Joe Scarborough
Why Lynch can't have it both ways
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | If you're like me, when you saw the story of Jessica Lynch being rescued over in Iraq, you probably stood up and cheered, maybe even got a tear or two in your eyes.
But since she came back home, she's been hailed as a hero and she's had NBC News, ABC news, and Diane Sawyer following her around. She's got a million-dollar book deal. She's had Diane Sawyer interview her. She's been a big-shot celebrity. If you're like me, that probably didn't bother you a whole lot.
But one thing that has bugged me is this: Jessica Lynch has gone out there and she has started whining about the Pentagon P.R. machine and the fact that they told parts of the stories that may have made her more of a hero than she considered herself to be. She also complained about how they filmed her heroic rescue, wondering: Why in the world would they do that? That made me feel uncomfortable.
Well, Jessica, I've got bad news to break to you. It was because of the Pentagon P.R. machine that turned you into an American hero — that got book publishers interested in paying you $1 million to tell your story. It was the Pentagon P.R. machine that told America how you were a hero that got NBC interested in doing a movie about your story. It was the Pentagon P.R. machine that's turned you into a millionaire.
Maybe you don't like everything they did, but you can't have it both ways. So, either you ride this P.R. tidal wave and thank your lucky stars that somebody at the Pentagon was propping you up in a time of war, or just go back to West Virginia, voice your protest, and don't take the money.
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Former Congressman Joe Scarborough (R-Fla.) hosts “Scarborough Country,” 10 p.m. ET, weeknights on MSNBC. Comment by clicking here.