Well, it looks like the newest lefty Katrina talking point is beginning to clarify itself, and it’s one of the worst yet. The jackals must be getting desperate.
Exhibit A: Kerry-supporting, anti-war “conservative” Andrew Sullivan (who, let’s face it, he’s a hirsute¹ Josh Marshall with a nicer apartment and a bear fetish), begins his morning dutifully parroting the hard left line that FEMA is, in his words, attempting “to censor the reality in New Orleans, under the guise of ‘respect’ for the dead.” Andrew then quotes this damning evidence, from Reuters:
[O]n Tuesday, FEMA refused to take reporters and photographers along on boats seeking victims in flooded areas, saying they would take up valuable space need in the recovery effort and asked them not to take pictures of the dead. In an e-mail explaining the decision, a FEMA spokeswoman wrote: “The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media.”
But hard-boiled journalist Andrew ain’t buying that whole “respect” angle—after all, this management agency is currently under the control of the Bush Administration, and, because the Bushies hate gays, their motives, as pertain to the still unidentified corpses Katrina’s victims, cannot be anything other than base. Writes Andrew, a powerful call for civil disobedience in the center of a disaster area:
The press should ignore those requests, get boats themselves and show the world what has actually happened. (Hey, much of the media was ahead of FEMA during the worst of it. Why not again now?) That goes for any intrepid bloggers with camera-phones or anyone else who can slip through the censorship net. If necessary, faces can be blurred to protect the dignity of the dead. But it matters that we see the full consequences of government delinquency. That’s what the press is for. Ignore FEMA. Photobloggers, here’s an opportunity for important and necessary work.
Andrew assumes that the rest of the world is just itching to see a bunch or rotting, bloated, mangled corpses—or that the corpses themselves are the product of a lax government and not (and this is far more likely, it seems to me) of a Category 4 hurricane rushing through a city below sea level, where hundreds of thousands of people stayed behind.
Of course, there is something to the charge that government mismanagement led to deaths, but Andrew is interested only in placing that blame at the federal level, which is why he’s spent the week hammering on FEMA—the extent of whose management successes and failure in the wake of a total breakdown of the local governments’ efforts is still unknown, and probably won’t be known for a while (though the Daily Howler has a useful comparison between reaction times here).
In short, Andrew wishes to use the bloated corpses of those killed by a horrific natural disaster to suggest widespread federal government “delinquency” and to “show the world,” well, what floating dead bodies that’ve spent a week immersed in filth look like once the storm clears, I guess.
Of course, those in Indonesia or Honduras probably don’t need the reminder, but to Andrew, the TRUTH must out—particularly if said “truth” (and really, what could be more real than an event staged for media; because remember, Andrew is asking you to go out and film the bodies, not the cleanup) can be used to hurt an Administration who doesn’t agree with him on a host of gay advocacy positions.
Not to be outdone by a “conservative,” though, the Washington Post‘s Terry M. Neal (exhibit B) joins Andrew, Oliver Willis, Attaturk, “Azael” and others in pushing this new “censorship” meme (and remember, kiddies: FEMA’s refusal to give up space in their vehicles to photographers looking for hurricane porn is the very definition of censorship). From “Hiding Bodies Won’t Hide the Truth”:
Cadavers have a way of raising questions.
When people see them, they wonder, how did they get dead?
When a lot of people see a lot of dead bodies, politicians begin thinking of damage control.
Echoing a Defense Department policy banning the photographing of flag-draped coffins of American troops, representatives from the much-maligned Federal Emergency Management Agency said on Tuesday that it didn’t want journalists to accompany rescue boats as they went out to search for storm victims, because “the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect.” An agency spokeswoman told Reuters, “We have requested that no photographs of the deceased be made by the media.”
Whatever the objective, those pesky questions about accountability are not going away. And a full-scale political storm over the federal government’s response to Hurricane Katrina continued to rage around the White House this week, despite the best efforts of the president’s supporters to deflect criticism by tagging it as partisan–even though many of the critics are themselves Republicans.
“There were two disasters last week: first, the natural disaster, and second, the man-made disaster, the disaster made by mistakes made by FEMA,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) told reporters this week.
