Nice try, Jim

KABUL, Afghanistan - An Army Sargent complained in a rare opinion article that the U.S. flag flew at half-staff last week at the largest U.S. base in Afghanistan for those killed at Virginia Tech, but the same honor is not given to fallen U.S. troops here and in Iraq. "I find it ironic that the flags were flown at half-staff for the young men and women who were killed at VT, yet it is never lowered for the death of a U.S. service member," Sgt. Jim Wilt wrote.

That answer is pretty simple, really. Sad, but simple. I think Sgt. Wilt knows the answer, he just wants the government to acknowledge it. Nice try, Jim.
The government - your government - would rather not acknowledge the war dead because ... well ... they are war dead. When some nut-job shoots up a school, those kinds of things are known as "tragedies" or a "massacre". War, on the other hand, is a military (Government) operation, where the dead are sent by the government on a volunteer basis (for now). While they are massacres on a large scale, the government would prefer that we not put too much empasis on war dead. We prefer to call them troops, not people; and casualties, not killed. It's all in the name, which is why we call it Operation Iraqi Freedom. A troop is a person and a casualty is a dead person.

He wrote that the death of a U.S. service member is just as violent as those at the university last week, but it lacks the "shock factor of the Virginia massacre."

There ya go! See, he did know the answer. How long do you think it will be before he is Corporal Wilt?
Shock factor is not only the reason that something like that gets the attention it gets, it is the reason people do things like that. What is worse is that we are increasingly not shocked by things like that.
If the war had the shock value of the VT killings, then the network news would be broadcasting from Iraq on a regular basis, and the president would want the caskets of the war dead to be photographed, and the names of the troops to be released.

Almost everything that gets the attention of the media is based on some sort of shock value or odd bit of circumstance that draws attention to something. Don Imus, random acts of violence and other such nonsense makes headlines. Welcome to America.

If you really want to see some flags at half-staff, come to Philadelphia...

PHILADELPHIA - A bloody, bullet-filled weekend left 11 people dead across the city, where drugs and disrespect have trumped brotherly love and the murder rate is on pace to be the highest in a decade. Philadelphia has seen more than one killing a day this year, totaling 127 as of Monday afternoon. Most of Philadelphia's killings are by gunfire, most involve young black men and most are the result of arguments, often over drugs but sometimes over trivial insults or perceived slights.

The answer that the city has come up with: 80 extra police officers in southwest Philly. Meanwhile, they are planning new casinos in the city and we have a mayor's election coming up.
The TV is full of ads for a slew of nitwits who think they can run the city. Why anyone would want that job is beyond me.
Those new casinos will really spruce up the joint, too.
I can hardly wait.
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