Defense secretary Dagwood Bumstead, I mean Donald Rumsfeld, and Bush-Lite's War Marketing Department bullied the already compliant liberal my-ass media into sparing sensitive readers and viewers from images of our dead soldiers and POWs in Iraq. The cowardly liberal my-ass media tucked their tails between their legs and licked the hands of their Pentagon masters.
Maybe they were afraid the Pentagon would end their free ride in Iraq, where the Pentagon gave them front row access in exchange for their silence. Didn't it make you feel better about the war when you saw Ted Koppel and Robin Roberts riding around with the tanks? Didn't it make you feel better about objective journalism to know our major new outlets were reporting exactly what the War Marketing Department wanted them (and us) to see?
Finally, in response to overwhelming criticism (and CNN who showed heavily edited snippets), the major networks broke the silence with a whimper, showing micro-snippets of the captives (head shots) without audio. That was brave. Kind of like saying, “Fuck you” behind the boss’ back and then saying, “I said, ‘Thank you,’” when the boss calls them on it.
Only Matt Drudge, in one of the rare moments when I agree with him, had the guts to give Americans a peek. His web site declared, "if anchormen and others in the media have viewed it, why can't the average citizen?"* Of course, Drudge was appalled at what the Iraqi's did to our soldiers (which I am too), but I'm equally appalled that Bush Lite's rush to judgment put them in harms way to start with.
Why is the liberal my-ass media so willing to hold back images of dead and captive soldiers? Ostensibly because they want to remain sensitive to the sensitivity of their viewers and protect them from seeing emotionally disturbing images. How kind.
Where was that sensitivity to sensitivity when they were splattering images of airliners smashing into the World Trade Center on every media outlet? Where was that sensitivity when people had to watch the fireballs and towers crumbling over and over and over again?
Where is that sensitivity to sensitivity when networks broadcast fictional images of slaughter and murder and rape? The liberal my-ass media is also the sensitive my ass media.
Many Americans genuinely support this war and believe it’s for our freedom and safety. Those Americans need to see the sacrifice our soldiers are making to defend that freedom and safety. Maybe they'll appreciate those sacrifices more when they see those images rather than toast the night away at Oscar parties or watching the fashion wrap up on Entertainment Tonight.
And those Americans that knew this was a frivolous war all along deserve to see the bodies killed for frivolous causes to remind them to keep the pressure on and not to let their guard down between wars.
Those soldiers deserve to be remembered for the price they paid, rather than shipped home in body bags and forgotten when the cash cow from the wells comes home.
*Okay, so I think the guy's full of shit most of the time. If he's right I'll give him credit for it.
