Strib trolls for misery among the troops
posted at 9:40 pm on March 20, 2008 by Ed Morrissey
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See if you can spot the atrocious PC mistake made by the Minneapolis Star-Tribune in their late edition tonight:
Are you a woman in the military whose marriage has ended?
We’d like to talk to you for a possible story.
Please call reporter Pam Louwagie at 612-673-7102 or e-mail plouwagie@startribune.com.
Please leave your name and a telephone number where you can be reached.
Have you figured it out? Geraldine Ferraro could have pointed it out for you. Who says the women whose lives the military is busily ruining aren’t the ones deployed overseas? Isn’t it blatantly sexist of the Strib to assume that the spouses suffering from the Pentagon’s heartlessness aren’t men?
Must I be the only feminist in the Twin Cities? Oh, wait, that’s Mitch’s line.
The real story here is that the Strib apparently wants to troll military families for their marital woes. Now, do you suppose they want to write a balanced story about family life in the military … or do you think they have something else entirely in mind? Knowing the Strib, I’m not going to bet on “fair”, “balanced”, or even “sane”. (via Taranto)
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This is standard stuff for the mpls star trib. I cancelled my life long subscription 10 years ago. Reading it was too much like reading a comic book.
allrsn on March 20, 2008 at 9:46 PM
I’m actually more pissed that they’re trolling for misery stories. I can already see the premise of the article: Bush’s evil war is tearing military couples apart. The MSM has become so damn predictable.
amerpundit on March 20, 2008 at 9:47 PM
Old Army saying: If the troops are happy, something must be wrong.
MB4 on March 20, 2008 at 9:50 PM
What ever happened to reporting the news without passion or predujice? It’s like most newspapers are turning into the National Enquirer.
New’s flash. Military marriages has the same exact problems of non-military marriages.
Hog Wild on March 20, 2008 at 9:57 PM
When Jane Fonda finds the time to un-straddle
herself from a NV A/A gun,she could give them
a call,amongst all the other Liberal activist
Moonbats that were never ever married!
And I’m wondering how many trolls have infiltrated
the Republican blog sites as well,being election
season and all !
canopfor on March 20, 2008 at 9:57 PM
Ed nice to know someone else in MN(I’m originally from NW Indiana near Gary)
Everyone knows that Bias in that paper.
Chakra Hammer on March 20, 2008 at 9:59 PM
Or better stated, all of the liberal biases in that paper. LOL
Chakra Hammer on March 20, 2008 at 10:01 PM
Remember: the bias in the press is not that they tell you want to think; the bias is that they tell you want to think about.
And because most newsrooms are filled with a liberal point of view, a liberal worldview, a liberal perspective, what they want you to think about is what they themselves think about.
That is, a liberal world.
SteveMG on March 20, 2008 at 10:02 PM
I sent Pam an email telling her my marriage ended when my husband overseas found out I was having an affair with Rosie O’Donnell.
fogw on March 20, 2008 at 10:05 PM
Dude.
doubleplusundead on March 20, 2008 at 10:07 PM
“G** D*** America” – the editorial stance of the Strib.
PattyJ on March 20, 2008 at 10:22 PM
Does the U.S. military block access to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune’s website?
alphie on March 20, 2008 at 10:23 PM
I didn’t even notice the gender bias. Just looks like very bad journalism if you set it up so you only talk to people who identify with your predetermined conclusion. It’s as if Zogby didn’t question voters at random but rather only gave questionaires to people who passionately hate George Bush. What this “reporter” is doing couldn’t be considered ethical.
snaggletoothie on March 20, 2008 at 10:23 PM
So, as long as the divorce rate among military families is 50% or less, they are more successful than the average American couple…
Maybe I need to do some investigative reporting about how many relationships are ruined by finances? This could spell the end to money problems, we’ll just give all of it over to the government for a big ol’ socialist welfare-state! Then, we’ll all be happy, PC, anti-religious, worker bees striving for the betterment of all mankind, or at least the UN criminals in charge…umm, I mean representitives. Sounds like the perfect Commie-utopia…
Geministorm on March 20, 2008 at 10:32 PM
That sounds like something you’d hear at the end of a Jerry Springer episode.
