Ian over at Hot Air posted this early this morning. The portion in bold is his emphasis:
Covering the burial of a Blue Angels pilot who crashed his plane last weekend, Fox News anchor Shepard commented on the flag draped coffin shown on screen. Smith compared the showing of this pilot’s flag draped coffin to the flag draped coffins troops are laid to rest in. He used the death of a pilot to bash an administration war policy.
[...]
SHEPARD SMITH, FOX NEWS ANCHOR: “This is a scene we are not accustomed to see during war times. They don’t allow us to see the victims — uh, heroes who died for us in Iraq. We don’t get to see their caskets come back. It’s a wonderful honor to be able to pay tribute to this man in this way. Wouldn’t it be nice if we were able to do this with the hundreds upon hundreds who have died for us in Iraq?”
The video is available at Hot Air.
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So much for the "Everybo
April 26, 2007 - 12:10 ET by Airforce_5_OSo much for the "Everybody at FoxNews is a conservative" crowd.
Victims huh.
Well Shep why don't you carry your little old happy rear end down to Bragg and tell that to the buddies of those boys from the 82nd who just died. Bet it will take them a week and some surgery to find that Microphone of yours afterward.
Reduce the U.S. Carbon Footprint. Send Rosie to Iran. Airforce_5_O 04/04/2007
It's not a matter of whether
April 29, 2007 - 15:22 ET by BeowulfIt's not a matter of whether Shep is conservative or liberal or even if he goes both ways (so to speak). The simple truth is that he's a moron. He always has been, and always will be. He has always seemed to be incabable of engaging his brain before running his mouth...
The Closed Mind Builds Strong Barriers
Funny thing is that he can an
April 26, 2007 - 12:15 ET by Dan The Man 2Funny thing is that he can and in fact anyone can pay tribute to the casualties. It just doesnt have to be a spectacle on TV and seen ad nauseum like the bimbo erruptions seen now. Dignity of the breaved and family members is observered. The casualties have not been hidden only that they not been viewed at military facilites wholesale.
It is clear the only reason they want to do this is to denigrate and catigate any pro war people and engender an anti war stance. Very clear from Sheps comments and feelings.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
I take exception Dan - the ca
April 26, 2007 - 12:46 ET by katleeI take exception Dan - the casualties have most definitely been hidden - there have even been cases where the families have been discouraged from meeting the planes when the remains are returned to this country
BTW - your little sign-off there makes no sense at all!
Evidence Katlee?
April 26, 2007 - 12:57 ET by emjem24Katlee...
Please provide evidence as to your assertions or they're just that...your assertions. As this military spouse sees it, many Americans can huff and puff and call this a "coverup" when really it's a privacy issue. If it were my husband coming home in a casket, I wouldn't want the media there. It's an issue that concerns me and my family, not you or the public's "need to know."
Furthermore, give me a break. Look, I'm not really familiar with your postings and I could be wrong here, but wasn't your comment just a bit petty and troll-like? And the part about you taking issue with Dan's tag...we're all adults (most of us anyway) and it's his tag. He's making fun of liberals but I guess you're taking exception because you're in the left camp, right?
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
emjem says: When your brain's stuck on liberalism it self-destructs.
Emjem, first, bless your spou
April 26, 2007 - 14:33 ET by MobiusStripEmjem, first, bless your spouse for his service. I hope there is a safe return to your family. The point that was made is that this administration and the media is minimalizing the harm being done to our troops and their families by subverting the visually visceral effects of the occupation of Iraq. The Tillman incident was spun by the military, the administration and the media- precisely because it was a "hero's story" versus a tragedy. The tragedy would not have played out so well- and the lies told to the Tillmans were despicable, as they see it. How many other lies are out there now? While I respect and understand your rightful concerns about privacy, the public does have a right to know how we are conducting this occupation and the extent of the human tolls. Numbers alone don't convey this: the administration knows this lesson and the return of US dead and injured at midnight is clear proof that they do. It is hiding of the brutal facts of what we are doing to our population in Iraq, and it dovetails with numerous other tactics used by this administration to butcher-wrap the chronicles of their failed policies.
