Are we at war yet? What time is it scheduled because I’m tired of ducking every time a goose flies over, thinking it’s a nuclear bomb laden drone.

The more I think about this war, the more I think we need to schedule these things better. I keep checking the TV Guide to see when it starts, but it isn’t listed. I could have sworn that the last war over there was listed. Right? It had its own timeslot, as I recall. What was it called again?

I’ve been following the coverage of the impending war with some disgust as of late. Every damn station has their own graphic, their own title their own theme music. As if they are all competing to come up with the very best version of the story. “You know, FoxNews’ war is good and everything, but it lacks the great underscoring that CNN has. Plus, they had that one scene with the panty raid and everything.”

It irritates me because who knows what implications this war will have on the world. Who knows what its outcome will be. And yet, there are some slimy bastards sitting in a backroom somewhere titling the damn thing. “Showdown Iraq”, “Saddam’s Last Day”, “Death, Violence and Destruction: Iraq”. These sniveling bastards are milking this for ratings, just as they did after the terrorist attacks.

Think back. Imagine if the news media that’s around today had covered World War II. Or should I call it: “March on Berlin” or “Showdown: Hitler”. Oh, but we can’t forget the other theater of war. “Die Yellow People” or “Face Off: South Pacific.”

No, back then we actually had writers covering the war from the inside. And I’m not talking about these people they have out there now. I mean REAL writers, who observed what went on around them and wrote from the soldier’s point of view. Real, honest, raw emotion.

Speaking of great writing, where are the novels that came out of the Gulf War Era? Where are the James Joneses and the Kurt Vonneguts and Joseph Hellers? Where are the Norman Mailers? Hell, we don’t even have a Tim O’Brien.

We’re losing out here. Our media saturation has caused the level of writing to decrease. I don’t mean from reporters. I’m talking about the people who were there. People who looked fear in the eye and confronted it. People who actually, believe it or not, had less information about what was going on that we did. Where are the writers? Have they been scared off by the Dateline profiles? Do they figure we don’t want to hear what they have to say? Do they think we’re tired of hearing?

Will war writing die with the men I mentioned above? War certainly won’t. But we’re losing a valuable perspective.

We’re losing the perspective of the men and women who saw what Fox and CNN can’t show us. They felt what we can’t feel on television.

Maybe they felt morally justified to be there. Maybe they didn’t. Maybe it destroyed their life. Maybe they lost everything. Maybe it gave them a greater respect for the military. Maybe it gave them less respect for the military.

We won’t know. Because the writers of this and the Gulf War generation aren’t writing. They aren’t telling us anything.

And if we can’t stand on the reports of those who experienced an event first hand, then we are doomed to repeat that event. Because, without those experiences we have learned nothing.

Discuss