Supporting the Troops

I read blogs of all kinds, especially political blogs. I can’t help it. I like them. They happen to be my favorite. It doesn’t matter if they are conservative or liberal or whether I agree with them or not, just as long as the quality of the writing is good.

Being an Army veteran, I tend to get a little more sensitive when I read those so called patriotic blogs claiming to support the troops. Usually the bloggers that write these blogs do everything but support the troops. They spend most of their time bitching about the mainstream media (MSM) and liberal this conservative that, blah, blah, blah but in reality the only people that truly support the troops are the troops.

Take for instance the issue they have about the MSM. Both liberal and conservative bloggers (but mostly conservative) spend more time bitching about how the media never produce feel-good stories about the troops. I agree there should more coverage about the troops other than their deaths, but the media is out to make money and the top two headlines will always be about death and where peopleÂ’s tax money is going.

Now I’m not going to name names but one particular blogger wrote about how the troops weren’t honored during the Superbowl. I didn’t watch the Superbowl so I wouldn’t know about this. But what caught my eye was that this blogger was bitching the whole time-media this liberal that-she couldn’t even get the name of American Forces Network (AFN) right. She called it Armed Services Network. Urghh!!!

What is AFN? Well, it is a network that’s run by troops for the troops in Japan, Korea, Europe, Iraq, and if I’m not mistaken, Honduras, too. The network produces radio and television newscast as well as providing American tv shows like C.S.I, American Idol, and other popular tv shows to troops and their families stationed around the world. All AFN news can be viewed on the internet at www.pentagonchannel.com and on the Pentagon channel.

I get really angry when I read or hear someone comment on what the MSM is not doing especially when stories about the troops are readily available over the internet and on the Pentagon Channel. I know this because I was once a broadcast journalist for the Army and I also worked at AFN Korea. If people really wanted to know what the troops were doing, the information is literally just a click of a mouse away.

I’m pretty much done complaining. And look for links to websites maintained by America forces serving their country from around the world on my blog.