As far as taglines go, we're all adults here: we can agree on that point.
Save a polar bear- castrate a conservative!
As you can read on many other
April 26, 2007 - 15:27 ET by Ruths husband BenAs you can read on many other posts on this site, the policy against photographing soldier's caskets was begun by the Clinton administration, not this one. Not that that really matters, I happen to agree with it. These men have made the ultimate sacrifice and their family deserves a lot of respect.
Yes, the Tillman incident was a tragedy and the attempt to cover it up was criminal, but here are always bad things done in war, that does not make the war bad, it just means we have to be ever vigilant. It was not an attempt by this administration to cover anything up, and I think you know that. So, I find it disingenuous for you to imply that the present administration was involved. Career soldiers (who serve our country, not our political parties) chose to cover it up.
What I know from being in the service is that no coverup lasts for long. It is our openness that ensures that.
-Kill a polar bear, they taste like chicken!
Good post, Ben. Of course y
April 26, 2007 - 15:40 ET by RJGood post, Ben. Of course you're right. Making a media event of the return of the caskets would belittle, not enhance, the sacrifice made by the soldiers and their families. It would be used politically and would add nothing of value to our knowledge.
As for Mobius, he's a Troll and everything he posts is disingenuous. The military, being a government agency, has always screwed things up and then tried to make itself look better. But for ideologues like Mobius, it just presents another opportunity to bash this administration.
Save Polar Bears from starvation. Encourage liberals to mingle with them.
1.) How is the media minima
April 26, 2007 - 15:52 ET by BD1.) How is the media minimalizing the harm done to our troops? If you read the Army TImes on a weekly notice, you see all of the casualty photos you could ever ask for. But you also see all of the photos that make the US Army look good which is one of the reason they are not disseminated by the MSM.
2.) Regarding the Tillman story, why would you wish a family to know their child was killed in a freindly fire incident? In my first NTC Rotation my entire platoon was simulatedly destroyed by a young Armor Platoon leader who was on our side, but got excited and engaged all four of my Bradleys from behind. Having had time to reflect of that incident, it would do NO one any good if it had been a real live fire incident to advertise the fact that we lost 36 soldiers to a tired, exciteable platoon leader in his first taste of battle.
Therefore, I sympathize with the officers who were on the spot. I cannot say I would do the same thing, but I know why they would wish to do so.
BD,I just want to thank you f
April 26, 2007 - 15:59 ET by bigtimerBD,
I just want to thank you for the response I just read.
I have been wondering myself what others who serve or have feel about this matter, I have my opinion from my position in life and as a mother, but I was wondering what the military family felt...I put in a couple of links about this twice, I also watched a lot of the hearing with Waxman....
...anyway thanks...I too feel the same as you posted with my personal thoughts, just was waiting to hear from others and see if there were any with my feelings about this whole situation.
Didn't mean to butt in.
Catch ya all later...
Moby Again I Don't Agree With You
April 27, 2007 - 08:38 ET by emjem24Moby...
You can thank my husband for his service but that doesn't provide you cover for your daily "let's thank a troop," but undermine their mission campaign.
Look, you and I barely agree on the fact that we're both Americans. That's about it. I'm sure you think that "you" have a right to know about my business but you don't. Is that also like knowing who's got a Concealed Carrier's Permit?
You, like most Americans, only use the Military as your own personal battering ram against the Bush Administration. Again, I'm not surprised at the way the Army operates...there's graft and abuse and incompetence in the Military. Why do you care about burial caskets? You get the news from the media about how many of our brave men and women die on a daily basis. Your assertions of a cover up over, of all things, burial caskets is an unfortunate choice of focus for you.
BTW, Americans don't give a damn about me, my husband, or the military. You and other Americans have other pet issues that you seek to have addressed while the military has languished. I don't see you bellyaching about that so give me a break.
If your tagline is any indication...you're about as mature as Katlee.
