[Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
LAURIE SOLOMON
LAURIE at ADVANCENET.NET
Tue Dec 9 13:12:33 CST 2008
I find it interesting that in his movie, The Slacker Uprising, Michael Moore
also told those who did not vote in the election prior to the 2006
by-election because they had given up on the system to give the system one
more try before deciding to give up on it. Not that it has anything to do
with this discussion, but it was interesting in that, after telling them
that and getting them to vote, the Democrats got control of both chambers of
Congress and then proceeded to renege on their promises with respect to
fighting the Bush policies and reversing many of the actions that were taken
by the Bush Administration. It appears as if Obama is doing the same sort
of thing when it comes to meeting the expectations of his base. This leaves
me to wonder what Michael Moore will be telling the Slackers the next
election now that they have not only given the system one more try but have
given it two more tries and got the same result. I wonder if he will say it
is ok for them to give up on the system now that they have given it those
extra chances. I think he will probably forget he ever said that or find
some way to justify not honoring it.
I make this statement because I think that people put too much faith in
those who are good propagandists - be they from the right or the left - and
are selling a point of view or cause. Just goes to show that the saying "we
won't be fooled again" has been replaced by "there is a sucker born every
minute, and you just happened to be born at the right moment." I have to
also wonder why Moore remains so invested in supporting the system even
after it failed to work after the 2006 elections and if it fails to work
again after the 2008 elections? How will he convince future slackers to vote
in future elections given the outcomes of the past ones. You can only say
give it one more try once or twice before the appeal looses meaning.
-----Original Message-----
From: peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net
[mailto:peace-discuss-bounces at lists.chambana.net] On Behalf Of Rachel Storm
Sent: Tuesday, December 09, 2008 12:21 PM
To: Rachel Storm; Marti Wilkinson; Randall Cotton
Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
Oh sheesh, "we're" should be "weren't"
That changes something...
---- Original message ----
>Date: Tue, 9 Dec 2008 12:13:26 -0600 (CST)
>From: Rachel Storm <rstorm2 at illinois.edu>
>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>To: Marti Wilkinson <martiwilki at gmail.com>, Randall Cotton
<recotton at earthlink.net>
>Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>
>Initially, felt similarly (to Randall) about your response, Marti. Though
after reading your comment again, I knew you we're necessarily trying to
defend (perhaps somewhat excuse...) the NG editing. I think some of us are
so jaded by the media that we come to expect less and less, which is I think
where you're coming from Marti. And I agree with it. Nonetheless, I think
the only way we can demand better from the media is to find in ourselves the
energy to point out (however relentlessly) the many ways in which the media
twists and sanitizes a story for the public. Michael Moore made a wonderful
statement in Slacker Uprising when the media asked whether his movies were
propaganda. He replied, telling them that if the media did their job that he
wouldn't have to make movies for the purposes of informing the public. You
can watch the part I'm talking about here on youtube.com:
>
>http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AiO5ikOU7DU&feature=related
>
>Just scroll to 4:50.
>
>I think we need to be more critical and in a sense, more pissed off at bad
journalism.
>
>Rachel
>
>---- Original message ----
>>Date: Mon, 8 Dec 2008 23:48:24 -0600
>>From: "Marti Wilkinson" <martiwilki at gmail.com>
>>Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by the News-Gazette
>>To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>>Cc: peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>>
>> It didn't occur to me that I was being quick to
>> 'defend' the News-Gazette. My comment was to the
>> effect that what you observed may be a reflection of
>> a standard practice in newspapers. As for your
>> decision to 'challenge' me - I have to ask why are
>> you so quick to judge my response?
>>
>> On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 11:00 PM, Randall Cotton
>> <recotton at earthlink.net> wrote:
>>
>> Well I think it's clear that you tend to give the
>> NG the benefit of the
>> doubt, much moreso than I. Did you see the
>> original article? Did you
>> compare the two? Why are you so quick to defend
>> the NG?
>>
>> If you were to study the two articles side by
>> side, you would see that
>> there several edits. A sentence here, a sentence
>> there, with at least one
>> other instance of removing material unflattering
>> to the military. It
>> wasn't just a matter of lopping off the last few
>> lines. Yet so little
>> space was saved. The large front-page photo could
>> have been something like
>> 73 or 74 square inches instead of 76 and the
>> entire article could have
>> been preserved. There was another smaller photo as
>> well. Making each of
>> them imperceptibly smaller would leave enough
>> space for the whole article.
>> I remain convinced that whoever edited that
>> article was biased in favor of
>> the military. Is it hard to accept that the NG
>> might be biased in favor of
>> the military? Would you find it hard to believe
>> that there have been other
>> instances of bias in favor of the military in the
>> NG? Or that publisher
>> and editors might be biased in favor of the
>> military?
