Kobe? Very Sad. Anybody Else Need Some Attention?

It's my blog, so I can speculate as I wish. Here are some speculations:

None of the 169 people who died earlier this month when Iran mistakenly shot down a Ukrainian jetliner were nicknamed "Black Mamba," and made money on the brand on t-shirts, caps, and other paraphernalia.

None of them were incredibly famous as athletes: at least, I haven't heard about that if they were.

Some of them might have had as much money as Kobe Bryant had when he died, but let's face it: It's doubtful.

A great many of them also had children and spouses that they leave behind.

Some of them might have made big mistakes in their lives. They probably did a gut check, did things better, and all of them went on until their lives were snuffed out of the sky by someone's miscalculation. Too.

I never saw their names. I never knew where they lived. I'm guessing they didn't have the kind of home Bryant and his family have had.

None of them, or perhaps not many of them, were considered a media "get" to pull in for an interview. None of them, or perhaps not many of them, walked the red carpet at the ESPY awards. I have seen no media clips, nothing on U-Tube, to the contrary.

I could be wrong about this. I have no verification. If I am, I'll put out a general apology right now.

Now let's talk. The deaths of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, a women's basketball coach, and six other people is a terrible tragedy because it certainly could have been prevented. The word is that "special permission" was given for them to fly their helicopter through dense fog. Couldn't it have waited?

Couldn't that Ukrainian jetliner, too, have waited to depart until the morning after a retaliatory missile launch was done by the Iranian government in response to the assassination of one of its leaders? Who put that plane up into the air? Nothing gets shot down until it's up there.

And why, oh why, wasn't there an international Day of Mourning for those 169 people? Why didn't damn near everybody reel in despair and sorrow for every single one of them? Nobody discussed burying any of them; it's been 22 days now.

And nobody discussed their governments' attitudes about the incident: Five of them were involved. It wasn't 24 hours before an ex-president and our present president made statements about Kobe Bryant's passing. One day later, the sports world is reeling with the strain.

Why did the shootdown happen? That's a good question. We know what was said, but like nearly everything this terrible administration says, it's been researched to be less than the truth. He was a dangerous guy, sure. But was an attack "imminent"? Not likely, as we've now been unofficially briefed by investigating media.

So why was he killed right then and there? Because we could. Because he was a bad guy. That should be enough.

Like it should have been enough for 45 to say that 33 of our military guys had "headaches" after Iran responded with missile attacks that had no direct hits. The attack seemed cosmetic and token, and might still have been.

Now, though, they are still in the hospital with brain injuries. Brain injuries after four weeks? That's serious, perhaps critical. It isn't likely that mere concussions, though painful and debilitating, are the single issue here. Nor can it be, since the number has now grown, magically, to 50.

To the best of our knowledge, they're all still alive, if only because it doesn't seem as if anyone's following their hospitalization. But we have no names. We don't know their families. We don't know where they live. And we don't know their conditions.

Nobody thinks about them. Nobody has put out a chain letter for them. Nobody has published any photos of them or their families. National security? Nonsense. They were at bases for weeks and months. They weren't at any secret installations.

What the hell is this? 45 knows us well. He distracts us because he can. Because it's so damn easy. Because we wander on a semi-attentive leash which can be jerked back by someone who can do so any old time he wants.

That includes the mainstream media, which is presently bathing itself in remorse for the passing of a great athlete. Okay, fair enough. He did have a strong impact upon his sport, whatever that has to do with the survival of humanity. Will we do the same when Hank Aaron or Willie Mays goes? How about Michael Jordan? Will they have to perish in a sudden accident?

This compares favorably with Princess Diana's death--sudden, tragic, explainable but bizarre--out of which magazines are still being printed and sold, going on a quarter-century later. Remember who else died shortly thereafter? Mother Teresa. Remember her televised funeral? You might, but it came and went swiftly due in no small part to the humility with which she lived (though I seriously doubt that Diana would approve of the over-wrought way her death was observed). How many magazines have been sold commemorating her? Evaluate, if you will, one's impact upon the world versus the other's.

May all the faithfully departed mentioned here, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. May our wounded military people fully recover. But may their stories be told, and told, and told.

And then we need to have a debate. Resolved: This is why democracy may fail. It relies now so heavily on the press freedom that so many of us claim is so vital but which we throw around so irresponsibly that it feels like a toy: great fun but so easily breakable. It, too, has wounded itself. It, too, needs a gut check. So do we.

Be well. Be careful. I'll see you down the road.


Mister Mark