Media coverage of fallen troops' returning caskets has all but disappeared?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
It's been almost six months since the Obama administration lifted the ban on media coverage of the returning caskets of war dead... and the press mostly seems to have lost interest.
"The Examiner" reports how back in April, media outlets rushed to cover the first arrival of a fallen U.S. serviceman... 35 members of the press were at Dover Air Force Base in Delaware.
For the next returning casket - 17 media outlets showed up... that soon dropped to a dozen. The numbers kept shrinking until this month when only one news outlet was on hand to document the return of a casket bearing the body of a fallen Marine. That was the Associated Press.
In fact, the A-P has made it a point to be there at every arrival of a military casket where the family has granted permission - which is more than half of the time. The AP says it's their responsibility to cover these returns:
"It's our belief that this is important, that surely somewhere there is a paper, an audience, a readership, a family and a community for whom this homecoming is indeed news."
But where are the rest of the media outlets who protested President Bush's continued ban on showing flag-draped coffins returning to the U.S.?
This is especially troubling in light of what's going on in Afghanistan. Nearly eight years into that war, 2009 will record the highest death toll.
Conventional wisdom suggests if the American people aren't seeing the returning war dead - it's difficult to comprehend the real cost of war.
Here's my question to you: What does it mean when media coverage of fallen troops' returning caskets has all but disappeared?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Are Obama critics creating a hateful, dangerous environment?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Tom Friedman writes a scary and sobering column in today's New York Times called "Where did 'we' go?" In it - he compares the political climate today in the U.S. to Israel in 1995... right before the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.
Friedman describes the "ugly mood" in Israel at the time... where right-wingers were trying to de-legitimize Rabin. They questioned his authority and shouted death threats at rallies.
Friedman says the parallels to America today turn his stomach:
"I have no problem with any of the substantive criticism of President Obama from the right or left. But something very dangerous is happening."
Criticism from the far right has begun tipping over into de-legitimizing his presidency.
He's right. You don't have to look any further than protesters comparing President Obama to a Nazi or a Facebook poll asking if he should be killed.
Friedman says even if you're not worried about violence against Mr. Obama - you should be worried about what's happening to American politics.
He talks about the "cocktail of political and technological trends" that make it possible for "idiots of all political stripes" to take advantage of the system... things like excess of money in politics, the 24/7 cable news cycle, the blogosphere and a permanent presidential campaign.
Meanwhile - Republicans are pushing back against claims that conservative rhetoric is creating a dangerous environment for the president.
Party Chairman Michael Steele says of people like Friedman, "Where do these nut jobs come from?" Which to me sort of proves Friedman's whole point.
Here’s my question to you: Are critics of Pres. Obama crossing the line in creating a hateful and dangerous environment?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Some in Hollywood think Polanski shouldn't be punished
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
When it comes to the case of director Roman Polanski, many of our so-called Hollywood celebrities seem out-of-touch. Once again. Polanski was arrested on his way to a film festival in Switzerland on a U.S. warrant dating back to a 1977 child sex charge.
He had pleaded guilty to having unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, served 42 days in prison - but fled the U.S. for France before he could be sentenced.
The award-winning director of movies like "Chinatown" and "Rosemary's Baby" now sits in a Swiss prison cell - which is exactly where he belongs.
But Polanski's lawyers are fighting his extradition to the U.S. - as are more than 100 Hollywood types who've signed a petition against the arrest; people like Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese.
Actress Debra Winger says it's "a three-decades-old case that is dead but for minor technicalities." Yeah, one technicality being he fled the country to avoid sentencing after officials said he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl.
Whoopi Goldberg says Polanski didn't commit "rape-rape," whatever the hell that means. And Harvey Weinstein says Polanski was the victim of a "miscarriage of justice." Hey, Harvey: He pled guilty.
California officials have kept the pressure on for all this time and insist they won't bow to pressure from Hollywood.
How would you feel if it had been your 13-year-old daughter?
Here’s my question to you: What message does it send when some in Hollywood don't think director Roman Polanski should be punished for a 1977 child sex charge?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should health care workers be forced to get flu shots?
(PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Get your flu shot or you're fired... that's the ultimatum for health care workers in New York state.
So far, New York is the only state requiring workers to get vaccinated against both the seasonal flu and swine flu. All health care workers in New York, including doctors and nurses, have until November 30 to get their shots - or they risk losing their jobs.
New York Health officials insist that the vaccines will protect the workers... and their patients - from getting the flu.
