WaPo makes local killing about the war

McQueen/Smith

In an article about one room mate killing killing the other, the Washington Post couldn’t help but make the story about the war against terror. the article entitled “Ex-Ranger Convicted of Killing Roommate“, the murder had nothing to do with the killer being an ex-Ranger;

A former Army Ranger was found guilty of second-degree murder yesterday in the slaying of a fellow Ranger who died of a gunshot wound in their Gaithersburg apartment in 2006.

After deliberating for six hours, a Montgomery County Circuit Court jury rejected Gary Smith’s claim that his roommate, Michael McQueen II, shot himself while the men were alone in their apartment.

“This man got exactly what he deserved,” Michael McQueen, McQueen’s father, said of Smith after the verdict was returned. “We’re very, very, very relieved.”

The defense and prosecution theories of the case pointed to mental struggles faced by many veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. In extremes cases, veterans have harmed others or themselves.

First of all, since no mention of their unit is in the article, I can’t make the determination whether either or both were truly Rangers – it’s been my experience that almost everyone who was ever in the Army claims to be a Ranger. No one was ever a cook or a clerk – it’s one big Ranger unit.

Secondly, there was no need to mention that either were Rangers or even veterans. They probably could have just as truthfully titled the article “Ex-grocery clerk convicted of killing roommate”. The thing the media and the public in general forget is that veterans come from our general population – not from some farm where the government creates super-soldiers. Some guys are screwed up before they join, but most veterans are just everyday folks who look at what they had to do as a job and we move on when our time’s up.

But the media likes to make more out of the rare cases of irrational conduct than actually exists.

Category: Media, Support the troops