The Nov. 15 article, “Bush administration wants to open hundreds of thousands of federal jobs to private contractors,” appearing in the national briefing section of the Minnesota Daily was atrocious. Frenzied as the article made me, its content cannot be argued. What can be argued, however, is the media’s unjust attempt to conceal such material by disgracing it with one meager paragraph in a newspaper full of war rhetoric and speculation.

The threat of war is real and it must be dealt with gravely and honestly. However, there are other real threats to the well-being of Americans that don’t make front page headlines. Pages and pages are littered with war rhetoric and speculation about weapons inspectors in Iraq, while 1.8 million blue-collar workers risk losing their jobs to America’s private firms. Why is this not feature-worthy?

By continuing to sidetrack the public with war speculation, the media is allowing our government to operate silently and without protest, turning small government into big business with the blink of an eye.

If the Daily does not want to step right in line with the Star Tribune and the St. Paul Pioneer Press by manipulating the news in order to instill fear in the public, why not showcase some of these internal threats as reasons that the United States should reconsider war efforts abroad?

The media’s failure to adequately cover such pressing issues makes American society nothing more than a flock of sheep waiting patiently for the slaughter.