But some people don't like the idea of forced vaccinations... and they planned a rally in Albany today to protest the measure.
Opponents say it violates their personal freedom... and they also point to the possibility of getting ill from the vaccine, highlighting deaths associated with the government's last swine flu vaccine in 1976.
They also say it's unnecessary - that they won't catch the flu because they wash their hands so often.
The Centers for Disease Control & Prevention says flu activity is increasing in the U.S., with more than half of all states already reporting widespread flu activity.
Both the H1N1 and seasonal flus are expected to cause hospital stays and deaths. The regular flu alone kills about 36,000 people a year in this country; and the number of deaths from swine flu potentially could be much higher.
Here’s my question to you: Should health care workers be forced to get flu shots under threat of losing their jobs?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
What would you like to read in Palin's memoir?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sarah Palin found being governor of Alaska was too difficult and quit halfway through her first term. But she has managed to write her memoir in just four months. Truly amazing by any literary standards I'm familiar with.
The title of Mrs. Palin's book… due out a scant four months after the book deal was announced, is "Going Rogue: An American Life."
The publisher, Harper, is moving up the release date of the 400-page book to November 17, so it can be on the shelves in time for the holiday book-buying season.
Harper says, "Governor Palin has been unbelievably conscientious and hands-on at every stage, investing herself deeply and passionately in this project." What they don't say is that she wrote the book. She did spend several weeks with a "collaborator" in San Diego after she quit the governor's job.
The publisher is expecting big things of Palin's book - ordering a first printing of 1.5 million copies.
The former vice presidential nominee was roundly criticized during the campaign for being inexperienced; and toward the end, John McCain aides complained she was not sticking to the campaign's plans… and had become a diva.
Since the election, Palin has been the subject of several ethics probes in Alaska, given speeches in the U.S. and overseas, and of course, has had her family drama sprayed all over the media.
The thing I'm most interested in is whether she will go on the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric to promote the book when it comes out.
Here’s my question to you: What would you like to read about in Sarah Palin's memoir?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How important is Obama's Denmark trip to lobby for Olympics in Chicago?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
In what may be a risky political decision, President Obama is headed to Copenhagen, Denmark this week to lobby to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to his hometown of Chicago. Still no health care reform. Still no jobs.
The International Olympic Committee will vote on the destiny of the 2016 Summer Olympic Games on October 2 in Copenhagen after a final round battle between Chicago, Madrid, Tokyo and Rio de Janeiro.
But the White House says the president decided health care negotiations are "in a better place now," and they point out that bringing the games to Chicago could help the U.S. economy.
First Lady Michelle Obama will be going to Denmark too. She's vowing to "take no prisoners," and compares the lobbying effort to the presidential campaign. Really?
Leaders from the other three contending countries - Brazil, Spain and Japan - are also expected to make appearances in Copenhagen - but it's a first for a U.S. president.
Here's the problem: President Obama was just talking to world leaders at the G-20 Summit about the importance of doing something to curb global warming. What size carbon footprint does this little field trip to Hans Christian Andersen land leave?
Think about it - for the president to travel overnight to Europe Thursday and return Friday... it will take not one, but two 747 airplanes... plus a military transport plane to haul his bulletproof limo and other vehicles. Then there's staff, Secret Service, VIPs traveling along... not to mention hotels, cars, etc. while in Europe.
All for something that could have been done on a video conference from the White House. Just a thought.
Here’s my question to you: How important is Pres. Obama's trip to Denmark to lobby for the Olympics to come to Chicago?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Would you make investment decisions based on what Palin says?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
Sarah Palin spoke to Asian bankers, investors and fund managers in Hong Kong - in what's being billed as her first speech outside North America. The former Alaska governor and Republican vice presidential nominee spoke for about an hour and a half. The speech was closed to the press.
Reports that leaked out say Palin addressed everything from Reagonomics, China and human rights, Tibet, the Asian and American economies to international terrorism, energy independence, family - and fishing and moose in Alaska.
In her speech, Palin reportedly said she was talking as "someone from Main Street, U.S.A." and highlighted her concerns about massive federal bailouts and growing government deficits.
She criticized President Obama's plans to give the Federal Reserve power to monitor risk to the financial system, questioning if that is "meaningful reform."
The reviews on Palin's speech are mixed - some people say she was articulate, well-prepared and compelling.
Others got up and walked out in the middle of it, calling her speech boring.
It was seen as the first step in Palin's attempt to boost her foreign policy credentials-which could use a little boosting.
