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NBC has created an entertainment show that breaks new ground. “Stars Earn Stripes” debuted recently August 13, co-hosted by retired U.S. general Wesley Clark and Todd Palin. NBC was promoting the show during its Summer Olympics telecast as the next big sporting event. But the sport it’s exhibiting is war.

On “Stars Earn Stripes”celebrities will pair up with members of the military to compete at war-like tasks, including “long-range weapons fire.” Only there won’t be any of the killing or dying.

Our wars kill huge numbers of people, primarily civilians, and often children and the elderly. NBC is not showing this reality on its war-o-tainment show any more than on its news programs. Other nations’ media show the face of war, giving people a very different view of war-making.

In the United States, our tax dollars are spent by the billions each year marketing the idea that war is a sport and associating the military with sporting events. Media companies like NBC are complicit in the propaganda. While 57 percent of federal discretionary spending goes to the military, weapons makers can’t seem to get enough of our tax dollars. In the spirit of transferring veterans’ care to the realm of private charity, “Stars Earn Stripes” will give prize money each week to “military-based charities” in order to “send a message.”

We have our own message that we will be delivering to NBC: Don’t lie to us.

One of NBC’s corporate parents, General Electric, takes war very seriously, but not as human tragedy — rather, as financial profit. (GE is a big weapons manufacturer.) A retired general hosting a war-o-tainment show is another step in the normalization of permanent war.

It is hoped that NBC will take seriously the reality of war and air an in-depth segment showing the reality of returning veterans who have been damaged by war and of civilian victims of U.S. wars in Iraq and Afghanistan on any program, any time in the coming months. It is also hoped that WKJG-TV, the local NBC affiliate, will consider programming something other than “Stars Earn Stripes.”

Dave Lambert, member,Veterans for Peace and Military Families Speak Out

We as Americans have a clear choice for the next election. In my view, the No. 1 issue threatening the very existence of our way of life is the financial irresponsibility of the federal government.

If the huge deficit spending of the federal government isn’t halted soon, all other issues become moot points. The Romney/Ryan ticket has the knowledge and desire to solve this pressing issue, especially with a strong voter mandate.

Unfortunately, Obama/Biden have neither the desire nor the knowledge to address the issue. In fact, they use government spending as a means of ensuring their power. We are past the point where we can afford to run the federal government as if it were just another TV show like “Dancing with the Stars” or “America’s Got Talent.”

There will be serious consequences if our electorate is too misinformed to recognize the financial disaster we face.

Charles McGregor

The government destroyed it. Who really cares about a few bricks or piece of asphalt? The government cared less about the bricks, etc., when the buildings were being demolished. Why now? Stupid government!

Robert Kortokrax