Obama, Iraq ... Iraq, Obama

A really, really, tough call on story selection today.

Today is, as you most certainly know, the fifth anniversary of the start of the Iraq war. And, yesterday, a major speech by Barack Obama. Some speechwriters we know have called it the most important political speech of a generation. At a speaking engagement on the subject of juveniles and crime last night (a conference of judges from the different courts in D.C., I moderated a discussion that was as heartbreaking as it was stimulating -- this being D.C., where stories of young men being gunned down is everyday fare), the Obama speech was all anyone was talking about. Folks had been e-mailing the text to each other all day.

But if a big part of our mission is to cover the voices that are not being heard, does Iraq count? Many feel that the cost of this war is not being borne equally -- that it is all but forgotten, except by those most directly affected.

Of course, many disagree.

It's a totally subjective question, after all. But in an "all voluntary" military structure, it's not a secret that people from minority groups, folks from rural areas and small towns, are disproportionately represented in the services. Ask yourself: do you personally know anyone serving overseas? Is there someone in your life who cringes when the phone rings in the middle of the night? Who holds his or her breath when a man in a uniform appears at her door?

We have tried on this program to make sure that story does NOT disappear. We've tried to look for stories that you are not getting elsewhere. Not a criticism of anybody else, but just to offer you a sense of our commitment to get voices on the air that are not being heard elsewhere. We've talked to a former Iraqi minister who has a very different view of how to reconstruct the country. She left after two attempts on her life, but has continued to press the case for restoring dignity to daily life and getting the basics in order, like water, electricity and sanitation. We talked to an Iraqi emergency room physician who bore witness to the daily carnage of civilians being decimated by suicide bombers. And, we've talked to Iraqis who've fled to Syria about their lives as refugees. ... We've talked to people working to resettle Iraqis.

Anyway, it is a story to which we are committed, and we feel a mission to offer an opportunity to hear that story.

But back to today.

Obama, Iraq. Iraq, Obama. What's the right call? Especially since we arranged for conversations with so many people who do not normally do this -- a small town mayor, three service members, two parents -- to disrupt their lives to talk to us.

We'll get back to Obama tomorrow. We have a great roundtable planned.

Did we do the "right" thing? I have no idea. But we did our best.

You can let us know??????

One thing I do know. We need two hours, not one, for broadcast.

... Are you listening NPR?

ADDENDUM: Two others stories we've covered have had significant developments this week.

Remember the Baltimore bus beating incident? A group of black students allegedly jumped a white woman on a city bus. It got a lot of attention in the blogosphere. Some compared it to the Jena 6 case. Some asked why hadn't this issue gotten more attention? ... Why it is okay for a group of kids to whale on a person on a city bus and get away with it. ... Others ask why this is a racial issue, and not just bad behavior by a group of teens. We talked about this on the program. You might be interested to know that there's been a development.

And, the D.C. gun ban. The Supreme Court heard arguments yesterday on DC's handgun control law. Three city residents are challenging the law, one of the toughest, if not THE toughest, in the nation. And the issue of gun control is not just locally important. The case marks the first time the Supreme Court has taken up the issue of the meaning of the Second Amendment in some 39 years. We have covered this issue also. We've actually had people on BOTH sides of the issue, who BOTH lost family members to gun violence.

ALL I can say is, ARGGGH!!

I need another hour!!!

We're doing our best. That's all I can say.

Michel Martin

3:19 PM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink

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3:19 PM ET | 03-19-2008 | permalink