Marc the Smark
01-03-2005, 01:42 AM
Wrestling Journalist Blasts Trip to Iraq
Even if you were a radical left-wing activist, you wouldn't want someone in the midst of eulogizing a loved one at a funeral to interject out-of-context political views. The point of view being presented wouldn't matter so much as that the time and place to espouse any point of view was inappropriate, especially when emotions were running high, as they do at funerals.
Vince McMahon did a good thing this week. He and his roster of volunteers dedicated a week before Christmas to travelling half way around the world to entertain soldiers in extremely dangerous and unluxurious conditions. For that he deserves a ton of credit. For that the troops are better. And because of that, I would say more good was done than harm. By far.
Yet, when someone bends over to pick up an old man's cane that was just dropped, but it turns out he bent over more so to look up a girl's skirt that was near the fallen cane, that good deed loses a little luster. Last night, Vince McMahon looked up the proverbial skirt while picking up the cane.
I don't have a problem with Vince McMahon patting himself and his organization on the back for their good deed as he did this week in the mainstream media. A lot of good deeds are in part motivated by the goodwill it generates - especially in the corporate world. Those corporations that give to Muscular Dystrophy each year do so out of compassion, but their gift isn't so altruistic that they don't show up with a big check on the telethon with their company's logo in big print right next to the dollar amount. That's all acceptable because without that good publicity, there'd be a lot less corporate charity.
What got to me last night is that McMahon chose this situation, where entertaining the troops -- regardless of how you feel about the war or politics in general - should have been the one and only story and purpose for being there, and got political. He stepped into the ring and within two minutes was bashing the media for dwelling on the negatives and not covering enough positives about the war. He may have a point. But his timing was 100 percent wrong.
Keep in mind, while these soldiers have some communication with loved ones and some media access, it's limited compared to us. McMahon was basically telling the troops that the media is telling the American public bad things about this war. The troops should have been given an opportunity to enjoy pro wrestling and not think about the politics of war and how their sacrifices are being portrayed back home. But because McMahon had a message he wanted to get across - which has a lot more to due with a long-standing grudge against the media than it does his actual outrage over media coverage of the war (which, given what everyone says about his relentless working hours, he probably has little time to take in first-hand anyway) - the troops became a backdrop for his agenda.
He blamed the media "back home" for only portraying the negatives and not the positives. That sounds a lot like McMahon's problem with media coverage of his organization over the years. But when he complains over the years about the media only paying attention to a few disgruntled wrestlers making claims about sexual misconduct on the part of his executives and not paying enough attention to all the smiles his wrestlers bring to kids faces; or when he complains over the years about the media only focusing on illegal steroid abuse by his contracted wrestlers and not paying enough attention to the charity work his wrestlers do with sick children, it's tough to get a sympathetic ear. After all, few people would think that sexual misconduct and steroid abuse should be "offset" by the entertaining of children and charity work.
But Vince and his family have been so frustrated with their media coverage over the years, this presented an irresistible opportunity to stick it to them. What better time to present himself and his organization in a sympathetic way with a positive image than when they're volunteering to entertain the troops. (For the second year in a row! With an all-volunteer crew!!)
So, weaved throughout the show, were messages - subtle, subliminal, and overt - that "if this soldier wants to be here (and reenlist!), then who are you to second-guess whether this war was fought under the right pretense, with the proper planning, and with a realistic end-game." That's not reading into anything. In the context of the whole show, that is what was going on. It's fine that McMahon feels that way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him having that point of view and espousing it. But this wasn't the time or place.
Instead, he tainted the sacrifice his wrestlers made by using their efforts to forward his political point of view. It's so obvious it shouldn't have to be said, but someone who believes the war is being fought under false pretense, with poor planning, and an unrealistic end-game are not betraying the troops by saying so. Someone who says the war is being waged for valid reasons, with excellent planning, and a realistic end-game is not necessarily supporting the troops, either. Especially if they're wrong about their reasons for supporting the war.
Vince McMahon was taking one situation in Iraq - the one he was in - and using it as evidence that the whole war was good and all troops are happy. He may be right, but his reasoning is flawed. You can't look at one patch of grass, determine it's healthy, and conclude that the entire yard is in great shape.
If this show had been filled with Mick Foley taking digs at Bush, I would not be cheerleading, either. I would be taking the same stand - which is that this show should have been about entertaining the soldiers and about WWE wrestlers bringing smiles to their faces (and vice-versa), not forwarding a political point of view - especially one so poorly argued and indelicately handled as it was (as opposed to the story of the troops, which was handled with grace by WWE otherwise).
It's not right-wing or left-wing to say Vince should have stuck to entertaining the troops and not used the goodwill and good feelings he and his staff and his wrestlers generated to forward a political point of view. Any other week and any other show but this one would be fine.
I don't like to see anyone "used," especially not our troops. Next year, WWE will be back. And that will be a good thing. I just hope WWE doesn't exploit the circumstances again next year to forward another part of the McMahon agenda. (Wade Keller, PW Torch)
JBL Responds to Attack by Wrestling Journalist
Coming on the heels of the WWE's trip to the Middle East, WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield saw fit to respond with a letter to Pro Wrestling Torch writer Wade Keller in regards to Keller's column "Next Year Entertain the Troops and Keep the Politics Out of It" where Keller wants WWE to leave Vince McMahon's political views out of their trips to the Middle East.
