National Guard Promo is Deceptive

The last two times I was at the movies, a National Guard promo was shown.  It is slick, fast-moving, seductive and pure propaganda. It appeals to the 20-something male and has all of the enticement that the producers of the video could stick into the 2-minute advertisement.

The trouble is, they gloss over the blood and guts that have stained the uniform of this 'homegrown fighting force'  that the Bush Administration called into Iraq. It presents a truly deceptive and distorted view of the realities of joining this military outfit.  But then, it wouldn't be very appealing if it showed heads blown off and amputees at Walter Reed.

A letter to the editor of The Blade this morning speaks to this same issue.  The writer says,

 "If you're wondering, I was the guy who stood up after the Kid Rock/National Guard Warrior recruitment video in the Franklin Park Cinema De Lux Saturday night and shouted "What a load of crap!" Here's why: I think this video is highly disrespectful to active troops, such as my nephew, who are risking their lives fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan, among other places.

I hope that young people aren't taken in by the blurring of the lines that this video seeks to produce.

Please enlist and defend the country if you wish - we do need citizen soldiers, and I respect your decision and heroism in volunteering.

However, be sure you're doing it for the right reasons and not because you were tricked into it by high-sounding rock-and-roll lyrics sung by some guy in a dopey hat, a bunch of cynical Hollywood video producers, and movie theater operators who are raking in the dollars for their efforts.

Exactly!  Thank you, Paul Many, for speaking out, literally, against this skewed piece of propaganda.