News Wrap-up

1. Images of war
So the military has imposed restrictions on photographers embedded with troops that require written permission to be granted from the solider before his image can be published. This stems from a case where a soldier's family found out about his injury from a photo in the New York Times. Certainly that's not ideal. And the military's argument is that a soldier has a right to privacy - if s/he doesn't want her/his family to know about an injury that should be the soldier's right. However, as the reporter describes it, this means that he would have to ask a solider who might have shrapnel in his face and broken or burned limbs to look at his images on a lap top and write a permission note for the use of the pictures. Doesn't sound too practical.

The military does allow the photos to be used if they don't identify the soldiers, but the reporter argued that the anonymity detracts from the impact of the image - a nameless soldier doesn't reach the public the way Corporal Smith from Tucson does.

I'm not passionately against the military's position to the extent that a soldier may not want his bloodied body on the front page of the Times and maybe he deserves that much dignity. However, I agree with the reporter that his ability to communicate the realities of war are severely hampered and that this seems suspiciously like another administration attempt to limit the public's exposure to the war - which is the exact opposite of what we ought to be doing.

More pictures, more stories, more "real" reality - that's what Americans need; Americans who are so trigger-happy but don't like to know the dirty, ugly, gruesome truth of their decisions. Show it all, I say. It's like when you shove a dog's face in its mess after it has gone in the house. Maybe that's what Americans (and politicians) need.

I'm imagining President Bush in a Clockwork Orange scene being shown the image of every soldier who has died - two images actually: one of the solider alive, laughing, with his family, and one dead in his coffin, or on the field. Make him know, really, know what he has done.

2. We don't want anyone to think it isn't going well... too late.
Apparently there are some members of Congress who object to allowing expedited immigration for Iraqis because a massive resettlement of Iraqis in the US might "give the impression things aren't getting better in Iraq - that stability is decreasing, rather than increasing."

I swear to God I think I'm living in a distopian novel. Orwell - Orwell, is that you??? Did you write this nightmare?

Guess what?? Appearance is not a good reason to keep people in a hell hole we created!!! I feel like this should be obvious, but for anyone out there who is unclear - it's not actually going well. Now can we let Iraqis who would prefer to live in peace into our country?

3. Isn't it interesting?
If I were still at RLM or better yet, if I worked for the Daily Show, right now I'd be putting together a montage of the things W considers interesting. From today: "It's interesting that extremists attack democracies around the Middle East, whether it be the Iraq democracy, the Lebanese democracy or a potential Palestinian democracy," Bush said."

I think it's interesting when democracies attack otherwise stable countries. I also think it's interesting that he doesn't tie the increase in these attacks to the destabilization of the region caused by his invasion. I also think it's interesting that we have to be afraid of a Cold War with Russia and civil wars ending millions of lives in Africa. And plane hijackings. And corporate excess. And people wearing neon. And then I woke up and it was 1982.

Seriously, I hope Jon Stewart does the montage because what Bush considers interesting is interesting.

4. She's a Man Eater.
I wonder why Man Eater didn't make HRC's short list of theme songs. Today Mrs. Clinton chose Canadian singer Celine Dion's hit "You and I" popularized by Air Canada. A catchy little tune, despite my abhorrence of Ms. Dion's work. ALL of it. Ms. Dion can't hold a candle to Fleetwood Mac and her husband's use of "Don't Stop Thinking about Tomorrow" (I'm sure he's thrilled not to have to listen to it any more), but it's probably better than him taking a scene from "My Best Friend's Wedding" and lending her his song.

Now this may or may not be apocryphal, but I remember being told once that W was planning to use "Best of Times" from La Cage Aux Folles as his theme song, until someone told him that it was from a show about two gay guys who save a conservative politician's arse. I hope it's true!!!