Almost Falling for the Popular Wisdom
I try and stay away from issues military, mostly because I have a 
remarkable ignorance about things military. In fact, the main reason I brought Ron aboard was to have someone around that has some knowledge in that area. So I have spent the past few days listening to the arguments pro and contra raising/lowering the flag and letting reporters on to CFB Borden for the Repatriation Ceremony. I have thought it through, try to separate the chaff from the wheat, and managed to form an opinion.The flag flap was the easier of the two. Quite clearly the military brass, members of the military and former members seem to concur that Remembrance Day is the appropriate time to lower the flags to half-staff in commemoration of members of our services who have been lost while in our service.
The question of reporters at the Repatriation Ceremony has been a bit trickier. My initial reaction was to disagree with the Prime Minister on this one. The media belong, journaling the event for us all. That was yesterday. I read in all the papers about how the media is always respectful at these events, how they wouldn't dare turn it into some sort of circus.
While I was reading, the media were busy turning into a circus.
Dear MSM: standing on ladders at the fence taking pictures with super-telescopic lenses is not respectful. It isn't whenever Madonna gets married; it isn't at a Repatriation Ceremony. After seeing the pictures of the media standing in a line on their ladders, on top of the news vans, is there any doubt they would have hired helicopters to flyover and shoot their pictures if it wasn't restricted air space?
However, I was still unsure until I read this quote from Garth Turner: "It would appear to me that a lot of people want to participate in the grieving vicariously…”
Vicarious grieving has become a de-rigueur thing in the past fifteen or twenty years. Many say it started with Princess Diana, but it started long before that: it just climaxed into inglorious spectacle with the death of the Princess. Whether it's the walls of teddy bears when a tragedy occurs involving a child, or the online signing of condolences whenever a tragically newsworthy event occurs, people all too often " participate in the grieving vicariously."
Frankly, if that's what this is about, if all this newsprint is being expended because people can't have a symbolic teddy bear mountain outside CFB Borden, then I say ban the media, arrest them when they show up with step-ladders, and execute them when they whine about lack of access.
Leave the families, and the forces with a little dignity, even if you won't do so for the rest of us.
From At Home in Hespeler
Update: I made the right call on this one.
remarkable ignorance about things military. In fact, the main reason I brought Ron aboard was to have someone around that has some knowledge in that area. So I have spent the past few days listening to the arguments pro and contra raising/lowering the flag and letting reporters on to CFB Borden for the Repatriation Ceremony. I have thought it through, try to separate the chaff from the wheat, and managed to form an opinion.The flag flap was the easier of the two. Quite clearly the military brass, members of the military and former members seem to concur that Remembrance Day is the appropriate time to lower the flags to half-staff in commemoration of members of our services who have been lost while in our service.The question of reporters at the Repatriation Ceremony has been a bit trickier. My initial reaction was to disagree with the Prime Minister on this one. The media belong, journaling the event for us all. That was yesterday. I read in all the papers about how the media is always respectful at these events, how they wouldn't dare turn it into some sort of circus.
While I was reading, the media were busy turning into a circus.
Dear MSM: standing on ladders at the fence taking pictures with super-telescopic lenses is not respectful. It isn't whenever Madonna gets married; it isn't at a Repatriation Ceremony. After seeing the pictures of the media standing in a line on their ladders, on top of the news vans, is there any doubt they would have hired helicopters to flyover and shoot their pictures if it wasn't restricted air space?However, I was still unsure until I read this quote from Garth Turner: "It would appear to me that a lot of people want to participate in the grieving vicariously…”
Vicarious grieving has become a de-rigueur thing in the past fifteen or twenty years. Many say it started with Princess Diana, but it started long before that: it just climaxed into inglorious spectacle with the death of the Princess. Whether it's the walls of teddy bears when a tragedy occurs involving a child, or the online signing of condolences whenever a tragically newsworthy event occurs, people all too often " participate in the grieving vicariously."
Frankly, if that's what this is about, if all this newsprint is being expended because people can't have a symbolic teddy bear mountain outside CFB Borden, then I say ban the media, arrest them when they show up with step-ladders, and execute them when they whine about lack of access.
Leave the families, and the forces with a little dignity, even if you won't do so for the rest of us.
From At Home in Hespeler
Update: I made the right call on this one.
posted by Brian at 13:40
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