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
emjem says: When your brain's stuck on liberalism it self-destructs.
I would love to see a credibl
April 26, 2007 - 14:41 ET by Del DolemonteI would love to see a credible news cite for your claim that the families have been discouraged from meeting the planes. Please provide one.
By the way, if you (and Shepard Smith) had both done your homework, you would know that this policy began under Bill Clinton. So it's not Bush's fault.
Katlee:You are incorrect. C
April 26, 2007 - 15:43 ET by BDKatlee:
You are incorrect. Casualties have not been hidden unduly from the american press. It just depends on which press is willing to run which photos.
1.) If you check out the Army Times, a weekly published by the civilian owned Military Times company you will find that each week they show a different flag fraped coffin at a funeral in some soldiers hometown or at Arlington. Often grieving family members can be seen. These photos are quite touching, and never published in the New York Times or other papers regardless of the fact that the Military Times syndicates them and they are made available, since they do not have the desired impact.
2.) The photo you speak of that is "Hidden" is of the periodic casualty flight home from theater in which multiple falg draped coffins are displayed. The desired impact you have is of row upon row of casualties in a photo to "Bring home the loss." We who do the fighting are aware of each loss personally.
THis leads us to ask, since the liberals in America today have claimed for over twenty years that we should see people as individuals, why should they wish to see grouped coffins displayed in such a manner when an individual flag draped coffin photo is available? The answer is that they wish to use the group photo as a bludgeon to self-flagilate their country with. Like I often ask of J Frank Wilson-- "WHat is their/his pathology?"
Shep Smith Is A Jerk
April 26, 2007 - 12:16 ET by emjem24I have a huge problem with Shep Smith. I love how libs complain and whine how Fox News isn't really news and is in the tank for Republicans. If so, how do you explain the phenomenons of Shep Smith and Greta Van Sustern? I mean, I saw him just a couple of days ago verbally attack a Republican strategist for saying that we're making progress in Iraq through the schools/hospitals that we're building and the the infrastructure that we're implementing. When the Republican strategist said that there were only "a few" car bombs in Iraq, Shep attacked him for that comment as well. Yet he never challenged the rhetoric on the left side of the debate.
Shep Smith is a phoney with well-manicured hair. He's the "Breck girl" of Fox News. I can't stand him just like I stand Geraldo. They're both phonies in my opinion who should just go to CNN and be done with it. I refuse to watch either man's program because of the obvious liberal blathering coming out of their mouths on a daily basis. If I want that, I'll listen to CNN or MSNBC or the Networks in the tank for libs.
The difficult we do immediately; the impossible takes a little longer. Air Force Motto
emjem says: When your brain's stuck on liberalism it self-destructs.
Gotta hand it to Geraldo thou
April 26, 2007 - 12:46 ET by Dan The Man 2Gotta hand it to Geraldo though he does step into the fray even though he does it fro his own ego. He was imbeded with the troops and left a well paying safe gig to be there. He is still a liberal but loves his country enough to say Iraq is not lost.
Nuke em til they glow then shoot em in the dark. -- save my gun, shoot a liberal.
"Silky" Shep Smith
April 26, 2007 - 13:16 ET by heldmywI have no problem with the ol' Shepster! Nah!
When he went all wet and teary, stamping his foot in hissy's finest fit down in New Orleans, I had him tagged as a hysterical little girl right away! "Why won't they dooooo something? I'm so angry and hurrrrrrrrt!" he wailed.
If "Pink Sapphire" is now John Edwards' new nom de pouf, can the Shepatollah co-opt "Silky Sobby Pony"?
He makes Matt Lauer and Anderson Cooper look like men.
The Media culture has accepte
April 26, 2007 - 12:21 ET by mattmThe Media culture has accepted the premise that casualties are an argument against a war. If this were true, WWII was totally unjustified. If they had the same attitude about traffic fatalities, they'd be covering every traffic-related funeral they could (which would pretty much take up all their time).
They don’t allow us to see
April 26, 2007 - 12:42 ET by Jack BauerWhat a moron.
