SOMEONE TELL ANDY ROONEY TO SHUTUP!
In his latest column Andy Rooney continues his recent spate of diatriabes against the war in Iraq and George Bush. Once again he comes off as bitter, self-righteous and totally out-of-touch with America.
Rooney laments the “death and destruction” news and the “governement control” of reporting out of Iraq. I’ve got news for Andy. He needs to talk to his bosses and fellow liberals in the media. (Quick, I’ll give you 30 seconds to Google and try to find a positive story, any story about Iraq……Times Up!).
Andy longs for the days of Ernie Pyle, the soldier’s reporter, side-by-side with the grunts in the trenches, telling their stories in un-filtered reports “the way it is” from the front lines. I’ve got more news for Andy. The days of Ernie Pyle are long gone. Not because of government control, but because Ernie Pyle was from an era when American reporters were, first and foremost, Americans. Their agenda was America’s first, news second. Furthermore, I best most of the stories from the fighting men and women in Iraq would’nt quite fit the story line most major media news outlets are trying to sell; Quagmire, Vietnam…blah, blah, blah.
Rooney also said it would be an interesting experiment to ask some of our soldiers five questions. Here are his questions and, what I think would be, the responses he would get.
1. Do you think your country did the right thing sending you into Iraq?
ANSWER: “Yes sir!….I’m a professional soldier. My duty, honor and commitment is to do the job my government asks me to do.”
2. Are you doing what America set out to do to make Iraq a democracy, or have we failed so badly that we should pack up and get out before more of you are killed? ANSWER: “Pack up and leave? What kind of American are you? Packing up and leaving are what cowards and those without conviction do, not U.S. soldiers.”
3. Do the orders you get handed down from one headquarters to another, all far removed from the fighting, seem sensible, or do you think our highest command is out of touch with the reality of your situation? ANSWER: Sir, again, I’m a professional soldier and the one thing I do know is that the further up the chain of command you go, the bigger the picture gets. Wrong or right, it’s my job to follow orders.”
4. If you could have a medal or a trip home, which would you take?
ANSWER: Sure, I’d love a trip home, and as soon as my commanding officer says I can go, I will. But not until then, because right now my brothers and my country needs be here.”
5. Are you encouraged by all the talk back home about how brave you are and how everyone supports you? ANSWER: “Of course, but not as pissed off as I am when I hear some idiot like Sean Penn or Ted Kennedy bad mouth my commander-in-cheif and then say…but I support the troops. That’s just bullshit, sir. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to deliver some food, help build a school and then protect muslims from other muslims who want to kill them because America is the great satan.”
I don’t think those are the answers that Rooney was implying he would get. He goes on to say that…”treating soldiers…as brave heroes is an old civilian trick designed to keep the soldiers at it.” Really? When was the last time you said a prayer or wore a lapel pin honoring our soldiers and thought to yourself….”That should trick those idiots into fighting some more.”
Here’s more Rooney thoughts;
“But you can be sure our soldiers in Iraq are not all brave heroes gladly risking their lives for us sitting comfortably back here at home….It’s disingenuous of the rest of us to encourage them to fight this war by idolizing them…..We speak of them as if they volunteered to risk their lives to save ours, but there isn’t much voluntary about what most of them have done….we should not bestow the mantle of heroism on all of them for simply being where we sent them. Most are victims, not heroes.”
Rooney has been a journalist for so long, he is clueless as to how a regular American thinks and feels. I’ve got some final news for Andy Rooney. If he wants to know how our military thinks about what we’re doing in Iraq, he should take a look at the military ballots this November, that is if the Democrats don’t find a way to get them thrown out….and by the way Andy…Did you ever wonder about retiring?
Emory Says: April 13th, 2004 at 12:12 am
Add Andy Rooney to the list of grumpy old liberal men above Ed Asner, Robert Byrd and Walter Cronkite.
ron Says: April 14th, 2004 at 2:56 am
Andy Rooney is a shlup.
