Well, first, counter the meme, reduce the sensationalism intended to sell papers/grab eyeballs, and put out some real info and try to point out where the meme if fueld by cooked data.
Of course, the problem is - that's not much fun to read. So much better to just skim the headline, shake your head sadly, and let the meme soak in.
Over
at WarOnTerrorNews, they're trying to deflect the meme of the Crazed Combat Vet:
In the first quarter of 2012, the media has publicized an Iraq Veteran killing a Park Ranger in Washington, an Orange County Deputy killing a Marine, an Army Private being stabbed to death by Meth Heads in Washington, and a Staff Sergeant that allegedly killed 16 Afghans in their sleep, along with so many other stories of Violent Veterans. The media is quick to tell us that these are Combat Veterans, but often fail to tell us when the person was tossed out of the military, like in that first case listed, or correct the story when they weren't in Combat at all, or weren't in the military as they had claimed.
In 2008, the NYTimes was on the same hunt, to prove that "Crazed" Combat Veterans were slaughtering American Civilians. They wrote about 121 cases in which someone died. The problem was that in many of those the Veteran was found to be innocent or to have acted in self-defense, while in others the trial had not occurred, and in many it was not murder at all. In those latter cases, it was often a car accident, that helped to boost their body count. When it was all said and done, the numbers demonstrated it was safer to be near a Combat Veteran than to be in the safest big city in America.
Here's one more point in the Googlebot's tally.
Read the complete post at http://www.thedonovan.com/archives/2012/03/what_to_do_abou.html
Posted
Mar 18 2012, 06:24 AM
by
Argghhh! The Home Of Two Of Jonah's Military Guys..