Does SS seriously think that the men and women who have died in service of their country are laid to rest in.... "secret?"
Doesn't he know that the government can't even stop a bunch of lunatics who claim to be Christians from offensively "protesting" the funerals of the fallen as they are carried to their final resting place?
Shep -- get off your fat backside and ask the family of a serviceman or woman who died in Iraq whehter you can cover the funeral.
To think this guy gets paid millions by Fox to spout this ill-informed crap. Hey, I can do that.. for far less.
The Army Times has an informa
April 26, 2007 - 15:57 ET by BDThe Army Times has an informal policy of showing an internment ceremony of a US soldier killed in Iraq each week in its pages and on its website at www.armytimes.com in the Frontline Photos section.
Most of the time these photos come from small towns around the country via the AP. Why would they NOT be available because of government censorship if they are available on the AP wire?
Thanks for the link BD. I a
April 27, 2007 - 10:02 ET by LeonThanks for the link BD. I am not in the military and had never heard of this site. Great site.
Yes, another one you might fi
April 27, 2007 - 10:24 ET by BDYes, another one you might find useful is www.military.com.
I've never liked Shep. He a
April 26, 2007 - 13:27 ET by GothampcI've never liked Shep. He always struck me as someone who desperately wanted to be a drag queen, but was afraid it would upset his mother. I think Fox should have pulled him when he was doing Katrina coverage and pushing his political agenda into the "news". Send Shep packing and let Brit Hume take the chair. Or show CBS how a woman can handle the news and promote Harris Faulkner.
I agree. And he can't read! W
April 26, 2007 - 14:25 ET by RODVALI agree. And he can't read! Watch him for two minutes and he will flub up a line.
"Let him who seeth them not, deride me for saying these things, and I will pity him, while he derides me."
Augustin, "Confessions"
If Shepard Smith had bothered
April 26, 2007 - 14:43 ET by Del DolemonteIf Shepard Smith had bothered to do his homework, he would know that this "administration war policy" of not allowing the coffins to be photographed originated with the previous (Democrat) Administration.
Sissified, leftist, cry me a
April 26, 2007 - 15:38 ET by bigtimerSissified, leftist, cry me a river Sheppie pooh....
STFU!
As an aside he and Geraldo were the first people to ever make me sick enough to email Fox news with complete outrage and anger for the riots they were intentionally trying to incite in NO with the Katrina episode...before that I called the stations when I was angry for years, I didn't have a computer yet...for all the good either one does about getting rid of these leftist pieces of work, or at the least keeping their bleeding hearts home when reporting the news.
I see "The Army Times&qu
April 26, 2007 - 18:53 ET by drillanwrI see "The Army Times" being cited. For the record, I believe it is not a military publication.
As for Shep Smith, I figured him out during the whole Hurricane Katrina MSM buffoonery. I actually heard many of the inaccurate and false rumors and reports coming out of his mouth. I cringed when I would listen to his overly emotional reports on site.
Having said that ... the next time you watch the movie "Volcano" look for his cameo therein as a fluff news reporter in L.A.
To anyone who suggests Fox News Channel is far right let me say this: I know it's NOT. How? Because I get pi$$ed watching all other MSM news sources 100% of the time ... and only 40% to 50% of the time while watching Fox News.
As for seeing the flag-draped coffins coming home ... It is NOT for our entertainment or viewing pleasure. We do not have a right to see them. Those brave heroes gave everything for us and to their duty. Upon their deaths their duty to this country has been paid in full. They owe us absolutely nothing more once they've exhaled their last breath. You NEED to see flags hung over fallen heroes? Make a trip to Arlington. I have NEVER seen the number of KIAs in this war as a collected "score", but as completely individual precious lives stolen either directly or indirectly by an evil enemy that would just love to use such flag-draped footage for their own propaganda. It's a whole different world, enemy, and war, Ladies and Gents.
The Army TImes is owned direc
April 27, 2007 - 09:49 ET by BDThe Army TImes is owned directly the the Military Times Company, and is not government affiliated.