In another time and place, in a universe that seems sometimes far, far away, I was a member of the Old Guard.
I was part of the Media Elite, that effete corps of impudent snobs who filtered the news for the American people.
In fact, I had arisen to the very top of the food chain – the elite of the Media Elite, the small club of those who actually ran newsrooms in major metro dailies.
To maintain some contact with this dying culture and to amuse myself in reflective moments, I sometimes still read the trade journal of the newspaper industry, Editor & Publisher.
In one of those moments, I ran across an article headlined: "American Legion Declares War on Protesters – Media Next?"
This is one of those gems I long for in my perusal of E&P – an illustration of just how deep runs the political paranoia in the Old Media.
The un-bylined report, attributed to E&P staff, purports to alert media insiders to what the 2.7 million member America Legion decided about war protests at its national convention in Hawaii.
It was an important story, to be sure. The American Legion is a large, powerful and important organization. But E&P was not content to simply report the news of the event. Instead, it injected its own unfounded fears, probably broadly felt within the Old Media that something sinister was afoot.
Yes, the American Legion's 4,000 delegates voted unanimously to support the president, Congress and the men and women and leadership of the armed forces "as they are engaged in the global war on terrorism and the troops who are engaged in protecting our values and way of life."
It also condemned in strong terms "public protests" and "media events" against the war because they aid and comfort the enemy we face.
As people like Cindy Sheehan are not just denouncing the war effort, but actually referring to those attacking American troops as "freedom fighters," the warning was timely. The U.S. anti-war movement is reaching a kind of hysteria not seen in this country since Vietnam.
And, so, without any supportive quotes from the American Legion to back the suggestion, E&P questioned whether the media would be next among the targets of the group's wrath and condemnation.
The American Legion, it seems to me, was making an excellent point. We have, in this country, the mechanism to make our voices of protest known through our elected officials – quietly, non-publicly. We can do this when we disagree with war policies without providing public support for our enemies – enemies who seek to kill as many Americans as possible in the days ahead, enemies who seek the wholesale slaughter of "infidels" the world over.
There are good and thoughtful and responsible reasons to question many of America's war policies. But the American Legion understands there is a fine line between protest and support of these enemies. And many of the protesters long ago crossed that line.
Take, for example, the demonstrators at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington to greet severely injured returning Iraqi combat troops with signs like "Maimed for Lies."
It's sickening. It's disgusting. It's reminiscent of the agitators who met returning Vietnam combat soldiers as "baby killers." Worse.
The American Legion doesn't want America to go down this road of self-destructiveness again. That was the intent of this resolution.
But E&P, representative of the Old Media, which have provided so much fawning attention to these thoughtless, unconscionable, immoral protests, is worried that journalists might be the next target.
E&P quoted Thomas Cadmus, national commander of the American Legion: "No one respects the right to protest more than one who has fought for it, but we hope that Americans will present their views in correspondence to their elected officials rather than by public media events guaranteed to be picked up and used as tools of encouragement by our enemies." To which, E&P added: "This might suggest to some, however, that American freedoms are worth dying for but not exercising."
That editorial comment, of course, may reflect the opinions of the Elite Media Establishment. But it suggests to some that the Old Guard cannot tell the difference between what is legal, what is moral and what is responsible behavior in a free society.
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