Lifting of ban on media gawking considered
This is one thing I’ve never been able to figure out – the media, since the Persian Gulf War, has wanted to film coffins containing the remains of our military returning to the US at Dover AFB. The ever-vigilant Washington Post ruminates over the issue today;
President Obama said last week that he is considering lifting the ban on photographs and videos at Dover, in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991, raising fundamental questions about the impact of such images on the public morale in wartime.
For Obama, changing the policy would carry some political risk as he ramps up the war effort in Afghanistan with tens of thousands of fresh troops, increasing the likelihood of combat deaths that could produce photographs of numerous coffins arriving at one time at Dover, the sole U.S. port of entry for the remains. At the same time, Obama has advocated transparency in government, and continuing to hide the Dover ritual from public view conflicts with that principle as well as with public opinion on the issue, polls indicate.
Yeah, well, there is no political risk for Obama – as we’ve seen with every other issue Obama faces, he’s quick to blame the previous administration for forcing him to make unpopular choices, depending on the crowd. Whatever he decides, the media will gaily celebrate his wisdom.
It’s the media’s apparent obsession with it that bothers me;
Ralph Begleiter, a former CNN correspondent and WTOP radio reporter who teaches journalism and politics at the University of Delaware, has sued the government to obtain the release of some military photographs of honor ceremonies at Dover under the Freedom of Information Act.
“Dover is the only place in the country where the entire nation can observe the return of these casualties,” Begleiter said. “The most important and dramatic . . . cost of war is the casualties, the troops who make the ultimate sacrifice and come back to their country in a casket draped with an American flag, and to leave that image unobserved seems to be disingenuous.”
No, what’s disingenuous here is the false impression that there are scads of people who would care about the war if only the media were allowed to take pictures of coffins on an airstrip in Delaware. Like so much other hyperbole we get from the drama queen press, this is just ignorant rantings of self-important idiots.
There are funerals across the country everyday that we never read about in the media, not because they’re banned from reporting, but because they don’t think it’s news. The only reason the media thinks this particular issue is news is because it’s something they’re not allowed to do.
Much like the gays-in-the-military issue – there are not millions of gays waiting for the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy to be lifted for them to join the military, neither are there millions of news readers waiting for the ban at Dover AFB to be lifted before they pick up a newspaper.
Every year, there’s an hours-long ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier on Memorial Day and Veterans’ Day. The media is there for hours through the whole thing, yet the only thing that makes the evening news is 5 seconds of the President placing the wreath at the Tomb. Every Friday night, wounded soldiers roll up to Walter Reed Army Medical Center from the war – no reporters are ever there to record it.
If the ban is eventually lifted, there may be a story about the first time the media is allowed to record the event, they’ll make a big deal out of it and thrust their puny fists in the air in victory, one picture might appear in your newspaper, five seconds of video might make a continuous loop every thirty minutes on CNN for a day – and then it will be over.
In exchange, the solemn event will have lost it’s last shred of dignity so some greasy, vacuous borderline paparazzi photographers can gawk at the flag-draped remains of better people than they’ll ever be.
ADDED: I guess the American Legion agree with me.
Category: Antiwar crowd, Barack Obama/Joe Biden, Liberals suck, Media, Support the troops, Usual Suspects
This is ridiculous. Oblamo only wants to do this as a publicity stunt, and he believes that showing the sacrifices we make will give hime more power over the country. Allowing one of my comrades to be used as a political tool is disgusting, offensive and warrants an immediate retaliation.
I don’t blame Prez Hussein for this as much as the Left Wing, Communist press of this country. Prez Hussein is so far up their asses though, that he kowtows to all that they want; full knowing that he will need them for re-election.
But- if Americans were really concerned over the deaths of other Americans, let’s attack the biggest traumatic killer there is. Have the press photograph those killed in car crashes. Or at least those killed because of dumbPhuck drunk drivers. They get all up in arms because of a few, very few, military deaths, but don’t give a shit when whole families are murdered by drunk drivers. While each military death is a tragic thing for the persons family, and we of the military world mourn as well, it has no bearing on the lives of the ordinary American. Showing flag draped coffins is nothing more than one more facet of Bush Derangement Syndrome.
When the press ceased to report the news, and began to “form” the news, this radical approach began to grow. As I see it, Done Deal. The press once again shows that they truly don’t give a damn about our Troops. Do they all have Helen Thomas make their kool aid?
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The people who are in favor of this are grave robbing ghouls. They want this only because there is a war they oppose and see the opportunity to steal the goodwill the public has for the fallen and use it for their political purposes.
The big tip off that it’s political is that the “peace” groups and the media won’t do the same thing for the military folks killed on 9/11 at the Pentagon. That would be ‘inflamatory” so we couldn’t do that.
Obama is all about politics and this would hurt him with a very large voting block. You can’t piss off the American legion, the VFW, and retired and active military and have a good approval rating.
Little known item: A Commanding Officer has the authority to bar from the installation under his command anyone he so chooses. In a manner of speaking, the CO is the owner. So, if he doesn’t want someone onboard the Base/Post/Station, they don’t get on.
Solution to the question at hand, I would think.
In this case, the msm would be having kittens by the truckload. But as far as I am concerned, they can take a hike.
But the minute you block the media, then you have to deal with that nonsesne of freedom of the press, freedom of speech, etc.
Believe me, while you all hate my very existence, this is a topic I feel the same as you about.
Leave the men that have given so much alone, leave their memories to their families, friends, compatriots.
The media has no right to be there and to use this as a ploy to get more people against the war. There is a time and a place for that, and this is by no means the place or the podium to use.
I agree with you too!
Amazing, but SD found a position that I agree with, too. Although I don’t agree with the red herring of Freedom of the Press, it’s all about selling advertising and catering to the whims of the anti’s, and the power of the media to set the agenda.
I COULD ALMOST AGREE TO ALLOWING THE PRESS TO PHOTOGRAPH THE COFFINS; IN RETURN FOR BEING ALLOWED TO PHOTOGRAPH THE REMAINS OF THE BABIES WHO HAVE BEEN ABORTED. DINOSAUR MEDIA PROBABLY WOULDN’T GO FOR THAT THOUGH.
Southern Dhimmicrat, I will re-elevate you to Dhimmicrat with that. Thank you, Sincerely for you consideration for those who gave all. And yes, there are those who are against the war, and those flag draped coffins contain those who did their part to maintain that they can continue to protest. There are particular and peculiar places to have a forum. Dover Delaware is not one of them. While it, in and of itself, is not sacred; Those Flag draped caskets and their contents surely are. Thank you.
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