Larry King...'so what's going on over there'.

[Rex]

:rant:

Roberts in Israel - 'something big is going on Larry'. Guys STFU, why don't you go find out battle plans and just gab about them all over international TV? Then some guy in Beirut yapping about intel saying Syrian Army is 'getting ready'.

Does anyone else find it strange that there are US 'news reporters' on both side pretty much telling the two armies whats going on.

It's kinda like watching marines landing in Iraq during Gulf War I with nothing but swarms of news reporters, putting everyone in harms way. "How ya feel about taking the beachhead", and that sad look on the marines face, not knowing if he should shoot the guy or stop and give an interview.

When did war become so easy to stomach? Maybe we should slap some endorsements on our troops for the cameras. I bet they would get quality equipment. :sarcasm:

[InaneAnanity]

1. What we need to do...

...is broadcast the consequences of war unfiltered, in all their gory (no typo).

If Americans actually saw the 100,000 corpses of Iraqi civilians on TV, do you think they'd support such policy??

[Rex]

2. I thought about that too.

Maybe a TV channel dedicated to nothing but butchery and slaughter. All pictures of war and video footage from all around the world. I bet you couldn't get it all in, in just 24 hours. Call it the Death Channel. :(

[InaneAnanity]

3. I'd call it...

...the "Reality Channel: News Unfiltered"

[Bluebear]

4. Rex, they would LOVE it!

Don't you remember when the Twin Towers fell? What "those people" did to us? It's REVENGE baby!!!!!11111 Pass me another beer and my Skoal!

:(

[Rex]

6. Yeah, I saw some of that horrible footage on the Glen Beck show

today, he was pimping 911 with all his might. Showed that footage of the guy jumping out of one of the towers...the one facing his death head first. I got all cold and clammy, felt sick - just like when I saw it the first time and every time I see it. Sometimes I wonder if it is revenge or vengeance?

[Bluebear]

9. Bush did a good job of pimping 9/11, I will give him that.

He has duped a good chunk of people into thinking that anybody who doesn't "look like us", whatever that is, is somehow to blame for it.

[Chipper Chat]

35. Excellent point.

That's probably the rationale for why the bomber of the Oklahoma City Federal Building wasn't and isn't villified. Let's see, what color was he? And what branch of the US SERVICE did he belong to? Nuff said.

[Behind the Aegis]

5. Do you really think that would change anything?

I am seriously asking. I don't think it would change a damn thing. It just become another "reality show." Hell, there is probably a PR person here and they just 'stole' your idea! Better trademark it! :)

[InaneAnanity]

7. I think it might

Too many people seem to view war as a political tool, and those who are against it as wimps.

I think some carnage would knock some sense into these people, hopefully. Casualty numbers are just that: numbers. Whats 3,000 dead servicemen?? Whats 3,000 dead Iraqi civilians per month???

But if you were to profile a serviceman, profile an Iraqi civilian, show family photos, show pictures of them as children, tell their story....and then show their mutilated corpse, their entrails lying in the street...I think that would knock some sense into even the most committed fundie.

[Behind the Aegis]

12. You are more optimistic than I am!

Considering the data from a few years back that stated something along the lines that by the age of 11 (I think, may have been a tad older), most children had seen 1000's of acts of violence, including rape and murder! What about the video games? Many would just a reality show of the atrocities as "gore TV" and it would have little sympathetic response. At least that is how I feel.

[InaneAnanity]

14. Video game gore...

...doesn't hit the same as reality gore.

Trust me, I grew up with the video game kind.

Telling the story of the person would be important, so they aren't just some anonymous dead guy.

[Behind the Aegis]

18. As I said....you are more optimistic than I.

It would be interesting to see some research on this.

[Rex]

10. I dunno, something tells me normal humans would get sick of seeing

death and death and death. It would eventually cause a bad taste in their mouths. Death after death. Nothing new, just dead people who MIGHT be dead because of our country or maybe our neighbors.

Ain't it funny how we think of ways to make money off of misery? I believe 'professional wrestling' is my proof on that one. ;)

[Behind the Aegis]

15. don't know what to say...

I wanted to "LOL" in the title because of your remark about the wrestling, but I was afraid someone might think I was laughing at your title and it's continuation. AS I told the other poster, I am afraid that people have become to desensitized to violence and death. I wish I was wrong, but I feel I may be on the right side of this "argument." :(

The wrestling thing is still making me giggle like a motherfucker!

[Rex]

19. I've got two words for you Behind the Aegis...

Hi there! :hi:

Actually yeah you're probably right. I've kinda thought that since we can now just push buttons from thousands of miles away to kill people. Glad I made ya laugh! :)

[Behind the Aegis]

22. LOL! Those 'two words' were nicer than the ones I got yesterday!

LOL!

