I will be remembering 9/11 on Monday, all Monday, and largely as I have nearly everyday since. My prayers to the folks that were lost and their families and friends but especially this year to those firefighters, police, iron workers and other volunteers that are suffering healthwise from cancer, diminished lung fuction, post-traumatic stress disorder and other physical and psychological ailments after working the cleanup for months at Ground Zero. Many more volunteers will suffer and die and this is a parallel tragedy that truly underscores the adage: “Nice guys finish last.”

I get a kick out of the media. They have been hammering everything for 5 years since 9/11 — war, beating down terrorists, hazing terrorists. (Christ, they should have pledged my frat if they wanted to see some serious and creative hazing. Naked pictures in the shower like at Gitmo? Kid’s stuff.) We should have rolled over I guess in the media’s eyes. I’ve been in news rooms big and small and worked in the media for a number of years. From what I have personally witnessed, 95 percent of people in the media are pussies. They act and write tough but these are the kids in school that couldn’t stand up for themselves. No pride. No guts. Shattered self esteem. But give them a computer and the power to write stories, and instant media muscles. These are the kind of people bringing us the news. Wimps and cowards who use pseudo-intellect to promote their pacifism and life-long inability to take action. Reporting on news in itself is a passive sport. They are spectators in life, using ink and blame and innuendo to help mask their failures. And for every reporter that is hard-nosed and tough, there is likely a group of sissy-ass editors up the line ready to quash anything contrary to the norm.

This largely is one of the reasons the traditional media continues to see declines in circulation and viewers year after year. America is a country built on toughness (like pro hockey was at one time too) and I refuse to believe otherwise. The media can water down personal and collective toughness everyday but it is not a realistic portrayal of the country. Just ask the kids serving in our armed forces. We didn’t get here by being wimps. Any doubts? Walk the Freedom Trail on Boston, the cradle of freedom. We likely wouldn’t have this country today if a group of folks in Boston weren’t tough as nails and acted on that grit. They started it all. Their price? Death.

But on the 5th anniv of 9/11 Monday you can bet the media will be milking it for all the emotions and ratings they can — after denouncing and IMO dishonering the dead and psychologically wounded for the large part of 5 years.

Now there are 911 specials on all the major networks and CNN is going the replay its original full coverage of 9.11.2001 feeds on Monday, just as if it were live.

It’s like a bad dream. The worst disaster on U.S. soil and we’re forced to relive it so folks can make money off it. Would you video tape a loved one’s murder, wake and funeral and watch it over and over?

Unbelievable. If you see a guy interviewed on the news on Monday and that guy punches the reporter in the ear and drop kicks the camera … that guy is me.

If there is any justice in this world and beyond, then there is a private — more cruel — hell for the media when they die.

This entry was posted on Sunday, September 10th, 2006 at 12:34 pm and is filed under Bully's Perspective. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.