Conservatives are on Luke Russert's case for his anti-video game Tweets

[Enrique]

how dare he! (I won't post the link to Breitbart and Media Research Center, but their panty-bunching over these Tweets can be easily found via Google)

http://twitter.com/#!/LukeRussert/status/134397202675146752

@LukeRussert
Luke Russert
The Call of Duty "There's a soldier in all of us" ad campaign makes me sick. Glorifies gruesome combat & doesnt reflect costs of war at all



http://es.twitter.com/#!/LukeRussert/status/134397694557954049

@LukeRussert
Luke Russert
No amputees, lack of VA benefits, PTSD or high divorce rates in "Call of Duty."

[The Straight Story]

1. Well, it is a GAME and not a simulation (nt)

[JHB]

2. To be honest, there are plenty of other things that should be drawing Lukie's attention...

...real wars, for one.

Breitbart and MRC are on his case because he's in the media and doesn't flack for their views 24/7. That makes him "liberal media".

[Enrique]

3. but he is talking about real wars

the effects of real wars on real soldiers. His first tweet was right before Veterans Day, during all the mythologizing in the media about war. And Russert's tweet was about the reality of it.

[JHB]

6. IMO, No, he was using real wars to complain about video games.

How often does he cover those real problems in his capacity as a Washington media personality?

[Enrique]

7. probably never

I'm not sure, I've never seen his show, but the issues he's talking about in his tweets are rarely talked about on TV. Once in a while there will be something on PBS newshour, NPR had a good series about brain injuries, they have occasional very short segments on the network news, but on cable news, hardly ever, especially from a political reporter which is what I think Russert is.

I guess that's one of the reasons I posted it, I wasn't expecting Luke Russert to make such righteous tweets.

[Dennis Donovan]

4. Good for Luke...

...apparently NOT a chip of the ol' block (his father made no bones about where his allegiences lay before the start of the Iraq War).

[Donnachaidh]

5. for once, I agree with the Russert spawn

Yeah, it is *just* a game -- but how many of these war games make up the largest sales for the video game industry? How many violent games are being pushed by the industry?

Adults can poo-poo the arguments about *just a game*, but kids raised in an environment where those sorts of games are the ones everyone is playing, may not make the distinction.

If we really want CHANGE -- that change has to happen at every level. Even in video games. We need to stop glorifying war.

[Capitalocracy]

9. I like violent video games and I hate war

Now, since they like to include stories in video games (Team Red vs Team Blue sounds kind of weak, after all), it would be nice if they included nuance and the cost of war. But at the same time, the jingoism some video games display is probably more a reflection on society than an influence on society... and there's definitely a market for it, one they don't want to offend by adding storylines about VA hospital funding or civilian casualties or depleted uranium-deformed babies.

But like in many things, general education is key. Any kid (above a certain age) with a good education focused on critical thinking skills and separating reality from fiction will easily understand that video games are fluff entertainment and that in real life, you can't get shot five times and then go walk over a health pack and then get shot 10 more times before you have to start worrying about it (when you start looking like this: )

[Paladin]

8. Dead On, Young Mr. Russert. (n/t)

[snot]

10. It's well-known that conservatives promote specific kinds of video games

as part of their "p.r." efforts.

Video games are used to train US soldiers not to hesitate to kill.

Video games promoting capitalism are marketed in third-world countries.

Both of these kinds of video games are marketed to children.

Etc.

[Gidney N Cloyd]

11. I have a hard time believe Li'l Luke writes any of his own material.

One of the interns (you know, the journalism school grads who'll have to start out in small markets and work their way up for a few years) probably logged into the wrong Twitter account.