Another case of tabloid journalism trying to pass itself off as news.
CookeyD on March 20, 2008 at 10:35 PM
Thanks for the email link. I had a couple of months on my hands.
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 20, 2008 at 10:43 PM
…
Of comparable age, income, et cetera cohorts.
Not just the general adult population.
SteveMG on March 20, 2008 at 10:47 PM
Are you a reporter, who knows that complete and utter victory in Iraq is right around the corner?
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 20, 2008 at 10:49 PM
Dear Pam, I am concerned about my poco perro Juan being in Iraq too much. If he continues to spend a lot of time in Iraq after he becomes el Presidente de America del Norte, with me pulling the strings behind him of course, then that will cut down on how fast we will be able to completely overrun Gringo America. Could you offer some helpful hints on getting him back on track to our main goal. Muchas gracias.
VinyFoxy on March 20, 2008 at 10:50 PM
Then we have stories like this……., then they might ask these women what their divorce rate is, oh, sorry, they are dead….. Rest in Peace, Dear Ones, Rest in Peace.
You.Are.Pathetic.
Seven Percent Solution on March 20, 2008 at 10:57 PM
Sic ‘em, Ed!
Great vent. I could almost picture the veins popping out in your neck.
They are gathering the ammo for the fall. Between August and November we will get all the evil guv-ment stories we can handle.
Limerick on March 20, 2008 at 11:03 PM
I think I’ll run my own ad:
billy on March 20, 2008 at 11:06 PM
This sounds like the media trolling for racists at NASCAR events.
…when they could have been trolling certain Chicago churches.
91Veteran on March 20, 2008 at 11:08 PM
bad journalism?
91Veteran on March 20, 2008 at 11:08 PM
Are you a liberal, tired of wearing pink and attending endless drum circles?
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 20, 2008 at 11:22 PM
I put this is the same category as the late night tv ads from ambulance chasing trial lawyers trolling for cases.
Oh, hey, wait. I just had a thought. Somebody ask if they’ll pay for a good story.
rockhauler on March 20, 2008 at 11:31 PM
Who are the advertisers with this paper? Used book stores, aroma therapist, and coffee shops?
THE CHOSEN ONE on March 20, 2008 at 11:36 PM
My favorite Mario Bro. character.
labrat on March 21, 2008 at 12:17 AM
CookeyD already nailed the Springeresque leap into the gutter by the Trib.
Maybe we could suggest a different story idea…
Wind Rider on March 21, 2008 at 12:35 AM
I joined the Air Force six months after my wife and I married.
Granted all of my service was stateside, but it was the best decision I ever made. Being over a thousand miles from both families, we were forced to depend on each other. It brought us closer together.
labrat on March 21, 2008 at 12:36 AM
If nothing else, they employ Lileks. I try to visit his blog often, both because it’s really interesting and it sends a message that sanity has an audience.
vonspringer on March 21, 2008 at 1:12 AM
Are you a journalist? Are you becoming uncomfortable with making a living by hyping the family-separation sufferings of the brave people who actually protect your very own family?
Are you worried because it increasingly feels like you are engaging in the same despicable behavior that you make a living accusing everyone else of?
We have an honorable* solution you may want to look into, one that more and more journalists should try for relief.
Kevorkian & Assoc.
* an archaic term roughly meaning “un-progressive”
drunyan8315 on March 21, 2008 at 1:24 AM
Bass Pro, Gander Mountain and Cabellas. Given that the Minneapolis Star & Sickle is only useful for fishwrap, they’re just trying to appeal to the right demographic.
Hollowpoint on March 21, 2008 at 1:58 AM
So they want to talk to widows and divorcees? That’ll paint a pretty picture. One hopes they’re prone to depression; they might quit misreporting the news and try to find another line of work.
Math_Mage on March 21, 2008 at 2:19 AM
I actually responded to Pam… Her is what I sent her. (this is a true story)
Here’s my story, Pam.