Syd Says: May 13th, 2004 at 10:37 pm
Andy Rooney cannot possibly explain the bitter bile that pours forth from a man who has grown wealthy doing nothing of any detectable value, who gets to have his boneheaded opinions broadcast to a national audience every single dreary whining week, and who somehow still has a paycheck. What other country would let a looney old coot blather on and on and on and on about how disgraceful that country is, without ever even sending him for a little checkup with the mental health authorities?
anonymous Says: June 28th, 2004 at 4:38 am
Oh, and it’s OK for Bill O’Reilly to whine about Clinton and Kosovo? Yet, it’s not OK for Andy Rooney to speak his mind. You people need to get a life.
karl Says: September 25th, 2004 at 11:55 pm
If SATAN was a republican, these morons would still vote for him.
zoot potatoe Says: September 26th, 2004 at 12:03 am
except, karl, you overlooked the fact that considerable percentage of conservatives have heavily christian views on gay rights (bush says the only good reason to ban it is because its “un-holy”) and abortion (which definatly has a better reason to ban it then because it’s “un holy”)
but I agree, this website has an OK population of blind conservatives, and a lot less blind liberals, but of course, the entire website is anti-liberal, so it’s not too much of a surprise
JD Says: September 26th, 2004 at 2:47 am
Zoot I challenge you to produce the quote where Bush says gay rights should be banned and are unholy. And the only blind people here are liberals who make things up to make a point.
EJ Says: November 21st, 2004 at 5:54 am
Rooney’s column today about the US needing to pack up and leave Iraq is dead-on. If it weren’t for his eyebrows, I think everyone would be able to take him seriously. Too bad so many more must die for such a worthless cause.
JD Says: November 22nd, 2004 at 1:08 am
EJ: no such thing as a just war, I suppose?
Private Says: December 19th, 2004 at 6:27 pm
How dare you answers those questions. You state “he is clueless as to how a regular American thinks and feels”. And you must be just in speaking for the American soldier. Have you ever faced the buisness end of an AK-47 assault rifle in the hands of an Iraqi. I’ve done my tour of duty and I’ll be damned if I have you answer for me and my buddies. Please email a respose. I invite it.
Ryan Says: February 9th, 2005 at 6:08 am
I find it interesting that the author of this article claims that Andy Rooney does not understand the mentality of most of the soldiers. The author does believe, however, that he can speak for the troops. How many of our soldiers does the author know? All of my friends in the military, especially those in Iraq right now, despise George W. Bush and think they are fighting for his gain, not the gain of the Iraqis.
K. Marx Says: February 10th, 2005 at 4:14 am
I believe one of the points the author is attempting to make is that it doesn’t matter what soldiers think about the situation in Iraq. They’re not there to judge, they are there to serve. They are pawns.
If a person has no choice in a matter, and soldiers clearly do not, it is difficult for one to judge a soldier’s actions. Perhaps this is why liberals, as many people call them, sympathize and even pity soldiers because they want the soldiers protecting the U.S. home front rather than occupying or attacking possible enemies. They even critique government decisions because the politicians are the ones who make decisions, not the ones who fight.
Consider it was your job to sell newspapers. You have a group of Western-hating Muslims being helped (or forced, depending on your viewpoint) into democracy and capitalism, and you have, let’s say, ten U.S. soldiers dying in a bombing. You sell newspapers in New York to U.S. citizens. Which story do you give emphasis to? U.S. soldiers dying sells, not third-world Muslims becoming democratic. If you want to be angry about the matter, take it up with the people that watch TV, listen to the radio, and read newspapers and magazines.
People are quick to criticize the media for running a capitalist business maximizing profits, yet they have no problem with other companies doing far worse to maximize profits.
Zach Says: June 3rd, 2005 at 6:15 am
How about the fact that gay and lesbian marraige is against the age old tradions of men and women getting married, JD?
Jerry Says: November 9th, 2006 at 9:15 pm
Have you seen the Unencyclopedia description of Andy? Its spectacular. States that he was spawned from one of Mike Wallace’s dumps. Ha! Ha! Could be the most accurate description of him. Further states that he’s an “angry man who has no legs”. Spews his criticism of the world each Sunday at 7:50pm.