Mr. Keller,
I am having trouble with my internet connection over here, I am not sure if the e-mail I sent you went through, so I will try another. I am still in Afghanistan visiting our soldiers, I do this every year with the SMA and the USO, I stayed after everyone left to go home. I am sure you didn't know that because I try to make sure the media doesn't cover it.
I was looking on the Internet to see our ratings, and I saw your column. I wanted to respond.
You are wrong about how much the soldiers get to watch the media on TV. Every mess hall has a TV along with every rec center and gym. They get to see more news than a lot of us do, mainly FOX but also CNN.
Your take on Vince I respectfully believe was wrong. The media has done a bad job of covering the war. They all sit in a hotel in Baghdad reporting the news. They might as well be in Des Moines, I saw no reporters in any FOBs (forward operating bases), and there were no reporters on the ground in Afghanistan. The troops are very sick of how the war is being portrayed, I know this because I have just spent almost two weeks with them.
The morale is high and all of them have sufficient armor when they leave base. Make no mistake, this is a rotten place, and I believe we could have planned better, but the enemy always has a plan also.
I do not believe it is a liberal bias necessarily, I believe it is a tabloid mentality by the media. What Vince did was good for the troops, remember he spent a lot of his money and the company's money to come here, a lot of people who talk about what he did have not been here themselves. By the fact he was here should give him some credibility.
You are entitled to your freedom of speech, I firmly believe that. As long as you believe in America, I have no problem with that. Let me clarify, I believe in Freedom of Speech always, but when a person does not believe in America I have a problem with them (I don't feel this applies to you).
Al Franken is over here with me, and he is a very dear friend. We disagree across the board about politics, we do not disagree about our soldiers and about our love for America, we just think it should be run different ways.
Vince did a great thing by bringing the WWE to Iraq, I feel your criticism was unjustifed. Vince is as good of a person as I have ever met, and a great American, I know you may disagree, but I don't. Look at what he has done over here.
I held the hand of a soldier that was hit in the Mosul attack that had lost almost all of his face to burns, he asked to see me because he was a wrestling fan. If I live a thousand lives I will never replicate that moment, Vince was the reason I was there.
I respectfully ask that you take things in a bigger perspective than your own beliefs, I thought what he did was great.
Now you can go back to bashing me as a terrible champion, which is your right.
John Bradshaw Layfield
Even if you were a radical left-wing activist, you wouldn't want someone in the midst of eulogizing a loved one at a funeral to interject out-of-context political views. The point of view being presented wouldn't matter so much as that the time and place to espouse any point of view was inappropriate, especially when emotions were running high, as they do at funerals.
Vince McMahon did a good thing this week. He and his roster of volunteers dedicated a week before Christmas to travelling half way around the world to entertain soldiers in extremely dangerous and unluxurious conditions. For that he deserves a ton of credit. For that the troops are better. And because of that, I would say more good was done than harm. By far.
Yet, when someone bends over to pick up an old man's cane that was just dropped, but it turns out he bent over more so to look up a girl's skirt that was near the fallen cane, that good deed loses a little luster. Last night, Vince McMahon looked up the proverbial skirt while picking up the cane.
I don't have a problem with Vince McMahon patting himself and his organization on the back for their good deed as he did this week in the mainstream media. A lot of good deeds are in part motivated by the goodwill it generates - especially in the corporate world. Those corporations that give to Muscular Dystrophy each year do so out of compassion, but their gift isn't so altruistic that they don't show up with a big check on the telethon with their company's logo in big print right next to the dollar amount. That's all acceptable because without that good publicity, there'd be a lot less corporate charity.
What got to me last night is that McMahon chose this situation, where entertaining the troops -- regardless of how you feel about the war or politics in general - should have been the one and only story and purpose for being there, and got political. He stepped into the ring and within two minutes was bashing the media for dwelling on the negatives and not covering enough positives about the war. He may have a point. But his timing was 100 percent wrong.
Keep in mind, while these soldiers have some communication with loved ones and some media access, it's limited compared to us. McMahon was basically telling the troops that the media is telling the American public bad things about this war. The troops should have been given an opportunity to enjoy pro wrestling and not think about the politics of war and how their sacrifices are being portrayed back home. But because McMahon had a message he wanted to get across - which has a lot more to due with a long-standing grudge against the media than it does his actual outrage over media coverage of the war (which, given what everyone says about his relentless working hours, he probably has little time to take in first-hand anyway) - the troops became a backdrop for his agenda.
He blamed the media "back home" for only portraying the negatives and not the positives. That sounds a lot like McMahon's problem with media coverage of his organization over the years. But when he complains over the years about the media only paying attention to a few disgruntled wrestlers making claims about sexual misconduct on the part of his executives and not paying enough attention to all the smiles his wrestlers bring to kids faces; or when he complains over the years about the media only focusing on illegal steroid abuse by his contracted wrestlers and not paying enough attention to the charity work his wrestlers do with sick children, it's tough to get a sympathetic ear. After all, few people would think that sexual misconduct and steroid abuse should be "offset" by the entertaining of children and charity work.
