Fine, as long as the yellow ribbon don't scratch the paint
Admittedly, I haven't seen the show, and maybe "Over There's" rating drop-off has to do with the quality of the show. After all, Americans are extremely picky when it comes to their popular entertainment. But this is a very stark drop off.
Even when the war is delivered straight to their living rooms, most Americans just don't want to watch. The war has already been sanitized by the TV Networks, FoxNews, etc., so that we never see the horrific images. We are not permitted to see the coffins of troops. Bush never attends a single funeral, nor are funerals of the war dead shown on TV.
And I'm not even talking about the horrific price Iraqis have paid; we certainly don't want to get into that.
But why should we care? Once Bush's original case for where went missing, once the initial fireworks show was over, the war lost its...pizzazz. The Cheney administration was effective in linking Iraq to 9/11, but, like the flag bumper stickers hastily applied way back then, the sharper edges of that memory are fading. Bush continues to flog it, is doing so with obvious frustration this week, but it's getting harder to fool people pissed off that it takes fifty bucks to fill the SUV's tank. And now he's finally admitted that we can't leave Iraq because to do so would make the loss of nearly 2,000 American lives meaningless.
When leaders start talking like that, it's a sure sign that even they know the cause is lost and the war continues only as a way to avoid admitting defeat.
The irony is that the Cheney administration knowingly used smoke and mirrors to rally support for the war, but once the war started preferred that Americans not think too much about it, and certainly not sacrifice for it. The trouble with that strategy is that with so few Americans having any skin in this game, they quickly got bored with it. That's why support has dropped off a cliff. It seems to me it's less about Cindy Sheehan -- as much as I'd like to think that grieving mother is forcing a national debate -- as it is about an American public that, when it thinks about Iraq at all, says to itself, "Is that mess still going on?"
Just as the Cheney and Rumsfeld clowns botched planning for the war and its aftermath, they forgot that you can't just market the launch of the product, you have to continue to sell it as well, or it quickly loses shelf space. And just as soldiers and their families are paying the price for the screwed up military and social planning in Iraq, they'll be paying for the screwed up marketing as well, with a public that will avert their eyes at the site of the prosthetic leg, and avert budget money from Veterans' programs.
"Over There" has received its share of favorable reviews. But after a brisk start - the series garnered 4.1 million viewers for its first show, making it the most watched cable program on the night it ran - it then lost almost half its audience in the second week, dropping to 2.6 million viewers. In the third week, it managed to find a plateau, and then last week, "Over There" had just a 2 share, suggesting that there is not much momentum building over all. So far, the show has had a 2.4 rating average, which is far from a hit, but it bettered the average performance of the critically acclaimed "Rescue Me" in the same time slot last year.
Even when the war is delivered straight to their living rooms, most Americans just don't want to watch. The war has already been sanitized by the TV Networks, FoxNews, etc., so that we never see the horrific images. We are not permitted to see the coffins of troops. Bush never attends a single funeral, nor are funerals of the war dead shown on TV.
Other officers wondered why the American public was never asked to share in their grief, why the President never attended the funerals of the fallen. One general, who had presided over 162 memorial services in Iraq, told me how it worked: "There's no coffin, just the inverted rifle, boots and helmet of the fallen. We call the roll, up to the name of the missing trooper. We call his name: Specialist Doe.
Then a second time: Specialist John Doe. A third time: Specialist John R. Doe. And then taps is played. It really gets to you. It's an important emotional experience for the troops. It closes the door and enables you to move on."
And I'm not even talking about the horrific price Iraqis have paid; we certainly don't want to get into that.
But why should we care? Once Bush's original case for where went missing, once the initial fireworks show was over, the war lost its...pizzazz. The Cheney administration was effective in linking Iraq to 9/11, but, like the flag bumper stickers hastily applied way back then, the sharper edges of that memory are fading. Bush continues to flog it, is doing so with obvious frustration this week, but it's getting harder to fool people pissed off that it takes fifty bucks to fill the SUV's tank. And now he's finally admitted that we can't leave Iraq because to do so would make the loss of nearly 2,000 American lives meaningless.
Still, as a counterpoint to Ms. Sheehan's demand for an immediate withdrawal of all American troops from Iraq, Mr. Bush said, "We'll honor their sacrifice by staying on the offensive against the terrorists."
When leaders start talking like that, it's a sure sign that even they know the cause is lost and the war continues only as a way to avoid admitting defeat.
The irony is that the Cheney administration knowingly used smoke and mirrors to rally support for the war, but once the war started preferred that Americans not think too much about it, and certainly not sacrifice for it. The trouble with that strategy is that with so few Americans having any skin in this game, they quickly got bored with it. That's why support has dropped off a cliff. It seems to me it's less about Cindy Sheehan -- as much as I'd like to think that grieving mother is forcing a national debate -- as it is about an American public that, when it thinks about Iraq at all, says to itself, "Is that mess still going on?"
Just as the Cheney and Rumsfeld clowns botched planning for the war and its aftermath, they forgot that you can't just market the launch of the product, you have to continue to sell it as well, or it quickly loses shelf space. And just as soldiers and their families are paying the price for the screwed up military and social planning in Iraq, they'll be paying for the screwed up marketing as well, with a public that will avert their eyes at the site of the prosthetic leg, and avert budget money from Veterans' programs.
posted by John at 11:09 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home