James V. Zedak – 11/7/04

This page was last updated on November 7, 2004.

How valuable is a life?; James V. Zedak; Beaver County Times; November 7, 2004.

The first problem with this letter is that it’s based on a CBS 60 Minutes piece. Given CBS’s behavior since at least January 2004, I believe CBS can be fairly described as an organ of the Democrat Party. To refresh your memory, remember Rathergate and the forged documents? Remember the “news” story advancing the myth of a draft should we reelect President Bush? Remember the hit piece 60 Minutes planned to air within 36 hours of the election making claims of missing explosives in Iraq? I’m sure CBS wanted something more damning, but the story to which Mr. Zedak refers is the best – worst? – CBS could do for a last minute hit.

For a minute, though, let’s assume the contents of the piece were accurate and presented in context. I admit that’s quite a leap of faith.

The theme of the letter is that our men and women in harm’s way don’t have everything we want them to have. That’s undoubtedly true. Unfortunately, we will never go into a war with everything we want. Every responsible person wants every single military man and woman to have the best equipment available. For a myriad of reasons, though, that won’t happen because we are imperfect beings.

Don’t get me wrong; we should strive to get our men and women everything they need to fight a war. What I’m saying is that despite our best efforts, we will inevitably fall short from time to time. Unlike Mr. Zedak, though, I don’t believe falling short means we don’t value the lives of our military men and women.