On Elitism and Evil

Although he didn't address post to the blog, a reader from my town in Texas has responded passionately to what I wrote about Tom Brokaw's connection with the public outside of the political centers. I want for the sake of starting a broader conversation, that readers of this blog should have a chance to consider his ideas too. The reader had seen "To War and Back" and thought I was too hard on Tom Brokaw. "If someone wants to attack evil, insensitivity or stupidity I think Tom Brokaw is a poor target," he wrote to me.

He said he felt a much stronger connection to the soldiers after watching Brokaw's special Sunday and continued

There should be more shows like this. Flag draped caskets should be on the news. The President should have to shake every survivors hand, if they have one. We all should, lest we elect or fail to stop the election of arrogant, insensitive, impudent elitists. If someone wants to attack evil, insensitivity or stupidity maybe there are some good targets..............

My private response to the reader was to explain that I don't want to have the last word on any subject I raise on this blog. My intention in sharing my thoughts is to start a conversation. I also did not intend to suggest that Mr. Brokaw, or anyone else for that matter, is evil. In fact, I wrote that I was sure Mr. Brokaw's program would be good. I'm sorry that this reader, and I suppose many other people, equate disagreement with attack. Attack doesn't foster communication, which is my goal.

I agree with the reader that the present administration wants to keep us, all of us, in the dark about what really happens in Iraq, to soldiers or anyone else. The tone of the president's voice as he chastises members of Congress and Senators for their objection to his desire to avoid Constitutional checks and balances scares me, especially since I have just read a book about what happens when governments aren't concerned with protecting anyone's civil liberties.
Khaled Hosseini's vivid description of the stoning to death of adulterers in a stadium full of cheering spectators and of the machine-gun-armed Taliban patrols that shot un-bearded men made me fear, as I often do, where our nation may be heading.

Certainly, the moving image has a lot of power. I too wish that the television news would present images of the returning caskets. I wish viewers would have the opportunity to see the bodies of people who have been killed by bombs or in battles, not just burned cars or tanks, on U.S. news programs. Media bosses play a large part in making sure that viewers don't see the gory reality of battle. I studied with a woman who had worked as a producer at CNN during the first Gulf War. She said that the footage she was instructed to leave out of reports presented a completly different interpretation of that war.

Executive directives also tie broadcast reporters' and photojournalists' hands. I wish that the news media would defy those directives and show the public a version of events that is closer to what they are seeing in the field, but I understand what the personal consequences would be for any reporter who climbed out on that limb.

Although we don't have the strong visual images that would make it easier for the public to comprehend the human toll of war, we do have reports that describe the carnage in words. Why complain that more realistic portraits of war are unavailable when they aren't? Although many people don't look beyond television for information, I wouldn't want to consider it the only source of news.

Which brings me around again to my students. They are interested in the fate of their peers. They tell me when they see a photo of a soldier's casket that has someone slipped through to a Web site. They know what's happening to their friends. They are deeply frightened of the dangers the war presents to American bodies.

They are so afraid that when a professor tries to raise the subject, they either clam up completely or spout slogans condemning Muslims or Arabs as terrorists. These slogans stop communication and often have the result that legitimate critique of U.S. policies doesn't get aired. They know that their friends are in harm's way, but they don't know why. I want to talk about that.