Like Andrew and the rest of his ideological brethren, Neal minimizes the natural disaster aspect and skips over local government culpability entirely, preferring instead to cite that paragon of political healing, Nancy Pelosi, who, now that she thinks she smells Republican blood in the toxic waters where New Orleans once stood, is frenzied, spewing hyperbolic anti-Bush cant at roughly the rate pumps are pushing fetid floodwaters out into Lake Pontchartrain.
Neal notes that the “pesky questions of accountability” aren’t going away, but that charge only works, sadly, because—like Cindy Sheehan before him—he and the rest of the lefty propagandists pretend not to hear the answers.
And now, like a bayou gator, he’s hoping to feast on the carcasses of Hurricane Katrina’s victims—though his hunger has little to do with a biological imperative and everything to do with a petty and vicious partisan streak that Neal, try as he might, is unable to hide.
When the story of Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath are told, I promise to portray what I find honestly, as I’ve tried to do throughout this national nightmare. In the meantime, though, I will continue to document the politicized excesses of the sensationalists and partisans—nowhere so unseemly as in this latest desire on their part to turn thousands of dead humans into rotting, emotionally charged political props, all under the guise of “respect” for the “Truth.”
¹ by request
****
update: Jay Reding, in the comments:
If Fred Phelps started taking pictures of AIDS victims to try to show people the price of being gay, Sullivan would be throwing a shit-fit of epic proportions. But apparently using the innocent victims of a hurricane is the best way of being a BRAVE TRUTH TELLER!
Where the hell has decency gone these days?
****
update 2: More, from the Anchoress and Confederate Yankee.
****
update 3: A long-time reader of this site emailed to tell me he will no longer be reading protein wisdom, owing to my hightlighting of Jay Reding’s comment (above), an editorial decision he termed “disappointing.”
As I told him in my reply, I’m sorry to hear he took offense, but that I’m not sure I see the problem. Personally, I think Phelps a ghoul, and I suspect Jay Reding does, as well. And Jay’s point, as I took it, was that Sullivan would likely see the repulsiveness of the argument he was making if that same type of argument was directed at HIS dignity. I don’t think Jay Reding believes showing AIDs patients actually IS a judgment on homosexuality. Lord knows I don’t.
Just to be clear.
So…
Sullivan’s married now, right? I mean gay marriage is legal in MA, and that’s where he lives. And that was his big issue. So he’s married now, right?
He’s not?
Okay, okay, but he’s still, you know, a conservative, right?
Higher gas prices, you say?
Using dead bodies as political props…I’ve seen that somewhere…somewhere…Oh. Sheehan.
Bravo Jeff,
And, of course, it has NOTHING to do with the fact that these bodies have been soaking for at least a week in a chemical stew that is dangerous – possibly lethal – to unprotected skin (whether broken by cuts or not). And that the clean-up crews might prefer to make fewer trips than have to put up with a deadweight lookie-loo.
Y’think?
TW: bad. Don’t even get me started on how … this is
“Weekend at Bernie’s III: The French Quarter”
Yeah, that sells…
What a bunch of damned ghouls.
“Hurricane porn” is exactly the right term. They want to use the bodies of the victims of this hurricane as nothing more than political props to try and enact their pissant political agenda. It’s so far beyond the pale it’s ludicrous.
If Fred Phelps started taking pictures of AIDS victims to try to show people the price of being gay, Sullivan would be throwing a shit-fit of epic proportions. But apparently using the innocent victims of a hurricane is the best way of being a BRAVE TRUTH TELLER!
Where the hell has decency gone these days?
I have been looking long and hard since the start of this whole mess, and I have yet to find anyone listing any actual FEMA mistakes! If the mistake was “getting there late”, then they also need to explain what caused their “late” arrival. In regards to the framing of this issue, I’m afraid the left has already won. I’ve seen the briefings and the press conferences, and can’t help but notice that all the questions asked start from the premise that FEMA was “late”, its their fault the people died because the were “late”, and the reporters want to know why they were “late”. It seems to me thats like asking me when I started beating my wife.
