CNN Idiocracy

[Bat Guano]

Anyone see the incoherent story on CNN concerning the new policy allowing our troops in Afghanistan to carry loaded weapons on base? The writer(s) obviously has no idea of what is involved and never made the slightest effort to run it by anyone who would. Truly cringeworthy.

Same thing as to the recent "hollow point ammo" flap that just provoked some verbal incontinence in the media. Foolish me, I had thought that issue had been beaten completely to death 40 years ago.

Little did I know when I was perusing "our Weekly Reader" way back in the 5th grade that I was witnessing the high point of American journalism. It's been strictly downhill from there.

 

[Moonman]

I find the IGNORANCE of some reporters on FIREARMS ISSUES, just TOTALLY AMUSING.

The fact that some of them consider themselves PROFESSIONALS is EVEN MORE AMUSING.

 

[Dashriprock]

Heh -- no kidding. I recently took a few minutes to write a local reporter who was going on about full-auto weapons being banned in Colorado. I invited him to the next Class III shoot in Rifle, Colorado -- reckon he'll take me up on it?

This guy is a grad of the Cronkite School of Journalism at Arizona, to boot! Clearly, the standards of objective and well-researched journalism have diminished since the days of that school's namesake.

 

[A10]

Don't go all teary eyed over Cronkite. That "professionals" "unbiased" reporting from Viet Nam cost American and Vietnamese lives and lost the war. Additional comments on my opinion of that archtypical "journalist" would get me banned.

 

[TheHobbyist]

I make it a point to not watch that network. Your mileage may vary.

 

[dswancutt]

Don't go all teary eyed over Cronkite. That "professionals" "unbiased" reporting from Viet Nam cost American and Vietnamese lives and lost the war. Additional comments on my opinion of that archtypical "journalist" would get me banned.

That is so very true. I cannot remember his exact words, but some time after he retired, he lamented he could no longer influence public opinion via his reports, or words to that effect. I'm sorry Walt, but your job was to report the FACTS, not what you thought we should be told.

 

[venomballistics]

That is so very true. I cannot remember his exact words, but some time after he retired, he lamented he could no longer influence public opinion via his reports, or words to that effect. I'm sorry Walt, but your job was to report the FACTS, not what you thought we should be told.

I'll add to this as Vietam and A-Stan have another factor in common .... you cannot blow into the stone age, a society that's already there.

 

[PA Guns & Ammo]

Anyone see the incoherent story on CNN concerning the new policy allowing our troops in Afghanistan to carry loaded weapons on base? The writer(s) obviously has no idea of what is involved and never made the slightest effort to run it by anyone who would. Truly cringeworthy.

Same thing as to the recent "hollow point ammo" flap that just provoked some verbal incontinence in the media. Foolish me, I had thought that issue had been beaten completely to death 40 years ago.

Little did I know when I was perusing "our Weekly Reader" way back in the 5th grade that I was witnessing the high point of American journalism. It's been strictly downhill from there.

Our military is armed? When did this happen? Clinton obviously knew what he was doing

James

 

[GaryS]

I make it a point to not watch that network. Your mileage may vary.

The way their ratings have been going, a lot of people seem to make it a point not to watch that network. Their ratings are reaching MSNBC levels while Fox News is increasing their market share.

Not that I'm a total fan of Fox News. I wish they'd have more news and fewer shouting matches amongst fools.

 

[tekarra]

I stopped watching CNN a number of years ago.

 

[chud333]

I won't watch any of the so called "News" shows on
TV for fear of throwing a brick through my 42" HDTV.
I'll watch local weather and get their "Guesses" and
then switch off. The talking heads care nothing about
reporting the news. It's all about showcasing their companys
agendas both politically and financially.
Oh, and showing off their new suits and hairstyles......
Nuff said.

Chuck

 

[Duke426]

Don't go all teary eyed over Cronkite. That "professionals" "unbiased" reporting from Viet Nam cost American and Vietnamese lives and lost the war. Additional comments on my opinion of that archtypical "journalist" would get me banned.

A10, normally I agree with 99% of what you have to say. In this instance, I have to disagree a little bit. I'm not teary-eyed over old Walter Cronkite but he didn't cost us that war. The blame for that fiasco lies squarely at the feet of one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and his Secretary of Defense (who should have stuck to building cars).

 

[venomballistics]

A10, normally I agree with 99% of what you have to say. In this instance, I have to disagree a little bit. I'm not teary-eyed over old Walter Cronkite but he didn't cost us that war. The blame for that fiasco lies squarely at the feet of one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and his Secretary of Defense (who should have stuck to building cars).

i think the appointment of the secretary of defense was JFK's bid to save the auto industry

 

[COL Jagdog]

My guess is that most CNN journalists have no clue what ROE means -
(or they would guess it was caviar/fish eggs -pun intended - while eating lunch at the Hyatt in Kabul) -- I am still amazed that networks/papers/magazines send journalists (I use that term loosely)
to combat zones who have no clue about the military -- they don't understand rank, military organizations (theater command/army/division/brigade/battalion/company/platoon/squad),weapons or weapons employment, OPSEC, operational tactics or strategy-
I could go on but you get the point. Rarely, have I seen a journalist who "got the concept" but there were some who were embedded in units who finally figured it out.

