ft. hood lesson.... the military doesn't tell the public the truth

[spanone]

the entire country was left in the dark, or worse, with false information all day long.

the media was given 'certain dis-information and they ran with it.

imagine the information that we are being fed from many thousands of miles away in afghanistan & iraq.

[CBGLuthier]

1. second lesson

is that some will use any tragedy to make their political point.

[spanone]

2. any tragedy? some? say what's on your mind. has nothing to do with politics

[CBGLuthier]

21. You are using this tragedy to further your political agenda

IS that clear enough for you, sunshine?

[auditguy]

3. with people dead & dying, blood everywhere...

it seems confusion would be expected...

seems you're being pretty harsh when we don't actually know who told who what..

[spanone]

4. i expect our media to question.....harsh on the media? well excuuuuse me

[auditguy]

7. I was thinking more that you were being harsh toward the Army

seeing as how we don't know who gave info to whom...

but, if that's how you think, it's a free-ish country

[Fire1]

28. What is your supposed "agenda?" n/t

[TornadoTN]

6. Agree to a point.

The biggest head scratcher is the three-star general who ran around until last evening confirming that the guy was dead. Then somehow, he's back to life and in stable condition. That's a very weird thing to have happen - the shooter is typically confirmed and secured so as to end the situation as quickly as possible so treatment and aid can be rendered to victims without anyone being put into danger.

Aside from that, I'm in agreement.

[ShortnFiery]

24. Watch out! If he has brain-stem damage, he'll die again when they disconnect the ventilator.

The Army brought him back to life once ... but they can also kill him off. :crazy:

No, neither the government or the military has a stellar track record for "telling the truth" and I served in both ... that's how gullible I have been. :shrug:

[NoSheep]

14. That's the way I read it.

[Statistical]

5. That isn't a soap box you are standing on ... it is the bodies of slain soldiers.

[Rebubula]

10. Harsh...

...but spot on.

[Sinti]

15. I don't understand what you're saying?

The military went into normal mode for any SNAFU. The media basically made things up when they should have said nothing, because they had few facts. Don't you think this is a prime example of what's wrong with the media? You like having a news media that behaves more like a tabloid press? The military always goes into CYA when they get attention, you would think the press would know this. They do act as a propaganda arm for the War Machine. To deny that fact is exceedingly naive at best. Using the "bodies of slain soldiers" to keep people from speaking this truth does not serve the republic.

Am I reading you totally wrong?

[spanone]

18. really? you think i don't give a shit about the soldiers? W R O N G

the truth can only help them

[ShortnFiery]

25. Yes, so we should dumbly BELIEVE everything that is fed to us by the "authorities"

lest we be labeled "unpatriotic?" :crazy:

[peace13]

8. The proper information would have been no information until the emergency had ended.

Most would not have been happy about that either.

[TorchTheWitch]

9. info would have gotten out regardless

Better to try to give accurate info directly to the media than let the media have nothing but completely unfounded leaks.

[peace13]

13. Best is not to give incorrect info during an event.

It looks like the truth is missing and that they don't know what is going on.

[TorchTheWitch]

17. they thought it was correct

Errors happen. They happen pretty consistantly in ghastly situations that are still ongoing, and there should be no surprise at that.

[peace13]

29. My original comment still stands. Wait to speak. n/t

[KharmaTrain]

11. Trial By Media...

I blame the corporate media for its usual jumping to conclusions...instant "analysis" of this tragedy going with conjecture and "gut" rather than waiting for the facts to come forth. For most of the day the situation was fluid and I don't blame the military for keeping a lid on any access or information...locking down the base and making sure all were safe and the situation was under control before releasing information. But that sure didn't stop the talking heads from speculating...which only became worse when word leaked that the shooter was a member of the Moslem faith. Be damned if he was an American, just the wiff of this having any connection to an "Islamofacist" was enough to start the finger pointing and phobia.

I'd say it's shameful the misinformation goes out before any real verification, but this is now standard "journalistic" practice of the corporate media. They know that their viewership spikes in these times and they need to fill airtime...bringing in the "experts" who don't need facts. Seems like every channel now has a "profiler" who doesn't need to be factual but their word is considered gold cause they are on the payroll and claim to have some divine insight. I find the coverage is a lot better with the sound down.

Ironically while this was happening, a mile from here there was a man who was shooting out his window...caused a major lockdown of several blocks, yet when I looked for local coverage there was none...the local stations were busy reporting the conjecture of Ft. Hood and had downscaled their staffs that there was zero reporting...but maybe that was a good thing. The local police were able to resolve the situation and no one was hurt. But people in my neighborhood heard about it through the grapevine and that's how I found out about it. One even claimed that that shooter was a "Moslem"...which he wasn't...just another tormented soul who saw violence as a means to take out their frustration.

[dionysus]

12. same thing happens with every mass shooting. see virginia tech. not everything is a conspiracy.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

16. What was the false information?

That the guy was dead? Who cares? How does it effect the "Why?" of the story.

[RaleighNCDUer]

20. Do you really expect a 'why' less than 24 hours after the shootings?

THAT is why we have a tabloid media today. 'Give me SOMETHING! ANYTHING! We're live in THREE MINUTES!!!"

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

30. No, I don't expect the "why" right away at all.

But the OP apparently thinks they are entitled to all the facts ASAP or else it must be some conspiracy and it doesn't always work that way.

[TorchTheWitch]

19. I'd be FAR more suspicious if they got everything right

If during such a huge crisis had everything that the military reported was accurate I'd be more inclined to believe it was some sort of conspiracy since it is NORMAL in such a situation for there to be much confusion with inaccurate accounts while the situation is ongoing. It isn't possible to know exactly what is happening, the reasons for it, who is responsible, etc. in such a huge and ghastly incident unless it was planned. I have no idea why so many people are surprised by errors in reporting or why they expect the military to know everything for a fact instantly and while the situation is still ongoing.

[justiceischeap]

22. It smacks of Bush era scare tactics n/t

[pampango]

23. hide this thread. n/t

[ShortnFiery]

26. Yes, our government would NEVER lie to us.

Ask the family of Pat Tillman? :wow:

[TexasObserver]

27. Let's hope the president dispatched his own military team to investigate.

The military is accustomed to having its brass hide all news that is bad, and they hide things and make things up as a matter of standard procedure. There's no telling what really happened. Hopefully, there will be video which will help, and hopefully, witnesses with circumvent the military process to go public with their eyewitness reports.

It's certain we will never get a reliable report from those who are in charge of Ft. Hood. They're likely concerned about spinning the story the way they think it should be spun for their purposes.

[Texasgal]

31. I think part of the problem

was that Ft. hood was under lock down for almost nine hours. There was no way for any press to "get in" and provide up to date info.

The media was essentially locked out for many hours with no story. :shrug: