I have been of the opinion for a long, long time that much of what passes for news reporting on the military in America has at its core a basic anti-militarism, that will result by design or as a natural consequence with increasing difficulty in maintaining strong, cutting edge, capable respected armed forces.

Much of the anti-military reporting is subtle, showing the difficult living conditions or the horrors of combat, for instance, but not showing the end results where countries are saved and rebuilt, or soldiers are honored either with medals for bravery or warm welcomes and respect from their communities.

Features on former service members who have made successful careers by applying the lessons they learned in the military to civilian life are exceedingly rare.

Out of all the television news organizations that cover our military, it has been my experience that only FOX News has consistently given a full view of both sides of serving.

But let someone take a shot at the military, especially an unjustified fear-monger shot, and the media will jump all over it. Take for instance the efforts to ban the Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps at a high school in California.

What exactly does this program do? Well, it gives its members a taste of military life during part of their school week, prepares them for college level ROTC, and gives them a military career option if they so desire. But of more immediate importance, the JROTC program injects structure, discipline and positive role models into the lives of the students who participate.

So why on earth would you deliberately sabotage such a program in city high schools where the students very much want to participate?

For the answer, I'll refer you to Melanie Morgan, my west coast friend, author, commentator and dauntless supporter of our troops.

Here are excerpts from here column. Read the full account at www.MelanieMorgan.com

"Peace Crowd" Guilty of Racism and Discrimination

Liberals/progressives/socialists/communists - or whatever they call themselves these days - have tolerance for only their own ideas. If they don't like something, liberals attack with the fervor of a pool full of piranha. They even break their own rules of political correctness.

Two good examples are Jesse Jackson's threat to cut off Sen. Barack Obama's testicles, and a movement in San Francisco to kick out the Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps from local high schools. Both show how liberals cover for each other, no matter how outrageous their behavior.

FOX news, which has the tape of Jackson's crude remarks, hasn't even released the worst of his raunchy rant. I would think the Secret Service might want to talk to somebody who threatened to neuter a presidential candidate.

But all is forgiven and the mainstream media - the handmaidens of Jackson and Obama - have had very little to say about the foul outburst. This is because the two are "progressives."

At least Jackson only hurt himself and what is left of his tattered reputation. What San Francisco school board members are doing to high school kids is outrageous and racist.

School board members Eric Mar and Mark Sanchez are running for re-election in November and decided to politicize children's futures by crippling JROTC. These self-serving politicians figured they would gain progressive Brownie points by forcing the JROTC out of San Francisco schools and taking away P.E. credits for JROTC students.

The school board already approved eliminating JROTC from the district by the 2009 school year. One reason the school board voted for the drastic, discriminatory and racist move, is the military's anti-gay "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy that prevents gays from serving openly in the armed forces.

Banning the program wasn't enough for Mar and Sanchez. They want to stop the district from giving physical education credit to those in JROTC until the program ends, but that effort failed in June.

San Francisco high school students, who filled rows of the meeting room for two hours waiting for the budget meeting to end and the special session to begin, expressed their devotion to JROTC during public comments.

The banning of the JROTC is discriminatory and must be reversed. San Francisco schools are made up mostly of children of color: African-Americans, Chinese, other Asians and Hispanics. Whites are a minority in the district. So taking away JROTC would strip the 55,000 students, most of whom are ethnically diverse, of opportunity.

Voters will get a chance to redeem San Francisco schools from the depths of racism and discrimination.

On Monday, JROTC supporters delivered 13,600 signatures to City Hall to get a nonbinding resolution on the November ballot to show support for JROTC. The group needed 7,200 from registered city voters to qualify.

"They had no idea they would awaken this sleeping giant," said Nelson Lum, a Vietnam vet and father of Amy, a JROTC member, according to the San Francisco Chronicle's C.W. Nevius. "This is an issue that goes beyond political boundaries."

It crosses boundaries all right, and sets back gains for children of color in the San Francisco school district.

Speaking of that, where is Jesse Jackson on this racism? Apparently he's too busy thinking of ways to emasculate Obama.

Melanie Morgan's colums also are available at WorldNetDaily.com