As for the death thing, think about the carnage we see on the nightly news. What about the Katrina coverage? 9-11? Those were OUR people and I still saw people mock it, or sit there with NO emotion, other than possible anger. Look at ghouls like Ann Coulter laughing at the 9-11 widows. It just seems to me that people are so blasee about death. They see bodies, but not souls.

[Rex]

24. I'm not sure Dick Cheney has a soul.

I'm serious. I think some people really are evil and do things to promote evil. I do believe in super villains. Everything they touch dies. I can't really say what I think about Ann...on a public forum. :mad:

Hang in there BTA. I know this place has been crazy, people saying horrible things. Don't let it get to you. I see you and Clarkie1 get dumped on a lot and it's not right. Just stay tough, this place was a madhouse after 911. Thought I was gonna lose my mind.

[Behind the Aegis]

25. Souls...

Although Dick is a dick, the fact that he hasn't chucked his lesbian daughter says something to me. Some where, deep down, there has to be a glimmer of humanity. But, I do agree that many will only allow that glimmer for their "own." I am thinking about the Republican senator who had voted against a mental health bill. Two days (maybe a little longer), his own son killed himself! The son was battling depression. However, it took that profound tragedy for him (the Senator, maybe he was a Representative) to "wake up!"

I am 5'7, gay, Jewish, pagan, and opinionated. I have ALWAYS had my detractors! But, as my momma says, "you've had better people call you worse things, you little shit!" :)

Thanks for the "chin up," though! It has been a little rough here.

[Rex]

28. 5'7, gay, Jewish and pagan I can stand...but opinionated!

Stop that! You cannot have an opinion without the approval of at least 3 other posters and then official orders from the Nanny Court forum secretary!!!!

I hear Katherine Harris will be running for that office soon, once she gets her ass handed to her in November.

[Behind the Aegis]

31. LOL!

As long as it isn't three Jewish posters! You know the old saying, "two Jews, three opinions!"

I have been dying to post this joke. It so may not be the time or place...but, what the Hell...

"Four rabbis were having an argument over a certain passage in the Talmud. Three rabbis said it meant one thing, but Rabbi Goldstein said it meant the exact opposite. The men argued late into the night.

Finally, Rabbi Greenburg said, "Let us pray to G-d for guidance and a sign."

So the four rabbis prayed.

Suddenly a voice boomed, "Rabbi Goldstein is correct!"

All four rabbis looked at each other, then Rabbi Greenburg said, "Well, that doesn't solve anything. The vote's now 3-2!"

:)

[Rex]

32. LOL!

:rofl:

[Chipper Chat]

36. I love this one too (please excuse the diversion):

"Six Jewish men were stuck in a New York elevator for six hours. The result? A Broadway musical."

[Behind the Aegis]

39. Jewish? Or gay?!

:)

[Chipper Chat]

40. Oy Gay

Harvey Fierstein could have been among them.

[Bluebear]

11. I think you're right, BTA

It will probably show up on FOX network in September.

Shalom

[Behind the Aegis]

17. I wouldn't be at all surprised.

I was watching "The Simpsons" the other day and it was one of the Halloween episodes. The were broadcasting "The World's Greatest Executions," to which Homer sighed..."Not the chair! Why do the only do crucifixions during sweeps?" I think that pretty much summed it up...as funny as it was.

[MADem]

16. They would become inured to it all.

Once upon a time, a dancing brassiere on the television was enough to send women running to a distant room in shame and embarrassment.

A mention of a "KOTEX PAD" outside of the "Soap Opera Window" when the children and the men were likely to be home, was enough to invite apoplexy.

No one would ever conceive that commercials for erectile dysfunction, prostate problems, incontinence, and all manner of personal, bodily-function-related matters would be aired all the live-long day.

Nowadays, no one bats an eye at anything on TV. Things that in decades past would have been regarded as sure inciters of outrage aren't even noticed.

Give America enough death, bodies, blood and gore and it would be the same, I fear.

We've got trivialization and incorporation of the extreme into our lifestyles down to an art form.

[Behind the Aegis]

20. Very good post!

Some of those tampon commercials...geez louise! And the fart commercials..."Got Gas?" Lord! Sadly, I think death and destruction has become too commonplace in our societies.

(BTW....I saw your funny to me the other day, in another thread. I giggled all the way to the bar! :))

[InaneAnanity]

21. I dont have a problem with tampons or gas

I have a problem with death tho.

[Behind the Aegis]

23. I know you didn't mean that to be funny...

...but your subject line was kind of funny...

I also don't find death funny or reassuring.

[MADem]

26. That wasn't my point, though

And I am the one who made the original point. so I need to clarify for you.

You don't have a problem with those things because they're part of the scene today, and have been for coming on fifty years or so. But long ago, those things were NOT discussed. Couples always had twin beds on tee vee, and no bathrooms in sitcoms had toilets. People didn't defecate or urinate on the small screen and they certainly didn't sleep together.