>>
>> I challenge you to do the actual comparison and
>> come away from that with
>> your opinion unchanged.
>> R
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: "Marti Wilkinson" <martiwilki at gmail.com>
>> To: "Randall Cotton" <recotton at earthlink.net>
>> Cc: <peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net>
>> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2008 10:18 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Peace-discuss] A curious omission by
>> the News-Gazette
>>
>> : In Journalism reporters are trained to start off
>> a story with the
>> : information that is considered to be the most
>> newsworthy. As an article
>> : progresses the information becomes less of a
>> priority. So in the event
>> that
>> : a copy editor cut's off a paragraph or two from
>> the bottom the people
>> who
>> : read the article will still get the bulk of the
>> story. While the N-G
>> may
>> : have had room to 'fit' in the missing paragraphs
>> it may well be an
>> editorial
>> : standard to use large photos in order to get a
>> visual appeal to readers.
>> The
>> : further away an article is from the front page
>> the less likely it will
>> be
>> : read and this is something that publishers take
>> into consideration.
>> :
>> : In this instance, I see this as being part of a
>> fairly common and
>> mundane
>> : editorial practice....and the News-Gazette is
>> not unique in that
>> respect.
>> :
>> : Marti
>> :
>> : On Mon, Dec 8, 2008 at 9:30 PM, Randall Cotton
>> <recotton at earthlink.net>wrote:
>> :
>> : > Mention was made at last Sunday's AWARE
>> meeting about the quite
>> prominent
>> : > story on the front page of the Commentary
>> section of the Sunday
>> : > News-Gazette.
>> : >
>> : > It was a McClatchy Newspapers article about
>> the rising suicide rates
>> in
>> : > the military. The article was somewhat
>> unexpected in my opinion and
>> : > laudable on the surface. It featured the story
>> of Sgt. Joshua Barber's
>> : > suicide as related largely by his wife Kelly
>> (who is featured in large
>> : > compelling photos). However, it turns out the
>> article as printed was
>> an
>> : > edited version of what was originally a
>> somewhat larger article. In
>> : > particular, a very significant part of the
>> story was omitted in the
>> : > snipped News-Gazette version. The following is
>> the end of the full
>> : > article, describing the end of Sgt. Barber's
>> life, when he arrived at
>> : > Madigan Army Medical Center (referred to as
>> "Madigan" below). All of
>> this
>> : > was completely lopped off in the News Gazette
>> version:
>> : >
>> : > *****************************
>> : > Surveillance video shows that Barber arrived
>> at Madigan about 7 a.m.
>> the
>> : > next day and didn't get out of the pickup,
>> according to the police
>> report.
>> : > A Madigan employee found his body two days
>> later and called 9-1-1.
>> Kelly
>> : > Barber, who was working at the time of the
>> discovery, was notified
>> later
>> : > that morning.
>> : >
>> : > According to the medical examiner's report,
>> Barber had put a revolver
>> : > loaded with hollow-point rounds to the right
>> side of his head and
>> pulled
>> : > the trigger.
>> : >
>> : > He was dressed in his old combat uniform.
>> : >
>> : > "He was making a statement to the military,"
>> Kelly Barber said.
>> : > *****************************
>> : >
>> : > It's not like the NG didn't have room to fit
>> this in. The front page
>> photo
>> : > was exceptionally large (over 70 square
>> inches). Did the News-Gazette
>> omit
>> : > Sgt. Barber's last desperate statement under
>> the rug because it
>> reflects
>> : > poorly on the military? So it would appear. A
>> google search turned up
>> the
>> : > article in 8 different places. None was
>> missing the above excerpt.
>> Sgt.
>> : > Barber's statement is arguably the most
>> compelling part of the story,
>> but
>> : > apparently it was left out deliberately by the
>> News-Gazette for no
>> other
>> : > discernible reason.
>> : >
>> : > Following is the full article, taken from:
>> : >
>> : >
>> http://www.individual.com/story.php?story=92728145
>> : >
>> : > Please read it. It's not long.
>> : >
>> : > **********
>> : >
>> : > "Do you think that God's going to send me to
>> hell for killing innocent
>> : > people?" former Sgt. Joshua Barber asked his
>> wife one day last summer.
>> : >
>> : > Kelly Barber tried to reassure her distraught
>> husband. Nearly three
>> years
>> : > after a combat tour in Iraq, he was a shell of
>> the loving and
>> fun-loving
>> : > man she'd married nine years earlier.
>> : >
>> : > Joshua Barber was quiet, withdrawn, constantly
>> fighting demons he
>> couldn't
>> : > exorcise. His question reinforced her fear
>> that he was sliding further
>> : > into a well of guilt and despair as she tried
>> desperately to hold on.