But Vince and his family have been so frustrated with their media coverage over the years, this presented an irresistible opportunity to stick it to them. What better time to present himself and his organization in a sympathetic way with a positive image than when they're volunteering to entertain the troops. (For the second year in a row! With an all-volunteer crew!!)
So, weaved throughout the show, were messages - subtle, subliminal, and overt - that "if this soldier wants to be here (and reenlist!), then who are you to second-guess whether this war was fought under the right pretense, with the proper planning, and with a realistic end-game." That's not reading into anything. In the context of the whole show, that is what was going on. It's fine that McMahon feels that way. There is absolutely nothing wrong with him having that point of view and espousing it. But this wasn't the time or place.
Instead, he tainted the sacrifice his wrestlers made by using their efforts to forward his political point of view. It's so obvious it shouldn't have to be said, but someone who believes the war is being fought under false pretense, with poor planning, and an unrealistic end-game are not betraying the troops by saying so. Someone who says the war is being waged for valid reasons, with excellent planning, and a realistic end-game is not necessarily supporting the troops, either. Especially if they're wrong about their reasons for supporting the war.
Vince McMahon was taking one situation in Iraq - the one he was in - and using it as evidence that the whole war was good and all troops are happy. He may be right, but his reasoning is flawed. You can't look at one patch of grass, determine it's healthy, and conclude that the entire yard is in great shape.
If this show had been filled with Mick Foley taking digs at Bush, I would not be cheerleading, either. I would be taking the same stand - which is that this show should have been about entertaining the soldiers and about WWE wrestlers bringing smiles to their faces (and vice-versa), not forwarding a political point of view - especially one so poorly argued and indelicately handled as it was (as opposed to the story of the troops, which was handled with grace by WWE otherwise).
It's not right-wing or left-wing to say Vince should have stuck to entertaining the troops and not used the goodwill and good feelings he and his staff and his wrestlers generated to forward a political point of view. Any other week and any other show but this one would be fine.
I don't like to see anyone "used," especially not our troops. Next year, WWE will be back. And that will be a good thing. I just hope WWE doesn't exploit the circumstances again next year to forward another part of the McMahon agenda. (Wade Keller, PW Torch)
JBL Responds to Attack by Wrestling Journalist
Coming on the heels of the WWE's trip to the Middle East, WWE Champion John Bradshaw Layfield saw fit to respond with a letter to Pro Wrestling Torch writer Wade Keller in regards to Keller's column "Next Year Entertain the Troops and Keep the Politics Out of It" where Keller wants WWE to leave Vince McMahon's political views out of their trips to the Middle East.
Mr. Keller,
I am having trouble with my internet connection over here, I am not sure if the e-mail I sent you went through, so I will try another. I am still in Afghanistan visiting our soldiers, I do this every year with the SMA and the USO, I stayed after everyone left to go home. I am sure you didn't know that because I try to make sure the media doesn't cover it.
I was looking on the Internet to see our ratings, and I saw your column. I wanted to respond.
You are wrong about how much the soldiers get to watch the media on TV. Every mess hall has a TV along with every rec center and gym. They get to see more news than a lot of us do, mainly FOX but also CNN.
Your take on Vince I respectfully believe was wrong. The media has done a bad job of covering the war. They all sit in a hotel in Baghdad reporting the news. They might as well be in Des Moines, I saw no reporters in any FOBs (forward operating bases), and there were no reporters on the ground in Afghanistan. The troops are very sick of how the war is being portrayed, I know this because I have just spent almost two weeks with them.
The morale is high and all of them have sufficient armor when they leave base. Make no mistake, this is a rotten place, and I believe we could have planned better, but the enemy always has a plan also.
I do not believe it is a liberal bias necessarily, I believe it is a tabloid mentality by the media. What Vince did was good for the troops, remember he spent a lot of his money and the company's money to come here, a lot of people who talk about what he did have not been here themselves. By the fact he was here should give him some credibility.
You are entitled to your freedom of speech, I firmly believe that. As long as you believe in America, I have no problem with that. Let me clarify, I believe in Freedom of Speech always, but when a person does not believe in America I have a problem with them (I don't feel this applies to you).
Al Franken is over here with me, and he is a very dear friend. We disagree across the board about politics, we do not disagree about our soldiers and about our love for America, we just think it should be run different ways.
Vince did a great thing by bringing the WWE to Iraq, I feel your criticism was unjustifed. Vince is as good of a person as I have ever met, and a great American, I know you may disagree, but I don't. Look at what he has done over here.
I held the hand of a soldier that was hit in the Mosul attack that had lost almost all of his face to burns, he asked to see me because he was a wrestling fan. If I live a thousand lives I will never replicate that moment, Vince was the reason I was there.
I respectfully ask that you take things in a bigger perspective than your own beliefs, I thought what he did was great.
Now you can go back to bashing me as a terrible champion, which is your right.
John Bradshaw Layfield