Daily Gut: The Military, the Media, and the Martini
by Greg GutfeldNow imagine you were somebody who only got your news from USA Today. What a weird worldview you’d have.
For one, you’d think colorful pie charts solve every problem, and you’d also think our military consists of nothing but troubled head cases. In the past year or so, USA Today has done little more than paint our military as rife with suicide, mental health problems, divorce, troubled kids and of course – alcohol and drug abuse.
Let’s look at the most recent USA Today piece on alcohol abuse. The paper reported that “Soldiers…with alcoholism or alcohol abuse, such as binge drinking, increased from 6.1 per 1,000 soldiers in 2003 to an estimated 11.4 as of March 31.”
That is disturbing, no doubt – and it’s all from military data. But what happens if you compare that figure to our general population? Well, according to the National Institutes of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, 15.5 percent of the general population report episodes of binge drinking in 2006 – and for males alone – the number jumps over 20 percent.
Okay, think about that. Twenty percent of males in the general population binge drink – that’s one in five.
In the military – largely made up of young males who deserve to drink – it’s six soldiers per 1,000.
What does that tell you? Well, first: our soldiers seem far more well-adjusted than USA Today would like to let on. And also: our soldiers are far more capable of handling alcohol than non-military bozos like myself.
That should be no surprise: these are discipline dudes, and unlike me, their jobs require them to be clear-eyed and sober. As a magazine veteran and a television talking head, I can safely say that nearly all media jobs can be done drunk. The only dangerous machinery we face is an elevator.
Now to be fair to USA Today, my analysis is not perfect (I’ve had four martinis already). And I confess I’m not comparing apples to apples – the NIAAA stat was collected differently than the number cited in USA Today. Still, there’s a fundamental truth here: Our military doesn’t just rock physically, but also psychologically. It’s a truth that goes against USA Today’s and most film directors’ desire to paint our soldiers as ticking time bombs.
Finally, buried in the same USA Today piece is another interesting fact: “Enrollments in drug abuse treatment programs have remained largely unchanged in the Army during the war, rising from 3.7 per 1,000 in 2003 to an estimated 4.2 as of May.”
Think about that. As rehab clinics in America become more commonplace than bowling leagues – the Army presses on during the toughest of times.
I’ll drink to that.
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39 Comments
Good one Greg. Data means little when you have an agenda and a mindless reader base like USA Today.
Keep up the good work.
USA Today seems to be good for editorials from famous people or national lawsuit notices. Beyond that it is not worth much.
I haven't heard if subscriptions are down, but since it is given away in every hotel in the nation I doubt it.
USA TODAY? I've seen high school newspapers with better reporting.
did someone say drinks?!
while you use usa today as your example, i was thinking along the same lines this week, except i used abc (all barack channel). what of those who get their news solely from the networks? eesh. pass the drinks.
There you go with that “fact” thingy again Greg, you know that’s disruptive to the liberal group think, damn you Greg. “I’ll have a double shot of Makers Mark, if you please.” : )
This is just what TONY(Times of New York) did a while back with homicide statistics; an entire story about how veterans were on a murder spree, a story in which they conveniently forgot to mention that the homicide rate for non-veterans was FIVE TIMES HIGHER!
It all plays into the soldier/victim ideology of the left. They fail to realize no one forces one to join the military, it is done for many reasons, most of which has to do with love for their country and a sense of duty. We presently have the most left leaning press/congress/president we have ever had in this country. If we can survive until 2012 (which we most certainly will) this country will continue to grow in influence and power and we will owe (and always owe) a great debt to our men and women in the armed forces.
FYI, USA Today and NYT as excellent at starting campfires, what will all the hot air that is infused directly into the very fiber of those rags…
Again… I eagerly await the New Hollywood. Keep pressing on, folks. Keep turning off the crud. And, keep buying tickets to the good stuff. We simply HAVE to reclaim the entertainment/media industries.
God bless our beautiful country.
Funny, my dog won't even pee on the USA today. The NY Times and the Boston Globe, no problem.
Thank you for putting their "reporting" in perspective. I fear for the generation coming up, because from what I've seen, critical thinking isn't on the agenda for government schools.
In the interest of completeness, I'll add that they are also very good for lining bird cages. My love bird loves getting a piece of the corner that's sticking up and pick off pieces of it to line her nest. Catches poops really good too.
Couple of comments from a retired 20 year Infantry soldier (2003)
Binge drinking is a real conflict with daily physical training – a couple of mornings with a hangover and a 5 mile run can make you think twice.
Rehab? For the most part, any detected drug use is the end of the career – alcoholics could be the exception in a self-refferal situation.
That all said, USA Today and the other dead media just pump out the propaganda. I refuse to buy propaganda.
Speaking of that, Greg, Red Eye was pre-empted last night because a has-been singer who couldn't give a cd away in the USA died – most likely of an overdose. We have that crazy wash-upped lunatic being rehabilitated in the media – and cancelling RED EYE! This must stop right now. Demand to be on Greg!
Forget soldiers — the real peril we face is from media veterans:
http://iowahawk.typepad.com/iowahawk/2008/01/note...
