Rev. Jim Lewis blasts the GOP rag, the charleston daily mail

good for him

The daily mail w/ the additions of surber and stirewalt is quickly losing any semblence of credibility and is turning into the wv version of newsmax or drudge report

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The Rev. Jim Lewis

About those boots on the ground . . .
Friday July 09, 2004

When a reader finds a glaring error in the very first paragraph of a news story or an editorial, it causes one to question what follows.

That was the case when I read the Daily Mail's July 7 editorial.

It began by saying that, "West Virginia Patriots for Peace, as part of the national Church of the Brethren bus tour, laid 865 boots on the sidewalk of the Charleston Civic Center."

Bus tour?

Yes, there is a bus station directly behind the Charleston Civic Center, but the Church of the Brethren folks didn't come to Charleston in a caravan of buses on tour.

Church of the Brethren members were in town attending their annual convention. In fact, they were here, all four thousand of them, doing church business, enjoying the city, and dropping not only 865 combat boots on the sidewalk, but quite a bit of money on our fair city.

They deserve better treatment than they were given by the Daily Mail.

And, I might add, West Virginia Patriots for Peace and the American Friends Service Committee deserve better treatment as well.

I mention the American Friends Service Committee, a faith-based organization long known for its peace and justice work, because whoever wrote the editorial just plain left them out as one of the sponsoring organizations.

A press release sent to the Daily Mail, prior to the "Boots on the Ground" display explained the sponsorship and the purpose of the event. I can only conclude that whoever wrote the editorial just plain didn't read the press release or take time to contact me for more detailed information.

The most despicable thing about the editorial, however, wasn't the inaccurate first paragraph. What made my blood boil was the line that said that the "freedom of millions of Iraqis was obtained at a cost relatively low in blood."

What kind of calculating, cost-benefit mind concocted that cold-blooded observation?

Tell the 865 families and friends of American men and women killed that the cost of this war is "relatively low in blood."

Tell the more than 5,000 wounded Americans that the pints of blood they lost are pretty minimal.

Tell the families and neighbors of the 11,000 dead Iraqis, and the 40,000 who have been wounded, that it's really not such a big deal.
more at:
http://dailymail.com/news/Opinion/200407097/

and he's the only reason I ever look at that rag on line