HOW DARE ANYONE ASK THE FREE PRESS TO SHOW A MODICUM OF HUMAN DECENCY! Yeah that’s going to play well with the ovters. I’m beginning to wonder if, perhaps, the intellectual leaders of the left aren’t on the Karl Rove pay roll.
“The press should ignore those requests, get boats themselves and show the world what has actually happened.”
Yeah, right!! Getting a boat really worked out for Sean Penn. I can just imagine a bunch of leftist desk jockeys trying to figure out how to attach the gas tank to the outboard motor. The entertainment value is enormous. I think I’ll start a pool on how long it will be before the first media flotilla runs aground on the hood of a 1987 Chevy Impala.
Voters, of course. I admit it, I’m the chief reason my highschool typing teacher committed suicide.
I’ve seen a couple stories today where Republicans and even some Democrats are starting to wonder if the Democrats have overplayed their hand. Even Glenn Reynolds alludes to it.
What the official bastards on both sides of the aisle and Big Media don’t seem to understand is that what is most galling is that they are playing a hand at all, not that they are playing it badly. Were we really supposed to applaud Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid and Hillary Clinton if they played their hand brilliantly? Un-fucking-believable.
As to showing the dead, hey the personal is political, right? And what is more personal than death. The bandits seem to feel that they don’t have to show us any stinkin’ dignity when there’s a chimp to bag!
One can only hope that after the fetid swamp of New Orleans is cleaned up that the fetid swamp of Washington politics can be drained and that the leeches and other parasites in Big Media that thrive in that swamp can be completely eradicated.
Turing word: wish. I keep telling you Jeff, it’s spooky.
By God, I’m with those lefties. We do need to show the world graphic images of death so that they can see the consequences of our actions. Let’s hurry and get a film crew into the nearest abortion clinic.
You know, to raise questions.
Come on, what about my right as an american to look at the mangled bloated and unidentifiable corpses of complete strangers.
FEMA is infringing on my rights!
TW: Getting-As in “This is getting fucking ridiculous!” (As opposed to regular ridiculous, which it already was.)
And I’m curious, would the same people being braying for pictures of the dead body if the dominant story line was that Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin are the ones who screwed the pooch?
Turing word: action, as in right now!
Damn Bushitler and his gaycorspehating evil mind controlling administration. Now what? Evil solar flares on the horizon? How long will it take for the MSM to blame the lack of response to this natural phenomennon?
Yeah, but they made mistakes!
Ghoulish.Media.Whores.
Lets see, where have we seen personal tragedy used to further a political agenda… hmmmm, maybe some of the sites screaming “here is the video the liberals don’t want you to see, people jumping from burning buildings”
And the montages of pictures all with a pithy little “vote for W” saying underneath, implying that a vote for a democrat would end up bringing about 9/11 part Deux.
So feign your disgust all you want, just recognize that any limitation on press access can be seen as a constitutional issue, something Conservatives used to stand for.
Right. Because the dead caused by an act of war launched by a terrorist enemy and the dead resulting from a natural disaster? Same thing.
Oh. And that nobody was calling for photos of those bodies falling from the towers once they hit the ground? Skip that. Muddies the argument.
And if it is indeed true that FEMA denying rides to journalists and asking them not to photograph the corpses is a violation of the Constitution? Then I’ll reluctantly admit so—while maintaining my disgust. Just because you can doesn’t mean you should. This is another thing conservatives seem to know.
Sure Jeff, feed yourself some more hate and hypocricy, justify it however you want. The main point is that freedom of the press is freedom of the press. Why do you hate the press, Jeff? Why do you hate the Constitution?
Or is it really all about IOKIYAR?
Oh, and Jeff, your pathetic attack on Andrew Sullivan really makes you look like a real man. Better go see if your roof mounted lights and your truck lift kit got in today.
Here’s the correct link to the Anchoress post
The press should ignore those requests, get boats themselves and show the world what has actually happened.
Do it yourself, Sully. Chickenphotojournalist!
Why do I hate the press? Because they’ve devolved into partisan tabloid journalists who do nothing but sensationalize the news and look for the controversy angle at the expense of the bigger picture, which—while not as exciting—far closer to “truth,” so far as “truth” can be captured in narrative.
Or was that a rhetorical question?
