Fire Rumsfeld!
Well, that’s what the media has been saying lately. I just can’t figure out one thing…why? Rumsfeld’s resume is flawless, he has served our country impeccably, and he is one of the greatest Defense Secretaries of our nation’s history. The big media buzz urging Rumsfeld to step down seems to have started with his speech to the troops in Iraq. In that speech, as most of us know, a soldier questioned Rumsfeld about the lack of armored Humvees. This question was met with cheers of agreement from the soldiers around Rumsfeld. Of course, the media coverage stops right there. In actuality, Rumsfeld went on to answer the soldiers question by stating that production of armored Humvees had been increased to 400 units a month and that the armor shortage would quickly be over. After Rumsfeld said this, he received a standing ovation from the troops. Surprisingly, I didn’t learn of that part until first heard about it on a talk radio show yesterday.
This is an obvious case of media blackout and deception. They saw an opportunity to attack Rumsfeld and grabbed at it, not caring what information was left out in the process. I say they saw an opportunity, but really they created it. The question about armor that was asked to Rumsfeld was planted by an imbedded reporter in Iraq. You can read all about that story here. So, the media created an opportunity to attack Rumsfeld, followed through on it while intentionally leaving out important facts, and are now urging Rumsfeld to resign. I think it seems obvious that the people in charge of this “Fire Rumsfeld” campaign are the ones that need to resign. Intentional misrepresentation of the facts is a deceitful and immoral tactic, and when it’s being perpetrated by the people that we are supposed to be able to trust for unbiased news then we have a real problem. Rumsfeld has honorably served our nation extremely well, and no one can challenge that. I mean, he is independently wealthy, so he really doesn’t need to stay and take all this open criticism from the media, but he does because he loves this country and he is the best man for the job.

- posted by Jay Gatsby @ | | 2:25 PM