--- Indigo Nights <[log in to unmask]> wrote:

> You have a history here of touting the soldiers and
> their beleagured families.  Your patriotism is
> admirable.  But this is a multinational list with
> folks who do not feel the same way, including some of
> your own countrypersons.

I don't want to drag this out either but let me set the record straight about
my attitude towards the whole situation. I don't consider myself "patriotic"
but someone who genuinely cares about all people, regardless of race, religion,
occupation or nationality. I happen to believe that the average person out
there is trying to do the best they can with what they've got. So I do get
defensive of people who I think are trying to do their best and are at the
mercy of a usually one-sided media world.

In any highly controversial political situation, I find that it's an alarming
tendency to jump on the "little guy" like the soldiers instead of the people up
the chain of command who are calling the shots. Blame is usually put on the
people who have the least control of the situation but happen to be right in
the middle of it.

It happens in museum too. How many times have we gotten flack for an exhibit or
an event when we weren't the ones calling the shots in the first place? But if
you are the one in the spotlight, like the soldiers or that curator who's name
is attached to an exhibit, you're the first one to get the blame. Stories
rarely start out with "People in charge make stupid decision. Underlings
scramble to keep control of the situation with little support or resources."

Instead stories usually start out with "Person or group completely fouls up.
Major embaressment to institution." And then later when opinions have been set
and the damage has been done and people have stopped caring about what really
happened, there might be a follow-up story of "Investigation into screw-up
reveals stupid decisions made by upper level people in charge, who may or may
not have direct experience with the institution in general or are acting under
political/social pressure for PR purposes."

So the next time you read a story about a person or group of people doing
something that you don't like, try to look at the big picture and find out who
all the players are. It might just turn out that the people getting all the
press have little say in what actually goes on.

Deb


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