Are You Seeing This?
By SEAN HANNON

March 22, 2003

 The news media coverage of this war is an abomination. Every one of the cable news programs, with CNN perhaps trumping the pack, is shamelessly delivering the war as Spectacular Family Entertainment. I am horrified beyond words to describe. Military planners and the newsmedia have clearly spent many months attending to the careful packaging of what we'd see and hear. And the message is resounding:  War is great! War is envigorating! It's not ugly, or sad, or an occasion for somber reflection and quiet prayer. Nooo, enough of that depressing, pacifist downer bullshit.  War is terrific! It's colorful and engaging... full of 3D graphics, animations and hi-tech schematics of our entire arsenal, warm greetings from our boys & girls waving to us from the trenches, and unprecedented LIVE coverage of our tanks rolling across the desert in real time!!  News anchors are giddy and practically bouncing in their chairs. "Phenomenal coverage! Fantastic access! Amazing," they gush. And they promise to keep it clean and sanitized so no one will have to see anything messy. Nothing to put you off.

 So, America, get a block party going, pull out the kegs of beer, don't forget the pretzels, pull up yer chairs and hold onto your hats cuz' its clear that a REALLY FRIKKIN' AWESOME SHOW has been planned and created for our enjoyment. If terrorism is here to stay -- and our government will see to that-- then by god, we'll embrace war as the new national pastime. Heck, "Starship Troopers" has nothing on this! This is a real bug hunt!  Plenty of 'em to squash season after season. After "Showdown with Saddam", look forward to "North Korea Knockout", "Irradiate: Iran" and  "Peek-a-Boo, Pakistan", with plenty more to follow. Because YOU the VIEWER have told us what you like to watch. And contrary to what you've heard, it's all good clean fun.

 As Senator Byrd said, "I weep for my country". I pray for the safety of every brave American boy and girl fighting in Iraq as though they were my own son and daughter, and I pray for the eventual enlightenment of those still blind to our government's despicable betrayal of yet another generation to an unjust war.