"The Circle" can VC recipient.

[5150]

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/entertainment/tv-radio/yumis-in-strife-over-disrespectful-comments-about-ben-roberts-smith/story-e6frf9ho-1226284463741

Now I have never seen the show or know what a Yumi is, but the comments from some societies finest HS readers are a laugh...

George seems to be scrapping the bottom of the barrel if this is where his years of foreign correspondent have landed him.

Anybody watch the show?

[Nick - Pie Man]

Isn't the circle that show where fat women talk about celebrities and cosmetics?

[Dark Beanie]

The Circle is the Australian version of The View (US) with Whoopi Goldberg, Barbara Walters et al.

I've watched The View a few times but not the Circle.

Heard the comments about Ben Roberts. Very lame attempts at being funny & George Negus should know better.

[swoop42]

This is a prime example of a storm in a teacup.

I've seen the show before and Yumi Stynes apart from being adorable has a wicked sense of humour and comes across as a genuinely warm and nice person.

Georgie likewise.

[mandy]

I just watched her apology. She was crying.

But only after she threw in the fact she's now engaged.

Talk about making it all about yourself!

I never liked her as an MTV VJ and I can't see anything has improved since then.

[rocketronnie]

This topic is tailor made for Hiss. Where is the senile old fool when you need him?

[The Prototype]

[HAL]

The senile old fool when you need him? Where is senile old fool when you need him ?

[mandy]

Indeed.

[jack_spain]

They are lowlife scum!

Ben is a genuine hero. They don't give away VCs for anything but the highest level of valour.

George Negus should have known better. A pisspot who has reached his used by date.

[rocketronnie]

[David]

While the old 'stupid-people-on-tv-say-stupid-things' scandals tend not to interest me, I've been thinking a bit lately about the whole 'war hero' concept and how it's so widely accepted.

Now, I'm not necessarily on the side of the protectors who spat on returning soldiers after the Vietnam War. It's governments that send citizens to kill and be killed on their behalf, so it's unfair to blame the men on the frontline for their governments' unjust decisions. Likewise, I admire the courage of people who put themselves in awful situations to defend their families, friends and way of life.

The trouble with the whole 'war hero' paradigm is that the above situation has rarely applied, certainly here in Australia. The soldiers of Gallipoli, Vietnam and Iraq were not defending our country. Even my grandfather, who shot down Axis aircraft in the Middle East and North Africa in World War 2 wasn't really defending Australia or Australians. Maybe those who fought the Japanese in South-East Asia can claim that, but the rest were just co-opted to fight on the behalf of the empire. People like my grandfather were drafted into the army to kill enemy combatants as if they were pawns in a game of chess; put through dehumanising training drills that break down their emotions and compassion so that they can kill more effectively. That's not their fault, but it's not particularly heroic; just kind of awful, really.

More to the point, I've come to see the 'war hero' paradigm as just a more subtle continuation of the age-old glorification of warfare.

Lola and I visited Mt. Macedon on the weekend, and walked up to see the Memorial Cross: a monstrously huge cross supposedly commemorating our country's war dead. Honestly, all I could see was a massive, pornographic paean to the glory of war. The fact that so many Australian citizens (often very young and very impressionable) have died in pointless wars ought to be considered a shameful tragedy, not some triumphant history.

So too, then, the media and government insistence on decorating survivors with medals in reverent ceremonies. It's true that many of these men and women are being rewarded for incidents of incredible bravery that you or I could never dream of, in some cases risking their lives for comrades or civilians. That is worth recognising. Nevertheless, I fear that these recognitions are just more cogs in the war propaganda machine.

So, it's not really the idiocy of TV hosts that upsets me the most in this affair. It's the typical tabloid media, political and corporate response about 'war heroes'. Bar the odd exception (e.g. Bradley Manning), soldiers are not heroes. To repeat the phrase so unthinkingly is a reflection of how deeply war propaganda is ingrained in our society.

[jack_spain]

[rocketronnie]

[stui magpie]

David, in this case the bloke got a Victoria Cross for his actions in putting his own life at risk to prevent the members of his squad being killed.

What's that quote about greater love hath no man than he who would lay down his life for his friends (not googled, quoted from memory, probably misquoted but you get the point)

War is about death and ruin, it's very easy to focus on the negative elements because there are so many of them. The fact that we have Aussies fighting overseas is something a lot of people don't agree with. But....they have a purpose, they are there for a reason (even if people don't like it) and while they're there, they have a job to do.

This bloke is a bonafide hero and seems like a cracking bloke too.

As far as the comments on TV, lightweight comments from a lightweight crap TV program. The comments were garbage, the over reaction to them is typical.

Mind you, that Yumi tool should go back to hosting music videos, she's obviously out of her depth not talking to stoned teenagers and Negus should know better.

Yet more reinforcement of why I don't turn the TV on during the day, even when I have a day off work.