On this 19th anniversary of New Coke, the second-biggest dust-up in the news is over today's Doonsbury strip, which contains the phrase "Son of a bitch!" It's a reasonable response considering the context. BD regains consciousness to find his lower leg missing. Over here, ME gives a rundown of the various responses of papers, including "bleeping" the strip, refusing to run it, and moving the strip over to the paper's editorial page.
The bigger dust-up is over the release and publication of 361 photos from Dover Air Force Base, where the remains of most of the overseas casualties arrive back in the States. They're over here. The proprietor of that website got the photos through the proper channels of a Freedom of Information Act request, which officials say was approved in error, but was approved nonetheless. A policy of not releasing photos of that particular subject matter has been in force for about 15 years now. The official argument for the policy is to protect the privacy of the family members and prevent the families from having a very sensitive moment put in the middle of a political debate. People opposed to the plan write that the government is not so much concerned with the family members as with the effect on public approval caused by photos of flag-draped caskets lined up eight deep.
I'm fortunate to have never lost a friend or family member to military action; my grandpa was wounded in World War 2, but came home alive. I have only the highest respect for people who have lost friends or family, and the soldiers who give their lives so I can go about my life safely and comfortably. In this world where the media faces stiff fines for indecency, perhaps we need these photographs to remind us that war causes the ultimate indecency.
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