I would like to respond to Mr. Coury’s commentary concerning America, war and business. Though seemingly palatable on the surface, one doesn’t have to look very far into his arguments to find that he is not only lacking facts to back up his claims, he is lacking a cohesive argument.
Sure, America’s defense contractors make money during wartime, which should be obvious to anybody. This is no great surprise; would it surprise somebody that any other industry makes more money in its particular field than a business that does not specialize in that sector? Perhaps Coury should have attended a few more of those economics classes.
Quite rapidly, Coury leaves this argument behind to attack the president, compare Iraq to Vietnam and rehash a Los Angeles Times story about a wounded soldier. All this proves that he is trying to manipulate his audience to agree with his first point by drawing on negative emotions concerning other issues. As to facts provided, he cites not a reputable source, but a song by The Boss. If this is the measure of Cal Poly’s journalism department, thank God there are other schools aspiring journalists can attend.
To finish my response, I will take what I have learned from Coury and say that he should listen to the Black Eyed Peas and “shut up, just shut up, shut up!”
Ryan Hunter
Mechanical engineering senior