I was ripped away from my family and thrust into an unnecessary conflict, started by an amoral president, and forced to participate in a hopeless quagmire. With our unit under strength and the operational tempo increased, our morale hit bedrock. By the end of my unit’s tour, fifty percent of us were in some stage of divorce. When I returned home I was shocked to learn I was under investigation for an alleged affair with my superior officer, my savings had been looted and that my husband had a mistress. While enduring relentless harassment by an overzealous investigator, an equally aggressive young military police officer uncovered an extortion plot involving my husband and his mistress. In a dramatic moment, the young military police officer’s car came screeching up to me and he demanded that I get in the vehicle and that he had evidence of an extortion plot against me. The plot details involved full custody of my daughter, the pilfering of my bank accounts and the government sanctioned garnishment of my monthly income. In exchange, they were going to destroy an alleged handwritten note from me confessing an affair with my superior officer. When confronted with evidence of the felony extortion plot, my husband broke down in tears and begged forgiveness. When asked by the military police if I would like to press charges against him, I quickly dreaded having to explain to my little girl why daddy had to go away because of what he did to mommy. So, I foolishly said no. After this, the investigation of my alleged affair was dismissed.
The aftermath of these events was that my husband left with my daughter because I was going to be redeployed down-range. Now, my daughter will not speak to me and it has taken me years to recover financially. Also, my ex-husband has had a string of transitory live-in relationships and I am sure it has affected my little girl in the most negative ways. I can’t help thinking that my family and future are going to merely be an overlooked casualty of a senseless and purely voluntary conflict concocted by a dishonest president. Perhaps one day I will have the strength to forgive those who have wounded me but right now the pain is too deep. I just wanted to serve my country and instead I became a accepted casualty.
-Erica
BTW, I forgot to mention to Pam that the genders in this [very true] story were reversed and that the year was 1995-6 in Bosnia. (I think Clinton was president at that time, right?)
Claypigeon on March 21, 2008 at 3:24 AM
They aren’t the only ones. A couple of months ago a local Atlanta tv station, WSB, an ABC affiliate was actively asking for stories from vets who are suffering from PTSD or having trouble getting medical care. I sent them a response and currently the link is no longer on their website and of course I didn’t keep a copy of the email, can’t keep them all, but the emphasis in the media is now shifting to making veterans victims. They couldn’t make them victims while they were serving and deployed so now they are trying to do after they get home.
It really is pathetic on their part, and I am not trying to say vets don’t face problems, some of them unique to military service, but to have a bunch of people who can’t tell a PFC from an M1A1 trying to sensationalize the problems of veterans to gain ratings points is reprehensible.
Just A Grunt on March 21, 2008 at 7:30 AM
To be followed by a story about hack journalists and their joke marriages…not.
RobCon on March 21, 2008 at 7:40 AM
My wife sometimes likes to watch Dr. Phil, Springer, etc. and at the end of these shows, there is usually an appeal that sounds just like this. Is that how far “journalism” has sunk?
Kafir on March 21, 2008 at 8:38 AM
I hate the Strib. I only do the crossword puzzles and throw the rest away. Guess what? I don’t recycle it. The paper it was printed on has been thoroughly possessed anyway.
Grafted on March 21, 2008 at 9:37 AM
I guess the Strib writers have no military background.
If the military wanted you to have a wife or husband they would have issued you one. Because you can only win battles on one front at a time.
MSGTAS on March 21, 2008 at 9:56 AM
Dude
That’s brutal. Chin up, stiff upper lip.
LimeyGeek on March 21, 2008 at 10:36 AM
Maybe we should counter-scam the credulous propagandists of the mainstream media looking for dirt on the military the same way the 419 Eaters scambaits the Nigerian Internet fraudsters who pitch their bogus stories of trapped millions in African banks. Waste their time by stringing them along with improbable stories of military malfeasance, monkeyfishing tales. Maybe you could retread bogus stories and photos from Vietnam and tell dopey reporters it’s you in Iraq. They’re too stupid to know the difference. If it makes it to print, humiliate them with the revelation that it’s all a fraud. Photoshopping skills could sweeten the bait, especially if the photo is just plausible enough to fool a dopey reporter but an intuitively obvious hoax to a hundred thousand military veterans.
Tantor on March 21, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Ed, this cracks me up.
I guess I should blame everyone else, including my “employeer” for a loss of a marriage or anything else.
upinak on March 21, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Thanks Ed. I passed along my thoughts to Pammy.
oakpack on March 21, 2008 at 4:59 PM
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