Exploiting the Family of One of the Fallen

Apparently, not even war widows are safe from Mark Hyman’s sniping. While delivering an editorial musing on the possible fate of Scott Speicher, the first U.S. pilot shot down during the first Gulf War in 1991, Hyman bizarrely makes a point of saying that Speicher’s wife “quickly remarried” after his being pronounced dead. This seems particularly unfair given that it is Speicher’s wife and her new husband who have led attempts to clarify what happened to him after he was shot down.

There is no doubt that Speicher is dead, and little doubt that he died when he was shot down or shortly thereafter. The military has changed his status from KIA to MIA and back again, although this has more to do with attempts to pressure Baghdad to release more information than any real doubt about his fate.(See this story from ABC News for more details).

But Hyman takes advantage of both Speicher and his family to make a twisted defense of the preemptive invasion of Iraq by saying that if anyone doubted Saddam Hussein presented a threat to Americans, we should remember Speicher’s family.

That’s right: because a pilot was shot down during combat operations over Iraq 13 years ago, we were all in grave peril from a two-bit dictator. Only in the world of “The Point” (and perhaps the White House) does this make any sense.

And that’s the Counterpoint.