In complete agreement with you on the media - they are sadly compromised beyond return, I think.

However, I would imagine that Iraqi media is not mentioning the Virginia shootings nearly as much as their most recent fatalities. I mean, it's a little more of a focus for the media outlets when it is in your country of residence, you know?

ok, i'll bite.

nine US soldiers were killed by a suicide bomber bringing the total to 3332. there's barely a sentence on any of the major news websites...

all i'm trying to say is that it's bizarre how insulated/isolated we are from the war we started.

True. But there are some inherent differences between death during war, and death during German class. One death you sign up for, knowing full well it could happen at any time, and feeling grateful when and if it doesn't. The other is completely unexpected and unsolicited.

Not that either person WANTS to die (hopefully, anyway), but the known risk is there in one case, and not in another. I think that makes for a different angle, and as we both agree, the media wants to jump all over whichever angle they can wring more general public tears and emotions out of.

Joe American knows that he would be devastated to lose his child either way, but the death of a soldier in wartime is so much easier to stomach (again, because you know it could/might/probably will happen) than the death of a student at college one random weekday morning (no way of anticipating THAT).

Thoughts?

So it's acceptable to to underplay the troop deaths because they signed up for it, and it's acceptable to underplay the civilian deaths because they're not in our country of residence. I think we got it figured out.

well, perhaps my argument of the 9 US Soldier deaths wasn't even on point for what I was trying to say.

i point this out because in both cases, iraqi civilian deaths via suicide bombs and virginia's murder-suicide, it seems there's still some innuendo that our american kids' deaths was more valuable than the iraqi civilians of the same vein.

but, basically, i just want to put emphasis on the issue that America in general treats death and life very hypocritically. we rally against abortion, but then don't extend that same right to criminals we deem need to die. we "support" our troops (and i use that term lightly) but we don't care that our bombs and their bombs have killed at least 100,000 Iraqi civilians by some estimates.

be in civilian, soldier, or murderer, there's too much death and it's hard to see that anyone cares...

I totally agree, Regan. There is such a disconnect for...well, everyone when it comes to death and how we either fixate on it or fail to mention it at all.

It's just like Kyle was saying in his post on this subject. With so much wrong in the world, so many evil things and way too much death, it's hard to have any kind of perspective on anything. You see one thing wrong and think you might be able to help, and then as soon as you delve in, you find 174,485,374 more things that are just as or even more heinous. It's enough to make anyone crazy, and with the whoreish media involved, there is bound to be serious over and understatements all the time.

At least we can take comfort in the fact that Adam will always be around to provide smart-ass comments.

;)