But most days, they were "nattering nabobs" who knew as much about military matters as they did quantum physics -- which, in sum, was
a paucity of knowledge.

And yet, the networks let these "journalists" pontificate to the masses about the progress of the conflict and "what needs to be done".

Interesting times we live in.

 

[thndrchiken]

I don't watch anything on the Communist News Network, sadly though the rest of the media is almost as uneducated on anything firearm related.

 

[BuckeyeChuck]

I find the IGNORANCE of nearly all reporters on ANY ISSUE, just TOTALLY EXPECTED.

Fixed it for you.

I spent many hours in four airports this past week. All of them suffer from the infestation known as CNN, usually CNN HLN. I don't watch TV news of any kind and haven't for years, and after a few minutes I had to move away from a television. There was some guy yelling about his position on the financial markets. What was coming out of his mouth was barely coherent, perfectly cliche, and probably incorrect, but he made up for all of it with volume.

Then, sadly, it was playing in the hotel breakfast room, which had the beneficial effect of making me eat much faster, thereby allowing me to arrive at my client early.

And, it was on the DirecTV list offered by United Airlines on their 737-800 from LAX-CLE. But this time I was not forced to suffer. I watched Adult Swim on Cartoon Network instead, and I was not only more entertained, I was probably more informed.

 

[A10]

A10, normally I agree with 99% of what you have to say. In this instance, I have to disagree a little bit. I'm not teary-eyed over old Walter Cronkite but he didn't cost us that war. The blame for that fiasco lies squarely at the feet of one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and his Secretary of Defense (who should have stuck to building cars).

Americas opinion was generally in support of the war. with the exception of a small group of malcontents who where generally supported and funded by foreign governments. We won every battle, including Tet. Cronkite spent a week reporting all of the "bad" stuff about the war, showing our guys in a very unfavorable light. The country had trusted him and viewed him as Americas journalist and conscience (this was rooted in his tearful reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy). When he concluded the war was lost, mainstream America believed him and began demanding an end to the war. Nixon was president at the time, and needed the support of the American people so we withdrew. Congress then failed to fulfill the promises and obligations of support for the South Vietnamese. The north, with the support of Communist China, overran the south and slaughtered anyone they believed had cooperated with the US.

Please don't take my word for it. Please research this. And please understand my offense, because I was lied to about the war and believed abandoning the South Vietnamese was the right thing to do. Leaving our ally high and dry was one of the most reprehensible things we have ever done, and set us up for the world situation we face today. Our enemies today believe that, if they wait long enough and turn the opinion of the American public, we can be defeated. They are right.

 

[DeadAye]

So - CNN's still on the air? --- Will wonders never cease?

 

[Bentwing]

Research

Americas opinion was generally in support of the war. with the exception of a small group of malcontents who where generally supported and funded by foreign governments. We won every battle, including Tet. Cronkite spent a week reporting all of the "bad" stuff about the war, showing our guys in a very unfavorable light. The country had trusted him and viewed him as Americas journalist and conscience (this was rooted in his tearful reporting of the assassination of President Kennedy). When he concluded the war was lost, mainstream America believed him and began demanding an end to the war. Nixon was president at the time, and needed the support of the American people so we withdrew. Congress then failed to fulfill the promises and obligations of support for the South Vietnamese. The north, with the support of Communist China, overran the south and slaughtered anyone they believed had cooperated with the US.

Please don't take my word for it. Please research this. And please understand my offense, because I was lied to about the war and believed abandoning the South Vietnamese was the right thing to do. Leaving our ally high and dry was one of the most reprehensible things we have ever done, and set us up for the world situation we face today. Our enemies today believe that, if they wait long enough and turn the opinion of the American public, we can be defeated. They are right.

Yes, research the war, read "The Pentagon Papers" (Gravel edition) and "The Best and The Brightest", I have

 

[Marshwheeling]

Americas opinion was generally in support of the war. with the exception of a small group of malcontents who where generally supported and funded by foreign governments.

As I recall it, US opinion was very much against the war by 1968, enough so to cause a sitting president not to run for re-election.

 

[TAROMAN]

Here we go again:

Some things never change!

 

[cmort666]

Little did I know when I was perusing "our Weekly Reader" way back in the 5th grade that I was witnessing the high point of American journalism. It's been strictly downhill from there.

Most "journalism" I see these days doesn't rise to the intellectual level of "Hustler Letters".

