LEFT OF THE RIGHT: "Gonzales Scandal Continues." "Presidential Campaign Heats Up." "Anna Nicole Smith Controversy Grinds On." Excuse Me, AMERICANS ARE DYING IN A WAR!

I constantly hear so-called media experts complaining about the “sound bite,” blaming it on the short attention span of the average Television viewer. But I think the politicians and the media that cover them are the ones guilty of having child like attention spans. I tuned in to the news today and you’d barely know there was a war going on.

Three a day, did you know that? That’s right, an average of three American citizens are being brutally killed every single day in Iraq. And I know I am not alone in my indignation over this travesty. How can this, in any stretch of intellectual premise be tolerable. I think someone needs to virtually pick the politicians and media in Washington D.C. up off their barstool at the “Ratings Are Everything Bar & Grill” and slap them out of their sensationalism induced stupor.

All the while President Bush and his administration march blissfully on with their middle east plan, what ever that is. Does anyone have any idea what his plan is beyond this surge? Does anyone (besides the regurgitating-the-party-line talking heads) think anything this president says has anything to do with a little thing I call reality?

What is especially grievous is that those who are taking the brunt of this virtual massacre are those most neglected by our military and political leaders, foot soldiers. It’s bad enough that they were sent in under equipped and under manned, but why hasn’t life saving technology been given the kind of priority it deserves? Where is the kind of body armor and other advanced, life sparing technologies I’ve been watching scientists “talk” about for decades. We’re better than this. We have a responsibility to these men and women to go all out, expense be damned, to do everything humanly possible to protect them from harm.

And those who lead these soldiers should be held accountable for how they lead them. When I learned that there were vehicles that could be used instead of Hum V’s for seeking roadside bombs that provided nearly absolute protection I wanted to break something. They are called Cougars and no one has died in one that was exposed to such an explosion in Iraq. Why wasn’t all maneuvers suspended the second we learned of these insidious booby traps to call for as many of these Cougars as would be needed. If those, whether they be military or political, won’t be responsible enough to realize this and implement it, and other actions that should be taken when a particular threat rears it’s head, perhaps it should be automatically built into military procedure. At any rate, allowing our men and women to go into harms way, knowingly withholding any scrap of protection that could be afforded them is criminal and should treated as such.

My main message here to President Bush, congress, the media, and our military leaders, is stop distracting yourselves with surges, funding debates, and other issues other than the safety of our troops. You must do a better job of protecting them. So far you have failed them and the American people. We understand it will take time and it will be very difficult to exit Iraq. But in the mean time the rate of fatalities must be reduced drastically. It is disheartening that this plea will go unheard, but I must make it because every day I feel a hole growing in America. It’s the hole created by every war that changes forever the future and legacy of our nation.

The voices silenced, the music never heard, the prose never uttered, the art never enjoyed, the invention never realized, the heart never felt. How many more must die before we act.

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Devin Barber, Politics Correspondent

Devin’s column, “Left Of The Right” published every Tuesday and Thursday to Gather Essentials: Politics is a Blue Collar Democrats take on current political news.

Devin was raised by proud Roosevelt Democrats. Being the son of parents counted among the throng of Americans displaced by the Great Depression has given Devin a deep rooted passion for causes dealing with the poor and the working class.

You can find all of Devin’s columns at http://gather.com/leftoftheright

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