudder/oars are useless. Stability saves things to pass failures on to the next administration, rather than actually accomplishing anything of note.
Hopefully, those hiding in the subterranean caverns/caves/rat holes built by Hamas will be fully involved in a future occurrence where they can be meted the justice they so deserve. Perhaps closing all entrances with bull dozer pushed rubble will allow them time to reflect on their ‘statesmanship’. Yeah, I am rather tired of the yapping fools from State who’d rather have a successful speech than actual success.
Making a big thing about Trump at Arlington was not a good move by Kamala’s team – it reminded veterans and their families ALL OVER AGAIN of how the Biden administration and their pet generals botched Afghanistan, how Biden was ostentatiously checking his watch when the dead from the Abbey Gate bombing were returned to Dover AFB … and how only a single officer at the Pentagon resigned his commission in protest over the bungled withdrawal from Afghanistan.
Enlistment rates in all but the Marines is cratering, so is retention and morale among the career military is in the toilet.
Gee, I hope nothing else goes wrong between now and November.