The decision by Sinclair Broadcast Group to pre-empt tonight’s Nightline show featuring a reading of the names of those killed so far In Iraq drew a new detractor today — Senator John McCain, Republican of Arizona.
In a letter to the president of the group, Mr. McCain, who was a prisoner of war in Vietnam and is a leading congressional voice on military issues, called the decision to block the broadcast on the company’s ABC affiliates “deeply offensive.”
“There is no valid reason for Sinclair to shirk its responsibility in what I assume is a very misguided attempt to prevent your viewers from completely appreciating the extraordinary sacrifices made on their behalf by Americans serving in Iraq,” Mr. McCain wrote. “War is an awful, but sometimes necessary business. Your decision to deny your viewers an opportunity to be reminded of war’s terrible costs, in all their heartbreaking detail, is a gross disservice to the public, and to the men and women of the United States Armed Forces. It is, in short, sir, unpatriotic. I hope it meets with the public opprobrium it most certainly deserves.”
You know, when a Republican legislator and veteran and former prisoner of war who was tortured in prison for years on end calls you unpatriotic, you might want to check it. The only people who want to sweep it under the rug are the ghastly Wag the Dog PR flacks in this White House.
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