Keeping Informed

Similar to a point she made back in February, Rosie O'Donnell brought up another interesting disparity in media coverage on THE VIEW this past Monday...

"This has been all over the news. It really started on March 16 and since then 15 cats and one dog have died, and it's been all over the news.

And you know, since that date, 29 soldiers have died, and we haven't heard much about them. I think that we have the wrong focus in the country.

That when pets are killed in America from some horrific poisoning accident, 16 of them, it's all over the news and people are like, 'The kitty!' It's so sad.' Twenty-nine sons and daughters killed since that day, it's not newsworthy. I don't understand.

I'm sure that pet owners all over the country have already written hate mail to Rosie for bringing this up....

...and some quick research I have done online brought me to a web site which makes a strong case to attribute hundreds more dog and cat deaths to pet food contaminated with the rat poison, aminopterin, which was distributed by Menu Foods...

And by the by, am I the only person on the planet who immediately thought of 9 to 5 when I heard that the pet food was contaminated with rat poison?

I kept thinking that Menu Foods would issue a statement saying...

"I thought it was "Skinny & Sweet." It looks just like "Skinny & Sweet." Except for the little skull & crossbones on the label.

Yeah, that's sort sick... and not a funny enough pay off. I'll get back to my point.

I understand that the word needed to get out to save more pets from being killed by this company's insane mistake, but Rosie's point is valid - - we don't seem to care very much about our own troops being killed or wounded in this senseless war. Or maybe more to the point, it seems as if we care MORE about other issues than our own men and women dying half-way around the world.

And I am just as guilty of this as anyone else.

The media is a mirror displaying our cultural interests. They thrive on supplying us with stories, pictures and video clips featuring the people, places and things we demand to see. And it works in reverse - - if we don't want to see it, they won't supply us with it.

If they aired AMERICAN IDOL and it's ratings fell below a syndicated re-run of MAMA'S FAMILY, you can bet your sweet ass that IDOL would be cancelled faster than you could say, "Seacrest out!"'

And four years into this war, America has lost it's interest...

...what little interest it had in the politics of war entered into through lies and falsified information, but I digress...

Since a draft is not in effect for the Iraq War, it seems that only certain sections of the country are truly experiencing it's full effects. Those communities are dealing with the death of loved ones. They are taking care of their sons and daughters who have been injured in a war that the vast majority of our country no longer supports.

The rest of us read scattered reports or see brief news stories about the number of U.S. troops killed this month in Iraq, but since so few of us read a full newspaper or sit down to watch the 6 o'clock news in 2007, we click away from the news that holds no interest for us. The news we don't care about.

And I'm at the front of pack - - incredibly guilty of not keeping myself informed.

So, I informed myself.

I found a couple of web sites - - Iraq Coalition Casualty Count and AntiWar.com - - both of which provide tons of information about the war and what is happening to the incredible men and woman serving our country in Iraq.

And to make sure that I don't lose track of the fact that our nation is at war, I am going to do something that some might find too morose for this blog...

...but then again, if those people don't like it, they don't have to read it, now do they?

I am going to try my damnedest to post a small amount of information about each U.S. soldier killed in Iraq from now until the end of the war. At the very least, I will post their rank, their age and any information about how they died.

Hopefully, it will help me remember that we're at war, that good people are fighting and giving their lives for our country and that I need to do everything in my power to make sure that our government is working day and night to end the war, stabilize the horrific mess they have made of Iraq, mend relations with the other nations of the world, and above all else, that they bring our troops home as soon as possible.

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Since the War in Iraq began in March of 2003, 3,244 U.S. soldiers have lost their lives.