>> : >
>> : > The couple had sought help from the Army and
>> U.S. Department of
>> Veterans
>> : > Affairs, but Kelly Barber said they got caught
>> up in red tape.
>> : >
>> : > "He just had to fight so many battles, and no
>> one would help him," she
>> : > said.
>> : >
>> : > The 31-year-old soldier killed himself three
>> weeks after asking that
>> : > terrible question.
>> : >
>> : > On Aug. 25, a day after his wife reported him
>> missing from their home
>> in
>> : > Lacey, Joshua Barber drove onto Fort Lewis in
>> his silver 2005 Ford
>> F150
>> : > pickup, a gift from his wife when he returned
>> from Iraq.
>> : >
>> : > He parked in the lot at Madigan Army Medical
>> Center and shot himself
>> in
>> : > the head with a revolver, one of several guns
>> he'd taken from home.
>> : >
>> : > Barber's death is hardly an isolated case. In
>> a nearly three-year
>> period,
>> : > more than half of the veterans of the wars in
>> Iraq and Afghanistan who
>> : > committed suicide did so at least a year after
>> their deployments
>> ended,
>> : > Army data show. A large number of soldiers who
>> hadn't deployed also
>> took
>> : > their own lives. The number of suicides
>> involving veterans ages 18 to
>> 29
>> : > receiving care from the VA nearly doubled from
>> 36 in 2005 to 68 in
>> 2006,
>> : > the most recent figures available, according
>> to the VA.
>> : >
>> : > The Army and the VA have redoubled their
>> efforts to prevent suicides.
>> Both
>> : > have expanded services and launched
>> initiatives aimed at suicide
>> : > prevention.
>> : >
>> : > The Army is hiring dozens of counselors and
>> has developed an
>> interactive
>> : > video so soldiers can identify warning signs
>> and help a distraught
>> : > colleague through various scenarios. The Army
>> and the National
>> Institute
>> : > of Mental Health recently announced a
>> five-year, $50 million research
>> : > program into the factors behind soldier
>> suicides.
>> : >
>> : > The VA, meanwhile, is taking steps to improve
>> its screening among
>> veterans
>> : > diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic
>> stress disorder, and
>> increase
>> : > training so chaplains can look for warning
>> signs. In July 2007, it
>> : > launched a national suicide hot line, which
>> receives thousands of
>> calls
>> : > each month, said Fred Blow, director of the
>> VA's Serious Mental
>> Illness
>> : > Treatment Research and Evaluation Center.
>> : >
>> : > "The Army is doing everything possible, but
>> you still have those who
>> : > choose to take their own lives," said Maj.
>> Nathan Banks, an Army
>> : > spokesman.
>> : >
>> : > A cook -- and a gunner
>> : >
>> : > For Joshua Barber, the serious problems began
>> a year after his return
>> from
>> : > Iraq.
>> : >
>> : > He had deployed with the 1st Brigade Combat
>> Team, 25th Infantry
>> Division
>> : > from September 2004 to October 2005. The
>> Stryker brigade has since
>> : > transferred to Germany.
>> : >
>> : > Barber was a cook but found himself a gunner
>> on missions in Iraq.
>> : >
>> : > His VA physician wrote in an assessment after
>> his death that "it is
>> : > reasonable and valid to attribute his suicide
>> to post-traumatic stress
>> : > disorder, particularly in light of the fact
>> that he joined during
>> peace
>> : > time, not knowing he would be called on to
>> serve in war. ...
>> : >
>> : > "At the point of enlistment, he probably never
>> suspected that he would
>> be
>> : > called on to serve in a combat role," she
>> wrote in the assessment, a
>> copy
>> : > of which was provided to The Olympian by Kelly
>> Barber.
>> : >
>> : > Barber joined the service before the Sept. 11,
>> 2001, attacks.
>> : >
>> : > On Dec. 21, 2004, a suicide bomber detonated
>> explosives inside a mess
>> tent
>> : > near the Mosul airport, killing 22 people.
>> Among the dead were 14 U.S.
>> : > service members, including six Fort Lewis
>> soldiers.
>> : >
>> : > For days, Barber and other soldiers had to
>> keep the area secure and
>> escort
>> : > federal agents around the crime scene. After
>> his return home, he had
>> : > nightmares about the mutilated bodies lying
>> everywhere, his wife said.
>> : >
>> : > "He would say that all he could remember was
>> the smell of death," she
>> : > said. "That bothered him quite a bit."
>> : >
>> : > When a sniper's bullet killed his first
>> sergeant, Barber blamed
>> himself.
>> : > He was convinced the noncommissioned officer
>> would still be alive if
>> : > Barber had gone on that mission, his wife
>> wrote in materials submitted
>> to
>> : > the government.