You might also have moral standards, and so on, like most people do, which also color your feelings about killing, to say nothing of looking at death. But the fact is, in America, Americans do NOT see much death. They see comedic death in horror movies, with goofy fake heads and arms flying off and spurting blood, and they see cowboy death from the old movies, where the dying guy gives a speech before he sighs and flops, and of course, the odd dead BODIES, posed for their crime scene closeups in mystery and crime stories or hospital shows, but Americans don't see real death, the big bangs, the slow fades, the screaming and hollering, all the different awful varieties with people crying and scared and so forth.

Death is NOT part of the scene over here, yet. But times change, it could happen.

You see enough of it, and it does, like it or not, become part of the scene. You don't think it will, you say you'll be different, but see enough and you're in with the rest. You still feel bad, but it doesn't make you just STOP, if you see enough of it. It's a survival mechanism for most, though for some, it's just that they can't be bothered to care.

You pick up and carry on. This film http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/baghdader/index.html is a good example of people having to do just that.

[MADem]

8. I thought that those poor servicemembers looked, well, bullshit...

during Gulf ONE.

I thought the video I saw was SEALS, but I was in and out on the other side of the world, and all I could get was CNN INTERNATIONAL, so I don't know what was being shown over on this end.

That was some strange shit, though, wasn't it??

[Rex]

13. I thought it was staged, never seen anything like that.

Yeah it was SEALS! Not Marines. Thanks.

[itzamirakul]

27. I agree with what you said, Rex. The first time I saw this

news phenomenon was the morning after Princess Diana's death. katy Couric perched on her NBC platform outside of Buckingham Palace and expressed total shock that there was no major outcry about the loss. She had arrived in London fully expecting the entire population to be prostrate with grief. But everything seemed quite normal. In other words, the English people were going about their business as usual. Well, within hours, Ms. Katy turned that situation around, and suddenly people by the thousands were coming out with bouquets of roses and teddy bear mementos to lean against the gates of the castle in a Couric-choreographed wave of sorrow. I don't think there had ever before in British history been such a display, but Katy had somehow conveyed the picture to the English people of what their appropriate behavior "should be" for her audience in America and not wanting to appear cold and indifferent, the people complied. Above all, let's satisfy the American need for fiction and fantasy.

From that time on, the media has set the scene, wrote the script, cast the actors, and set up the battlefield talk shows and newsroom soap operas of current events for us. They create and direct events, they compose the most fearsome or heartwrenching vignettes and they try to ensure that the concluding events have cliff-hangar endings just so that we are prepared for the sequel. And they have dedicated viewers...us.

For some reason (could it be video games? Oh shame on me for thinking so) video audiences, especially the young, make little difference between reality and fiction. I can't forget the months it took before the middle of America really took in the horror of 911. But once they finally did, they made it seem as though the airplanes had struck their own homes. No perspective here. No depth of vision. Today those folks in the middle of the country harbor more hatred and fear of new 911s than do the people who live where the event actually happened. People who live in towns with less than a thousand residents fear "terrorist attacks" just as much as if they lived next to a nuclear sub station or a major city like Chicago.

Didn't one of Bush's staffers say that they would "create reality?"

Looks like they have accomplished THAT mission.

[Syrinx]

29. I hate the constant question "What's your read on this?"

Every other question King asks is "What's your read on this?" Larry Zeiger drives me crazy.

http://www.piclibs.com.nyud.net:8090/mugshots/lking.jpg

[Rex]

30. Did you see the OBL brother-in-law promo?

Wonder if they'll ask him if he knows where OBL is? :eyes:

[Syrinx]

33. I missed that

Is the brother-in-law coming up? Shamefully, I admit I might tune in for that. "Hello, Crawford, Texas! What's your question." ;)

[Rex]

34. I think it is Tuesday, my first thought was

the first question gonna be, "seen your brother-in-law lately?'

'Oh yeah...he's just dandy...hangin out with Kenny Boy and Bill Casey'.

'Casey?' 'I thought he died from a brain tumor.'

'Yeah and you also thought Jack Ruby died in jail.'

'Ohhhh...yeahhh.'

[Syrinx]

37. kind of

But you know Larry would totally miss the significance. He never really follows the conversation. Inexplicably, he has a reputation as a good interviewer, but he never follows the conversations, and never follows up. He could have broke dozens of major news stories from his CNN set, but he just doesn't pay attention, in spite of his claims of honest conversation. He's a strange and profoundly dishonest fellow.

[Rex]

38. Yes, he does seem to be quite shady.

Just kinda sits there all hunched over the mic and 'watches'. Notice also that he gets all the high profile people who need a few softballs to keep the poll numbers up.