I think the biggest mistake made by FEMA is this:
FEMA didn’t say ”No, <i>really, are you guys ready for this down there because if you’re not, you know we could step in and take over and help you through this disaster-to-be, you know… so, no fooling around now, you guys are really, really, really ready? Okay.” </i>after Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco gave their assurances that they were prepared.
The biggest fault at the Federal level lies with the National Weather Service.
The National Weather Service gave out way too much information about the specifics of the hurricane, pressures rising a couple of millibars signalling a possible restructuring of the eyewall, course corrections and possible landfall locations that were twenty miles east of here, forty miles west of there.
Weather reports for New Orleans and vicinity should have consisted of four words ”Get The Hell Out”
Followed by two minutes of ”If You’re Still Here – Fill Many Bottles with Water, Grab some Canned Food, a Can Opener – Clear a Path to Your Attic, Set Up a Ladder to Get There, Put an Axe or Large Hammer in Place, and Wait. Bring a Battery Powered Radio. Finish that Canoe Project You’ve Been Working On.”
No scary Doppler 82,132 Radar pictures.
No Guy Standing in Big Wind.
Just instructions for those that were, for whatever reasons, stuck there.
And they shall build a gallows,
Out of the corpses of the citizens,
Of New Orleans; in their mad glee,
To finally hang Chimpy McHalliBusHitler,
And they shall not see,
That their madness,
Will be their downfall,
As the smirking one,
Slips away in the darkness,
And they drop the nooses,
Over their own heads,
And step off into the night.
Word: Account, “They shall be called to account again for raging insanity.”
A news reporter filming a tower burning can’t help but capture images of those who leapt from it to avoid buring to death. That’s very different from searching throug hte rubbble a week after the tower has fallen to show mangled corpses, isn’t it?
And I must ask you this. If you were all for excising the flim that showed people jumping from the towers, why are you now so keen on pawing over the dead? I’m truly interested to know.
Why do I hate the press? Because they’ve devolved into partisan tabloid journalists who do nothing but sensationalize the news and look for the controversy angle at the expense of the bigger picture, whichâ€â€while not as excitingâ€â€far closer to “truth,†so far as “truth†can be captured in narrative.
Jeff, I think you are sullying the name of tabloid journalists by associating them with the MSM.
When we read about BatBoy, we know we’re getting a semi-well-crafted work of fiction from someone who put some effort into their subject.
When is the last time you’ve seen the MSM put that much effort into a story?
Are those who have truck lift kits and mounted roof lights all of a kind, Binky?
RACIST!
My “attack” on Sullivan, incidentally, is that he’s a fucking self-promoting, self-aggrandizing shill who’s wrapped his entire political philosophy around his hatred of an administration that doesn’t back his political hobby horse.
The really pathetic thing here is your rushing to defend him and pretending its because you are protecting his honor.
Lets see, where have we seen personal tragedy used to further a political agenda… hmmmm, maybe some of the sites screaming “here is the video the liberals don’t want you to see, people jumping from burning buildingsâ€Â
And what political agenda is that? Reminding us of the reasons that we are using extraordinary measures to defend our country from outside attack (Homeland Security, Patriot Act) and taking the fight to the enemy (Afghanistan, Iraq, Proliferation Security Initiative)? If not, to what specific political agenda do you refer, BinkyBoy?
The main point is that freedom of the press is freedom of the press. Why do you hate the press, Jeff? Why do you hate the Constitution?
Please link to a post that advocates governmental prior restraint of press coverage of Katrina. And, no, ferrying a photographer into the middle of a disaster area with the effect of tying up limited rescue and recovery resources doesn’t count.
The rest of your hate-filled spew can reasonably be file under the category “Heh, Internet anonymity is so keeewl. Heh, I said ‘anonymity”, heh, heh…”
That truck lift kit/roof mounted lights thing was the lamest attempt at a put down I’ve ever seen. As a matter of fact, I think it was so lame that it actually made <i>you<i> look like a jackass BinkyBoy.
Besides, we all know Jeff drives a minivan.
Turing word = Pathetic straw grabbing partisan hack. As in, well, you get it.