>> : >
>> : > Barber noted in his post-deployment health
>> screening that he felt at
>> least
>> : > one time during his deployment that he was in
>> "great danger" of being
>> : > killed. He also acknowledged that he had an
>> experience so frightening
>> and
>> : > upsetting near the end of his tour that he
>> felt numb or detached.
>> : >
>> : > However, the screening official concluded that
>> Barber had "no medical
>> : > issues" and didn't refer him for treatment,
>> including for combat and
>> : > operational stress, according to the
>> screening, a copy of which was
>> : > provided by Kelly Barber.
>> : >
>> : > Her husband eventually sought private care.
>> : >
>> : > During his leave, the couple attended a
>> concert by Weezer, an
>> alternative
>> : > rock band. Barber, who his wife said was
>> usually "the first one in the
>> : > mosh pit," couldn't handle having so many
>> people around him.
>> : >
>> : > She later recalled a camping trip where she
>> remarked about the beauty
>> of
>> : > the surrounding mountains. Her husband said he
>> liked the scenery,
>> too --
>> : > because there would be "good hiding places so
>> no one would get me,"
>> she
>> : > remembers him saying.
>> : >
>> : > Medically unfit
>> : >
>> : > Barber's status with the military added to his
>> stress. He transferred
>> to
>> : > an Army Reserve unit based in Tacoma to serve
>> out his military
>> contract.
>> : >
>> : > He was required to undergo a retention
>> physical. It wasn't until
>> August
>> : > 2007, nearly a year after he underwent the
>> physical, that he was found
>> : > medically unfit to continue serving. The
>> military deemed the reasons
>> to be
>> : > nonduty-related.
>> : >
>> : > He was given an honorable discharge in
>> January. He was hired as a cook
>> at
>> : > Madigan, where his wife also worked. (Kelly
>> Barber no longer works
>> there.
>> : > The 40-year-old just moved to Florida, where
>> her family lives.)
>> : >
>> : > By spring, and after some initial delays,
>> Joshua Barber had received a
>> : > disability claim from the VA for
>> post-traumatic stress disorder and
>> had
>> : > begun receiving treatment at one of its
>> hospitals.
>> : >
>> : > He had requested a transfer back to the
>> active-duty ranks so he could
>> join
>> : > a Warrior Transition unit, where injured
>> soldiers are assigned until
>> they
>> : > either can return to their regular unit or are
>> medically retired.
>> : >
>> : > He thought receiving counseling in an
>> environment where other soldiers
>> : > shared his experience with combat would aid in
>> his treatment, his wife
>> : > said.
>> : >
>> : > Kelly Barber said the couple worked with
>> Madigan officials to help
>> approve
>> : > his transfer, but there were numerous delays
>> and no decision had been
>> made
>> : > at the time of his suicide.
>> : >
>> : > Sharon Ayala, spokeswoman for Madigan,
>> declined to comment because an
>> : > investigation is pending.
>> : >
>> : > Drinking and an apology
>> : >
>> : > Early in the morning of Aug. 24, Kelly Barber
>> awoke to find her
>> husband
>> : > watching television in the living room, drunk.
>> His drinking had become
>> a
>> : > problem.
>> : >
>> : > She became angry and stormed back to the
>> bedroom. Later in the day, he
>> : > called her at work to apologize. In one of
>> their last conversations,
>> he
>> : > "said he loved me and he was sorry," she
>> recalled, breaking down
>> during an
>> : > interview.
>> : >
>> : > "Sometimes I think it's my fault," she said a
>> little while later.
>> : >
>> : > He wasn't home when she returned from work.
>> She later discovered that
>> he'd
>> : > taken all the guns and ammunition from the
>> home.
>> : >
>> : > On the kitchen counter, she found his cell
>> phone and a green Post-It
>> note.
>> : >
>> : > "I love you. Please do not blaim (sic)
>> yourself. Sorry," it read.
>> : >
>> : > She called police.
>> : >
>> : > Surveillance video shows that Barber arrived
>> at Madigan about 7 a.m.
>> the
>> : > next day and didn't get out of the pickup,
>> according to the police
>> report.
>> : > A Madigan employee found his body two days
>> later and called 9-1-1.
>> Kelly
>> : > Barber, who was working at the time of the
>> discovery, was notified
>> later
>> : > that morning.
>> : >
>> : > According to the medical examiner's report,
>> Barber had put a revolver
>> : > loaded with hollow-point rounds to the right
>> side of his head and
>> pulled
>> : > the trigger.
>> : >
>> : > He was dressed in his old combat uniform.
>> : >
>> : > "He was making a statement to the military,"
>> Kelly Barber said.
>> : >
>> : > **********
>> : >
>> : >
>> : >
>> _______________________________________________
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>> : > Peace-discuss at lists.chambana.net
>> : >
>> http://lists.chambana.net/cgi-bin/listinfo/peace-discuss
>> : >
>> :
>>
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