If you had to swallow the current chain of command, you'd be swallowing mass quantities of Bacardi and Tanqueray too. Our military is about to suffer carteresque cuts, and its no fun to be held in disdain as archaic and unnecessary. The diplomats are taking over, while paperpushers will be make them accountable for every little thing. Now that money will go to more lofty pursuits, like the study of vampire bat as it relates to congress, or putting farmers out of business to save a fish noone eats. Unbelievable!
I read a USA Today once, back in the mid 90's while I was waiting in my Dr's office.
It made my eyes bleed and the Doc charged me double to treat me, for something what HE caused.
Not Over.
USA should be forgiven this sort of "reporting" in the same way you would forgive a rather slow six-year old who makes an embarassing remark at a social gathering. "Oh that's just Sonny – He doesn't know any better." I am convinced that the media takes their attitudes and viewpoints on the military from other media rather than actual objective reporting. Only those stories that play into the MSM's existing mindset of the military as whacked-out homicidal alkies ready to slaughter infants at the drop of a hat get any play. My favorite example of this is the way the military is portrayed on the different "Law & Order" franchises. Every storyline (and I mean every storyline) involving military personnel (particularly those with service in Iraq) presents them as either the most vile rapists and murderers or as the victims of soulless, robotic and downright evil command officers. Even the crackheads on these shows get more understanding.
Define "binge drinking"? For the Oprah set, it's more than four beers in a row.
Hell I did that last night….
I'll take mine with two olives, please.
I agree! We want our Red Eye! And we want it now! Let's hope the cancelled show airs over the weekend.
Thanks, Greg – from a soldier.
Thanks for that incisive report Hawk. I think that graph just nails your theory, and Treacher is a knowlegable genius. Let''s not forget Larry Mente, who hacked into emails and leaked the madness to the papers. Proof that they'll eat their own.
(HWL) Great one, Hawk. I especially loved the statistical chart. It could have come right off the front page of the NYT (in some article about, say, the trend in crimes against gays, or child poverty.)
As a magazine veteran and a television talking head, I can safely say that nearly all media jobs can be done drunk.
Looking at results, we can infer that all media jobs actually are done drunk.
That’s alarming Iowahawk! I had my suspicions, but are now confirmed by your most excellent essay and Treacher’s unimpeachable research.
Colorful pie charts … what a riot!
C&C warning next time please…that chart had me spewing yogurt all over. Well, off to buy some anti-retard patches for the teenagers.
It's hard to tell sometimes who is the most villified these days: "far right" Christians, "angry" white males, or the brave folks serving in our military. The MSM seems stuck in an angry loop, taking on each group over and over again in turn, in predictable cycles. I would really love to see more wealthy conservatives launch into the media world, and begin to offset this liberal nonsense with more print news and TV programming of their own. Until that happens, I guess the best we can do is just not support those movies or shows that mock our troops. And, continue to find creative uses for the liberal print media (when you can get one for free).
Preferred by trolls everywhere…
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Liberals don't deserve our military.
They deserve to be conquered and subjugated by those tin-pot dictators they love so much.
Great Gut, Gregg. You disseminate clear info and analysis daily with cutting, sardonic humor — and you don't even get any on you (or at least it's cleaned off by Red Eye tape time). And all while swilling four martinis before a 6:40am posting time? You are my hero. I cop to a man-crush.
Thanks for this. Anyone associated with the military community knows these statistics are often used to bludgeon and smear the soldiers who are among our most rock solid citizens. (Maybe that's the problem.) When these numbers are used, their occurance in the same demographic of the general population should always be part of the equation.
With newspapers going out of business and TV news audiences shrinking, no doubt journalists will start experiencing a rise in alcoholism, suicide, divorce and abuse, which we are certain to hear about.
Do you think that the NY Times would run a front page story on the murder rate for black americans by black americans?????
Ah, I don't think so, unless they were blaming white americans directly for the murders.
If I were in general in today's Army and BHO was my Commander in Chief, I think the retirement pension would look pretty good right about now.
Oprah set only drinks white wine.
I have often wondered about such stats, considering soldiers are forbidden any alcohol during deployments. That means, there is basically no binge drinking while they're downrange. So these statistics indicate such drinking occurs during redeployment or predeployment phases of the deployment cycle — which bears up under my own experience. My soldier doesn't drink, as a rule, but he'll chug plenty of the crap as he's redeploying or right before he deploys. To him, it's all about enjoying something he doesn't get to enjoy while he's over there. And eventually he settles back into a more normal routine again, where he doesn't drink but perhaps a beer or two on the weekends. That isn't to say there aren't soldiers with real problems but the military works to identify them and then sends them through rigorous treatment programs defined by regulation. So I tend to look askance at such articles. Not out of line to say there's a growing problem but I hardly think it's half so dire as is commonly assumed, either.
Good piece, but you can't use enrollment in rehab programs as a barometer. Any such treatment can end the promotions of an ambitious soldier, so they avoid this like the plague.
I wasn't aware that USA today was still a paper!!!
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