“My “attack†on Sullivan, incidentally, is that he’s a fucking self-promoting, self-aggrandizing shill who’s wrapped his entire political philosophy around his hatred of an administration that doesn’t back his political hobby horse.”
Amen.
And nearly as bad, he has been so utterly transparent about it that he appears devoid of any shred of self-awareness. I’ve seen 180 degree shifts of opinion performed by children that were better rationalized.
Woooo, yeah baby minivan! Now that’s a damn good rip. You takin’ notes Binky you incorrigable sod?
Well,
The left failed with Abu Grahib pictures, so now they hope to pin the new pictures of dead people on Bush.
Count me as one who thinks it has no chance in hell it will work.
And make no mistake, that is the ONLY reason they are demanding to see these pictures. It makes me wonder what they would be saying about this whole mess if John Kerry were president. Who would they be blaming?
Oh wait, I forgot. If John Kerry were elected we would have not had this hurricane. My bad.
But that’s pretty much what they were doing the last two or three days before Katrina hit. The bulletins they were releasing were about as Apocalyptic as you can get, at least without quoting Revelation. The word ‘catastrophic’ appeared multiple times.
And the Weather Channel (Yes, I’m addicted to it. Why do you ask?) screamed “GET OUT!!” ‘til they were blue in the face.
Face it. It was a horrible combination of local and state administrative incompetence, on top of a significant population which either was unwilling to get out, or couldn’t (see above about incompetent local gov’t).
The Weather Service can scream ‘til the cows come home, but someone has to listen and act. And that didn’t happen.
Hey, you guys; can you help me look for Mary?
Last time I heard from her she sounded really upset and now I can’t find her anywhere.
I’ll go over here and look.
“Why do you hate the press, Jeff? Why do you hate the Constitution?”
CENSORSHIP!!! YAARRRGGGGHHHH!!!!
—falls on floors in own vomit—
Yeah……that’s the ticket. Charter a boat (if there are any left in Louisiana NOT doing search/rescue operations) & go out looking for dead bodies to photograph. Hey, while you’re at it, maybe you could pose the dead with props, like sunglasses & cigarettes to give Rotten.com & ConsumptionJunction some good material. Excitable Andy could do his best Lyndie England pose while pointing to three bloated bodies in what’s left of a magnolia tree.
And don’t forget to check the bodies for watches, jewelry, cash, etc, after you get the money shot, because the job of “self-righteous media whore” needs LOTS of seed money, especially now that the bandwidth telethon scam has been exposed.
TW – here. We haven’t arrived at the end of human decency, but you can see it from HERE.
Yes it was a snarkish rhetorical question.
But along those lines, back to the usage of 9/11 video and photo’s to generate hatred of Muslims, would it be ok to have photographed and videotaped victims as they drown? How about as they died of dehydration, cholera and disentary? Would those be usable photo’s, after all, they arn’t showing the dead, the bloated and the decaying, or in your case, the smashed and broken blobs of flesh on the sidewalk. If the video of those drownings were used to generate hatred for the Dominican Republic or Canadians, would that be ok as well?
Just so I’m clear on the PC rules on this one. It’s ok to show the bodies of the victims of Katrina because it is part of the historical record but any rememberences of 9/11 are to be hidden from the public view. That about sum it up.
Just trying to find a way to bask in the warm loving glow of the internet based left leaning folks.
TW – ask, as in if I don’t, how will I know?
No, Binky you insufferable tard, they wouldn’t be useable because it’s disgusting to use footage of dying people to further your political agenda. What is it with lefties and parading the dead? Furthermore, it was a natural disaster that the federal government could nothave prevented. Not only that, the Feds would have to ask permission from the state to help out anyway, and even on the Friday after the hurricane, the LA gov still needed 24 hours to decide if she wanted Bush’s help.
You’re whole thoguht process here is dispicable, the fact that you actually think there’s a point where using such images is excuseable.
Turing = how. As in, “How the hell has evolution not weeded you out yet?”
And what part of, “we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media” is harmful to the First Amendment? It’s a REQUEST, not a demand. If Reuters wants to hire a boat and get pictures of floating corpses to parade to its various constituent news agencies, go for it. Nobody is stopping them. If they have so little respect for the privacy of the families of the dead, then so be it. But let’s be clear that this was a request for decency and nothing more.
