Remember them all
Tomorrow is Memorial Day here in the US and it is important that we remember all those who have fought and died for us to be able to freely and safely celebrate this day. From the 20,000 who lost their lives in our Revolutionary War to the 100,000 who died in World War II up to today to the over 3000 who have died in the four year conflict in Iraq. Each and every life given is precious and should be honored and thanked for their sacrifice.
As we move through this day of remembrance, we will hear increasing clamor from the press, the Democratic candidates, and no doubt, Cindy Sheehan about the 3000 men and women who have "needlessly" given their lives in Iraq. I personally think that is an insult to the soldiers' honor, but let's put it in perspective.
In 2004 (that's just one year compared to the four year Iraq War total of about 3100), there were 4,641 pedestrians killed by motor vehicles. In 2004, there were 17,575 unrestrained passengers killed in motor vehicle accidents, talk about needless!! How difficult is it to click on your seatbelt? In 2004, there were 14,409 people killed in motor vehicle accidents in which a driver had a .08 blood alcohol content (or greater). That's criminally needless!!!! All total, in 2004 (the latest year that figures are available at www.nhtsa.com) there were 42,636 PEOPLE (that's CIVILIANS TOO) KILLED IN MOTOR VEHICLE RELATED CRASHES!!! Did you see that? In ONE YEAR there were 1,375% MORE DEATHS than the entire death count in the whole 4 year Iraq War!!!!!
Why do I point this out? Certainly NOT to minimize the value of the lives lost in Iraq. As I said at the start EVERY one of these lives (soldiers and civilians) is valuable and their loss should be avoided. The reason I point it out is to show the hypocrisy of those listed earlier. Why isn't Cindy Sheehan camping outside GM headquarters to help improve vehicle safety? Why aren't the Democratic candidates talking about how they are going to start a campaign to promote pedestrian safety? Why isn't the New York Times, ABC, NBC, CNN, USA Today, etc running daily stories giving us the death count attributed to drunk driving in the US? We are killing more people here EVERY DAY than die in Iraq in a month and nobody seems to be upset. How is that happening and why are we letting them get away with diverting our attention like that?
Thoughts anyone?
1 comment:
Why they are doing it is obvious; to increase their own personal power. The fact that MANY others will suffer for their gain seems not to affect them. As to why we let them get away with it, that may have to do with their level of control over the media. Notice how they are trying to shut down the talk radio and internet alternatives to the newspapers and broadcast empires they control. Even if you don't agree with talk radio or political blogs or internet radio, the "classic" remedy is "don't tune into it"; passing laws to shut them down seems ... un-American.
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