 

[7shooter]

I was at a large orthopedic clinic recently with my wife and they had Fox News on all the tv sets in the waiting rooms. A pleasant change from the ubiquitous CNN.

 

[rock doc]

I make it a point not to watch Communist Network News, but I did catch the news story on another network. I find it appalling that the troops were NOT allowed to carry at ALL times.

 

[GaryS]

As I recall it, US opinion was very much against the war by 1968, enough so to cause a sitting president not to run for re-election.

US opinion changed after the media portrayed the Tet Offensive a great defeat for the US and ARVN and a great victory for the VC and NVA. In fact because of Tet the VC pretty much ceased to exist as a fighting force and the NVA had to take over most of the combat operations.

Commie Cronkite was the lead cheerleader for the VC and NVA and the news was slanted.

The biggest mistake that the US made was trying to fight Vietnam as a set piece traditional war. In the few instances it followed the British lead in Malaya by adopting a COIN strategy, the US won. Sadly the upper echelons of the military were from the WWII era and saw things in those terms.

The best book I've read on the subject is "Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife" by Colonel John Nagl.

 

[jaykellogg]

You could make an excellent argument that Cronkite was more dangerous to the (Vietnam) war effort than Hanoi Jane Fonda. There is no end of villains connected to this particular war. JFK for getting us into it in the first place, Lyndon Johnson for micro managing, The left, Left leaning news media. It was a disaster all around and unfortunately the USA and many folks who were involved in are still paying.

I wonder if the North had ceased to fight if we would have become embroiled in a situation like we are in in Afghanistan and to a lesser extent Iraq.

Regarding CNN, at one time they seemed (to me) to be a reputable news agency. Author Tom Clancy included CNN in some of his stories several years ago. He has not lately and it seems less likely today that CNN would actually act like Clancy had them doing then. At the time it was believable.

 

[The Big D]

It never ceases to amaze me that some people rely upon talking heads or ink stained wretches to decide what to believe.

I read several newspapers daily...The Washington Post, for one. It is so biased that it is often unreadable yet I can get an idea what is going on in my former 'hood. Similarly, I watch local news channels and an occasional network news report. I NEVER WATCH SUNDAY MORNING NEWS SHOWS OF ANY DENOMINATION. I do not need anyone to tell me what to think/believe.

When the Loughner homicides occurred in AZ last year it was unbelievable (and a bit sickening) to watch Olbermann, Maddow, and their ilk arguing with on scene people re: what had happened. And HLN was arguing with hospital personnel and the sheriff whilst repeatedly claiming they KNEW Ms Giffords was dead.

Rant off.

Be safe.

 

[OIF2]

A10, normally I agree with 99% of what you have to say. In this instance, I have to disagree a little bit. I'm not teary-eyed over old Walter Cronkite but he didn't cost us that war. The blame for that fiasco lies squarely at the feet of one former resident of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave and his Secretary of Defense (who should have stuck to building cars).

I think there is much truth to what you've said...however, the Tet Offensive was an unmitigated disaster for the Communists. The US Military completely destroyed the VC infrastructure in the south during Tet. It was probably the greatest victory we had in the war. Cronkite (and the rest of the media) turned it into a US defeat. Cronkite bears a lot of the blame, with his studied air of concern, the removal of his glasses and the "pained" look on his face when he pronounced the war unwinnable on the evening news. He joins that buffoon Harry Reid, who stated on the Senate floor that the Iraq war was "lost", with American troops still in combat. Sorry for the thread drift. Now back to my 5" K-frames...
Bob

 

[cmort666]

I think there is much truth to what you've said...however, the Tet Offensive was an unmitigated disaster for the Communists. The US Military completely destroyed the VC infrastructure in the south during Tet. It was probably the greatest victory we had in the war. Cronkite (and the rest of the media) turned it into a US defeat. Cronkite bears a lot of the blame, with his studied air of concern, the removal of his glasses and the "pained" look on his face when he pronounced the war unwinnable on the evening news. He joins that buffoon Harry Reid, who stated on the Senate floor that the Iraq war was "lost", with American troops still in combat. Sorry for the thread drift. Now back to my 5" K-frames...
Bob

I once read an interesting autobiography by a former VC who claimed that the North hung the VC out to dry the same way that Stalin hung the Poles out to dry in the Warsaw Ghetto and Home Army uprisings. There was WAY too much independent thinking going on in the Viet Cong apparatus and the North figured that the best way to knock it out of their heads was with AMERICAN bullets. So they gulled the VC into a general uprising which they knew was doomed to bloody failure, leaving THEM as the only ones on the field opposite us.

 

[gdauth]

The Vietnam war was lost by the politicians like LBJ, McNamara and others who stuck their noses in where they didn't belong. They were making tactical decisions in stead of making policy decisions. McNamara was especially damaging to the war effortl, he thought he could run a war like an auto company. another example of an ex-businessman screwing up government.