Keep in mind: Palin never even had a passport until 2007. And when she came under criticism during the presidential campaign for her lack of foreign policy expertise, she attempted to make up for it by saying she could see Russia from her home state of Alaska.
Here’s my question to you: If you were a money manager, would you make investment decisions based on what Sarah Palin says?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Why is everybody on the international stage saying no to Obama?
President Obama addresses world leaders during the United Nations General Assembly at UN Headquarters in New York City. (PHOTO CREDIT: JIM WATSON/AFP/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"Everybody is saying no to the American president these days"... that's the start of a pretty scathing piece in the Jerusalem Post about where President Obama stands on the international stage - just as he addresses the UN and meets with world leaders.
Amir Mizroch has plenty of examples... like the Saudis twice saying no to the president's request for normalizing relations with Israel; or the North Koreans saying no to repeated attempts at talks by firing off test long-range missiles; to Russia and China continuing to say no to tougher sanctions against Iran; to Iran itself saying no - by agreeing to talks about everything except stopping its uranium enrichment.
Mizroch suggests the reason all these nations are saying no to President Obama is because the U.S. economy has made him a weak president. If the president manages to turn around the economy in the next two years - and then manages to get re-elected - at that point he might be able to focus on international trouble spots with more success. That's if Iran hasn't managed to blow up half the world by then.
Along the same lines, a piece in the British newspaper The Guardian titled "Obama the impotent" says many in the U.S. and abroad are impatient with the pace of progress under this president.
It points out Mr. Obama hasn't even been able to get health care reform passed in his own country and questions his ability to lead internationally on issues like climate change and regulating international financial systems:
"It appears that the wheels may be coming off the world's post-war leader, and not even Barack Obama can stop it happening."
Here’s my question to you: Why is everybody on the international stage saying no to President Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should rules be changed to keep people like Gadhafi out of U.S.?
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
When the bomber of Pan Am flight 103 was released - Libya and its leader Moammar Gadhafi threw a huge celebration to welcome home this mass murderer. After the civilized world expressed collective outrage at Scottish authorities for releasing this mutant - there was Gadhafi, putting on a display of affection for someone who isn't fit to eat with your dog.
Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi delivered an address to the UN General Assembly earlier today.
Then Gadhafi had the stones to waltz into New York and share his warped views of the world with the rest of us in a ranting, raving, nonsensical diatribe on floor of U.N. General Assembly.
Turns out since no one would rent a hotel room to this creep - he's spent weeks trying to find a place to pitch his trademark tent - most recently settling on the town of Bedford, New York.
The problem was the land he was using is owned by Donald Trump. Trump explained he'd leased the property to some Middle Eastern associates who in turn allowed Gadhafi to camp out on the lawn.
When the Bedford authorities found out, Gadhafi was told to roll up his sleeping bag and hit the road.
All of which is to wonder what purpose is served by allowing these kinds of people to come here every year for the U.N. meetings.
In addition to creating traffic and security nightmares - a guy like Gadhafi manages to send everybody's temperature up a couple of degrees. And, quite frankly, in New York City we don't need his help.
Here’s my question to you: Should the rules be changed to keep people like Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi out of the U.S.?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Should Congress keep extending unemployment benefits?
(PHOTO CREDIT: Chris Hondros/GETTY IMAGES)
FROM CNN's Jack Cafferty:
The House is considering a bill today that could help more than one million jobless Americans. It's an emergency measure, widely expected to pass, that would extend unemployment benefits for an additional 13 weeks for people living in states where the jobless rate tops 8-point-5 percent. That includes 27 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
This would be in addition to the 26 weeks of benefits that most states offer, and the federally-funded extensions of up to 53 weeks that Congress approved last year.
As this recession drags on and the jobless rate goes up, lawmakers have been under pressure to extend benefits... with governors from 22 states calling on Congress to act quickly. It's estimated that there are now more than six potential workers for each job opening - that's up from 1.7 when the recession began.
But critics say that additional unemployment payments can be a disincentive to looking for a job... and that it could be counterproductive to extend benefits now - when the economy is showing signs of recovery.
The bill's sponsor says it won't add to the deficit because it would extend a federal unemployment tax paid by employers... and require better reporting on new hires so the government doesn't keep paying them unemployment benefits. Senate Democrats say they'll address the measure as soon as the House votes.
State unemployment checks are around $300 a week, plus another $25 from the stimulus act. The national unemployment rate is now at 9.7 percent and expected to be above 10 percent for much of next year.
Here’s my question to you: Should Congress keep extending unemployment benefits?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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