Where We Live: The Media Circus

Vietnam

OOPS
Another misstatement.
This time by ME!!

I called in on this show and noted that in a local NPR report a local reporter had in his/her summary at the end of the report stated that Blumenthal had "not served in the Vietnam war". In fact he had, just not in country. I have a Vietnam War ribbon for my service. I was in the Vietnam War, but not in country, not in Vietnam, not in the war zone...but never the less the navy considered me part of the war effort. I stated that the reporter, I was sure, had no intention of her misstatement, but there it was, a mistake of words, not intent, to point out how easy it was.

Well I made the mistake of mentioning the reporters name. (I had actually not intended to mention it, but it slipped out in the moment ...)WELL I GOT IT WRONG.
My apologies to the reporter I misnamed.
I am also glad I did not name the real one as that was not the point. The point is now, how easy it is to make misstatements!!

I discovered my error when I went back and checked to be sure I was accurate.

Now I think the NY TIMES reporter should also apologize to Mr. Blumenthal and the rest of us. Apparently he was in too much of a hurry to get the scoop and did not do his homework and listen to the entire speech his quote was from. I have thanks to some real reporters who found the source. Mr. Blumenthal clearly stated his service was in the Vietnam War Era at the start of his speech. In context, which is the only way we can judge the truth, it is clear the Blumenthal's statement was not intentional. So, either the NYT reporter is incompetent or purposefully misleading his readers. (I wonder how much he or the NYTs was paid ?? - Of course only they know the truth of that!)

Again, my apologies to the reporter I misnamed!!

Here is why I won't vote for

Here is why I won't vote for the Big B. He has made the Corp. Environment in Ct. Litigious. Period. I don't care about his war record. How many of his AG investigations (used to pad the coiffers of the state) have been dismissed without merit? How much money was spent on those 'investigations'? I would love to see the media do a detailed story on that. Yes, the AG's job is to protect the citizens of the state, but since his tenure, it is more about finding obscure 'violations' by which to garnish cash from Corporations. Unfortunately, our modern war between the common worker and the corporation has served as a catalyst for this. Who doesn't cheer when those 'big bad corporations' are fined big bucks? But it has painted Ct. as being one of the most unfriendly states for new business. Why are we not talking about that legacy of the big B?

Wikipedia yada yada, BS I was there.

Every person who served in the armed forces during periods of hostilities was awarded the National Defense Medal. They still are. Only those who served in Vietnam, or in the adjacent waters or in the air space above where awarded the Medal for Vietnam. Every member of the armed forces knows exactly what medals were awarded. Of course they also know where they served. That information is on the form DD-214 which all vets guard along with their birth certificate. As for "we all served during Vietnam" the Army National Guard Troops in the state of Ohio served during Vietnam. They were not awarded the Vietnam Campaign medal even though they had confirmed kills. If you are too young to remember Google "Kent State".

Listener email from Alyssa

Thanks much for taking my call yesterday -- however, I heard another guest this A.M. (Melissa) call with the EXACT same issue I raised. Then, Richard followed her call up with his own experience of serving "in country during" a war. Using Wikipedia, below is a list of "conflicts" of which people are considered veterans (and for some, receive more specific benefits.)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_casualties_of_war

I think a LOT of the public have relatives or friends who have been identified by the DOD as a "veteran" of some conflict (Vietnam, Grenada, Kuwait, Bosnia, Iraq, etc....) , since WWII -- and that's why this isn't really a big deal to many of us -- because after all, Blumenthal did sign up for "something" during the time of war but served somehow "in country" as clarified by the caller, Richard.

I thought the NY Times story about Blumenthal's devotion as a public servant, and in particular to veterans, was a balanced response to the furor they've created courtesy of the McMahon campaign.

Listener email from Mary

Yesterday I turned of my radio within the first 10 minutes. Stunning that this topic is getting further attention. The media is blowing this issue out of proportion - and could easily damage a great candidate.

When will investigative reporters choose to research the difficult problems that eventually erupt into crisis ? The privatization of the military, the looming environmental problems, the jobless rate in the state, the under-employed, . . .

Is seems that work life in media culture is a bit like a high-school musical. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people, (Americans, Connecticut residents, your neighbors, women and children, the elderly) whose circumstances are totally stressfully stretched. Meanwhile media personalities are just thrilled to babble about Blumenthal' language blur - will this issue become a new job opportunity for Kenneth Starr?

We (the people) actually need a few champions ("heros") - yet the media are game to rip apart the champions once an Achillies heal is revealed. Meanwhile the Republicans (and others) capitalize on public confusion, civic disappointment to grab power to further concentrate and centralize public interests into the hands of a few. People who become cynical about the ability of politicians to be honest, and the democratic process have also given up on the free press.

When is the media going go overboard and explore a super positive accomplishment of a politician? Spend 24/7 on the expanded positive effects of the many good decisions of an intelligent and fundamentally honest politician, such as Blumenthal? When is there going to be an investigative reporter that picks apart the Connecticut Republican party gutting the Ct Department of Environmental protection while giving plum job positions to political friends? When will investigative reporters look at the complex big picture of facts - and bother to make a big deal about the facts that truly matter - rather than personality gossip.

Yesterday, I reflected on how the media covers only language - not the actual physical conditions, the whole picture. Nice to hear that point noted at the end of today's Where We Live - this is about language. Perhaps Connecticut needs to move beyond an obsession with language (and having language that is acceptable to the herd) in order to focus on the very real challenges that limit this culture?

Listener email from Ernest

I am an independent voter and an Army veteran who spent over a year in Vietnam. This is a non-issue as far as I am concerned. It is just another hypocritical attempt by the Republicans to divert attention from the real issues. There were no bigger draft dodgers than George W. Bush and Dick Cheney. Dick Blumenthal's service to veterans speaks for itself. he has my full support.

Listener email from Dale

Dick Blumenthal did not misspeak. He altered the truth knowingly for his own benefit and allowed a falsehood to be repeated as if it were true. Ms Bysiwicz new she was not qualified yet felt entitled as an inside Dem. to move up the ladder to the next rung. Where were the state dems. who should have confronted these issues before allowing these unqualified candidates to run. With a history of dem crooks appointed to CRRA, state bond issues controlled by inside dem. skimmers and an old boy network of like minded insiders running the party you can expect these two to be endorsed by the dems this weekend as if nothing is wrong.
Time to clean out the party and the leadership, The insiders have had their day and lined their pockets enough. I am a lifelong dem but will never vote for these morally corrupt pols.

Listener email from Gordon

As I understand, all of Mr. Blumenthal's official paperwork does not miss state his service. Why is this not brought up more often to provide balance to the Times story? This is the weakness of the media.