CBS & The Amazing Race issue apology to Vietnam veterans

Last week caused a stir of controversy that I wasn't aware of until just now. ( Read: http://www.thehollywoodgossip.com/2013/03/amazing-race-b-52-bomber-prop-sparks-outrage-from-vietnam-vetera )

THE AMAZING RACE is just now starting (45 minutes late) and prior to the start of the episode, they made an apology for offending Vietnam veterans.

I saw last week's episode and I didn't take any offense. I saw it as a display of Vietnam culture.

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So...... THE AMAZING RACE dared to show what another country's idea of a memorial was and they need to apologize? I actually find THAT kind of offensive.

Why? They're in another country and that's what happens in other countries. If they wanted to only show what happens in 'murica, they'd do another God-Awful "Family Edition" of the show.

The impetus for the apology was any unintentional disrespect of our Vietnam Veterans.
There were a few ways in which the show was edited which appeared insensitive.

I thought the way the show issued their statement and apology was very well done, and classy.

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Besides the competition, isn't the point of this show to see other parts of the world and experience other cultures? If they're going to Vietnam it would be strange not to have something referencing the war and communism since that's such a big part of their recent history. Learning and experiencing another culture doesn't mean you agree with it or even condone it, but that's the point of traveling.

Then again, I also am not really into this whole forced apology thing in general. I'm not really sure what any of this accomplishes.

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I watched last week's episode and didn't realize there was any controversy until the apology was shown before this week's episode. No one in our family could recall anything controversial about the prior episode. I appreciate the show for the competition as well the different cultures it shows us. I hope the producers don't become overly cautious in response to this.

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I remember seeing the B-52 and the Socialist singing and thinking, "Hoo boy, the Conservatives are going to go BERSERK over this!" But I thought Amazing Race did a great job both in the original episode of giving some perspective to American audiences of other cultures, especially with respect to wars involving the US, and in the specifics of its apology, which did not offer an apology for their choice of subjects or locations, but for any unintended offense to those who performed service in that particular war.

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I'm pretty sure the controversy, such as it was, was the downed plane that serves as a monument there. Or just showing a country that we couldn't strong arm into democracy still standing, I guess.

And we killed how many Vietnamese people? Seriously, anyone who isn't smart enough to realize that the country we fought a war against woul probably not think too highly of us and have monuments of their own the same as we have here should maybe stick to Sesame Street or something that doesn't require much brain power.

Stockard, do you have narcolepsy? You sleep through EVERYTHING.

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Pretty sure the Vietnam War for a lot of veterans was already a known loss to them if they already did not feel that way before they came back home.

>> You're a vet and you just said that?

Yes. Because (1) I AM a vet and have seen this BS first hand (which I doubt very many on this board have) and (2) it happens to be the truth.

As for PTSD, know why we're seeing so much of it? Because when you're there, smack in the middle of it and not even knowing if you're gonna be alive when the sun comes up, you suddenly realize all that uber-patriotic bull**** you were fed isnt going to protect you and that no one really cares if you live or die. If I'd been shot down, I'd've been just another statistic in the Pentagon's rounding-up of how many casualties there were. No assurances that it was "serving my country", because cut through it all, what was then my country didnt give a damn about anything but having cannon fodder to throw at the "enemy".

And if you need a bit of enlightenment about what constitutes an "enemy", here's a clue: all an enemy has to be, these days, is anyone who looks cross-eyed at the US. It could be anyone, and the US will be ready to attack in a moment's notice. That's drilled into you in basic training, relentlessly. You do not ask questions about *why* you're attacking someone, just that our Glorious Leaders in Washington have, in their Infinite Wisdom, decided that they just cant get along with someone and the only way to deal with it is send as many of us over there to kill as many of them as possible, even as the "leaders" on both sides remain safely waaaaay behind the lines and celebrate their own safety.

The US spent almost a decade in Vietnam because North Vietnam was "the enemy", remember? Now it's one of the US's biggest trading partners and a sweat shop supplier for a lot of the crap you buy in WalMart... so you tell me, what did that war accomplish? Anything? A lot of people died just so you can buy crap at Wal Mart. Wow. There's an end goal for ya.

And if you have any illusions about why the US invaded Iraq, let me dispel them. It was nothing to do with Hussein. It had zero to do with 0911. It had everything to do with protrecting Amuhrikuh's oil interests in a region that America itself has destabilized for decades by manipulating govetrnments for its own benefit. Think I"m lying? France and Germany had oil contracts with Iraq before the invasion. The US effectively tore hose up and lay claim to the entire thing.

"OH, but it's not about the oil, nossir."

Right.

Well, toodles, there's war for you. It's not about the Flag or Apple Pie or any of that other bull****. It is one of the most profoundly disillusioning experiences a person can have. And those who return pumped full of the same vacuous patriotism that sent them there are, IMHO, far crazier than any PTSD victim could be.

Oh, and a final note: yep, PTSD is a big problem. Know what your country is doing about it, for all the thousands returning home with it?

Not a ****ing thing.

Yeah. War. Solves everything.

Any more questions?

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Updated On: 3/30/13 at 09:25 AM

I really appreciate the time you took composing that post, SeanMartin.

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