Florida teen goes to Iraq for school project

[dazzleman]

He's of middle eastern descent, and is not anti-American, perhaps.

[dazzleman]

I saw this story on Yahoo!... And I don't exactly see what benefit the media finds in portraying all Arab Americans as anti-Americans, (unless of course you're one of those who feels there is some kind of Jewish conspiracy out there in the media to favor Israel and make Arabs look bad. I don't believe that.)

The most interesting thing about this case... I don't think a non-Iraqi student could have gotten away with this... if there's anything that mitigated this incident from pure stupidity on the kid's part, it's the fact that his parents were born in Iraq and he has at least some cultural connection. The CIA could take a hint from that. It shows one of the advantages of having a culturally diverse society.

Most of the media itself is anti-American, and is always looking for opportunities to boost their own opinions and biases.  They ignore stories that go against their preset biases.

[dazzleman]

Had this kid been like one of those twit "human shields" trying to expose US abuse he would have been hailed in many corners. 

That's right.  In that case, the anti-American US media would have been fawning all over him.

[dazzleman]

Nope, try again.

No, I think BRTD was pretty much correct.

That may be true but it doesn't explain why the media is not giving the story big play.  The media ignores stories that don't confirm their biases, and this one must not.

[dazzleman]

Dazzleman,

Close, but it goes WAYYYYY beyond that. It turns out that this young Muslim of Iraqi descent is not only a staunch supporter of the Iraq War, but also has the audacity to be a member of his high school's young Republicans club. He has written some incredible pieces about the Iraq War and the War on Terror (they were read aloud today on Sean Hannity's radio show), and based on his  considerable eloquence and vocabulary, this young man appears to have an IQ well into the genius range...despite his foolish actions in going to Iraq.

Now if this kid were a left wing, anti-American type who was opposed to the war, then we would hear about him ALL DAY long. Then we would hear about his considerable courage and moral superiority of how he risked life and limb, and his comfortable lifestyle to expose the lies of the evil President and his neo-con minions.

The media is a JOKE...

You're absolutely right.  I hate the liberal US media.

[dazzleman]

Well I see that now that Christmas is over, the phoney war on the liberal media can continue.  Godspeed, conservative brethren.

How would you explain the fact that the media gives great attention to anything damaging to the US, but ignores a young man of middle-eastern origin who is pro-US?

[dazzleman]

MarkDel and dazzleman seem to be ignoring the actual story at least as much as the mainstream media in lieu of ranting on and on about the mainstream media...

I'm really wondering what this will accomplish.  Insulting people is not going to allow them to see their errors.

Telling the truth is not insulting people.  If you think it is, then that doesn't say much for the person who is supposedly being insulted.

[dazzleman]

Mark, I think a lot of people in the US understand your point about the liberal media.  Why do you think they're deserting stations like CNN, CBS and the like in droves?

Keep driving the point home, man.  I think you're completely correct about the motives of the media in downplaying this story.

[dazzleman]

Countless studies have done on media bias. Not a single one has found any evidence of bias in the media whatsoever, liberal or conservative.

Plus if the media was so liberal, you'd expect DU to be big fans of it. Go look to see what the have to say about CNN.

UCLA study - "Media Bias is Real"
http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/page.asp?RelNum=6664

Absolutely.  I find it uncanny how often I agree with Mark.  It would be hard for me to think of an issue he has brought up where I don't agree with him.