Nick Lachey’s Reality Show ‘Stars Earn Stripes’ Understandably Offensive To Vets

Nick Lachey’s reality show history has eclipsed his career as anything else prior to it (wasn’t he a dancing singer or an accountant or something?), but his new reality TV venture has some veterans feeling a bit slighted by what they feel is a minimization of the hard and horrible jobs they have done to defend Americans the world over.

Nick Lachey’s reality show of late is the NBC property Stars Earn Stripes, and the show has been called on the carpet in recent weeks for a host of quite legitimate criticisms. The most publicized perhaps are allegations from Sharon and Jack Osbourne that the show axed him after the network learned he had been diagnosed with a serious illness; the brouhaha ensuing led to Sharon’s departure from the channel’s hit America’s Got Talent.

More philosophically, Nick Lachey’s reality show has been criticized by Nobel Peace Laureates who wrote in an open letter to the network:

“It is our belief that this program pays homage to no one anywhere and continues and expands on an inglorious tradition of glorifying war and armed violence. Real war is down in the dirt deadly. People—military and civilians—die in ways that are anything but entertaining.”

Naughty But Nice Rob over at the Huffington Post grabbed a quote from executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, R. Clarke Cooper. According to Cooper, the show also insults vets and servicemen and women. In a text, he said:

“Nick said the show was ‘a once in a lifetime experience.’ Well, I know a terrific Army recruiter who can guarantee Nick a true ‘once in a lifetime’ experience … As a combat veteran, I find that show is an insult to those who actually wear the uniform,” Clarke wrote. “Every vet I know thinks the show is either a joke at best or offensive at worst. The show is DOA with the military, regardless of political affiliations. The producers are clearly tone deaf.”

Indeed, it seems that the bent of Nick Lachey’s reality show — which also stars ex-First Lady of Alaska Todd Palin — highlights that the only thing these celebrities earn is a paycheck far outstripping what our soldiers can hope to earn during the entirety of their service … where they get shot and and stabbed and exposed to IEDs instead of getting bags of freebies at media events.

Do you find Nick Lachey’s Stars Earn Stripes to be offensive?