Too Little, Too Late

A helpful commenter noted that Mark Hyman was in Ohio a couple of weeks ago. Apparently it was a business trip, since he took the opportunity to tape his most recent “Point” editorial while there.

The gist of the commentary is that small military cemeteries are selling off antique cannons and other military hardware used as monuments in small cemeteries across the country (this apparently happened in a cemetery in Dayton, Ohio; thus the Buckeye state connection).

(In a humorous twist, Hyman quotes “Dayton’s News Source, Don Hammond” to give some background. You might recall that Don Hammond also happens to be Sinclair’s Washington Bureau Chief, hired after Sinclair fired their former bureau chief, Jon Lieberman, because he had the audacity to question the decision to run anti-John Kerry propaganda as “news” during the 2004 campaign. Hammond also became infamous for interrupting a Kerry press conference about ANWAR in order to ask a question about discredited Kerry basher, Jerome Corsi.)

Such sales are restricted, something the towns selling off the military antiques might not be aware of. Hyman seems to aim his disdain at those who take advantage of this ignorance by buying up these historical pieces.

Hyman’s right in calling this a “shameful turn of events,” but it again reveals how superficial Hyman’s concerns about military affairs are. Yes, if small town cemeteries are being duped into selling off military antiquities that they shouldn’t be selling, that’s a bad thing. But in the vast scheme of things, is this truly an important issue?

Let me offer a modest suggestion to Mr. Hyman. When we are in the midst of a war that is taking the lives of American soldiers on a nearly daily basis, perhaps we should be worried more about the problem of what’s going *in* to our military cemeteries rather than what’s going out.

Rather than bemoaning the trafficking of glorified knick-knacks (which are apparently being sold willingly by the cemeteries involved, even if they are doing it in ignorance of the restrictions against doing so), perhaps you could level your criticism at those generals and civilian leaders whose ineptness and political agendas have filled so many new graves in these cemeteries. If you truly care about the troops, why not call for greater accountability for those whose mistakes and poor judgments have led to so many deaths?

Why not call for more Congressional oversight into the poor leadership that allowed insurgents to get a hold of weapons, that created the climate in which green and poorly trained troops have committed abuses that not only violate human rights but inflame those fighting against us, that sent our men and women into harm’s way in insufficient numbers and with inadequate body armor, that willfully ignored the possibilities that the invasion would go less than perfectly and failed to plan for any setbacks, that rewarded those whose mismanagement has led to such a fiasco rather than criticize them?

If you truly care about the honor of the men and women who give their lives in service to their country, stop wasting time complaining about who sold what rusty antique to whom, and assume the responsibility your public position comes with. Call for action that will help keep our soldiers alive. When you’re arguing over how to best decorate their graves, it’s too late.

And that’s The Counterpoint.


Hyman Index: 2.55