“But along those lines, back to the usage of 9/11 video and photo’s to generate hatred of Muslims…”
Don’t you mean hatred of “terrorists”? Or in our leftarian-speak….”Freedom fighters”?
NO BLOOD FOR GULF SHORE OIL!!!!
— slips in pile of vomit spewed while screeching about censorhip, drops protest banner —
Utter desperation.
I suspect most Americans believe that the truth about anything–anything–ultimately comes out. And if you’re certain your postition is true, you can afford to wait a while, having faith that it will resonate with reasonable people.
Ghoulishly exploiting these victims is crass. They’ve suffered too much to be exploited in struggles for political power–which is all this nonsense is. This is not the time for politicking.
After the many ways in which they’ve been let down, we need to treat the victims with some respect, treat them like the beloved humans they were. Empathize. I’m sure if I died under similar cicumstances, I’d want my corpse treated with a certain amount of reverence.
I’d go so far as to say that if the Left gets its wish on this, they’ll end up sorry beyond belief. They underestimate the number of people who find such exploitation contemptible.
“What is it with lefties and parading the dead? “
They are advocates of slave-morality. It ain’t rocket science.
Gee Shank, and I thought you loved me.
Why don’t you try reading what I wrote instead of reading into it something I never said.
Republican’s wanted images of 9/11 to be paraded in front of the public, and did so, on a regular basis to generate the kind of fear and paranoia that gave Bush such a boost in the immediate aftermath. Where are those videos and photo’s today? Oh, forgot to parade them now that the elections are over?
I don’t condone the usage of these photo’s to be used against anyone. Nowhere did I ever say that. But I am against anyone ever limiting the freedom of the press. If they don’t have room in the boats, they don’t have room. But limiting them to NO photo’s is just censorship, plain and simple.
Using dead bodies as political props…I’ve seen that somewhere…somewhere…Oh. Sheehan.
Funny, I thought you were going to say something about having the Republican Convention at ground zero, but instead you opted for the grieving mother.
“Republican’s wanted images of 9/11 to be paraded in front of the public”
No, the PUBLIC did. Try to think once in a while, you pathetic slave.
“But limiting them to NO photo’s is just censorship, plain and simple.”
Censorship is when the government surpresses photos. Is this happening? Do you have proof? Nobody is stopping from going down there and taking some pics if you want to…or are you a CHICKENPHOTOJOURNALIST?
“Republican’s wanted images of 9/11 to be paraded in front of the public, and did so, on a regular basis to generate the kind of fear and paranoia that gave Bush such a boost in the immediate aftermath. “
Just like Roosevelt used the images of the attack on Parl Harbour!
PARTISAN BASTARD!!!
Apparently, Binky, it’s you who skips over too many words when reading. FEMA didn’t demand, they requested. And, as someone else pointed out, there’s nothing stopping these photographers from doing a Sean Penn and getting their own photos.
Censorship is when they shoot you, throw you in jail or fine you for doing that which they don’t want you to do.
I hope this clears things up for you.
ALL OF NEW YORK, LOUISIANA, MISSISSIPPI, AND ALABAMA ARE NOW FOREVER OFF LIMITS TO REPUBLICANS, THE POLITICAL OPPORTUNISTS!
(Greta can still cover Natalee, though. Grandfather clause. You’re welcome)
Oops, “censorship” isn’t working…shit…what’s next?
Plan B—“RACISM!”—oh wait, maybe “FASCISM!!!” or “Stop Tax Cuts For the Rich” or uhhh “Did the Right-Wing Kill NO like they Killed Wellstone, we are JUST RAISING ISSUES!!!”
—running out of ideas here…please help!
So its ok for a government entity to “request” censorship? Who made the federal government the morality police?
Oh yeah, you faux conservatives did!
But along those lines, back to the usage of 9/11 video and photo’s to generate hatred of Muslims, would it be ok to have photographed and videotaped victims as they drown?
When…stop beating…wife. Well, we know we aren’t dealing with a logician here.
“So its ok for a government entity to “request†censorship?”
A request is not censorship, dumbshit. You are begging the question. Sort of like “So Binky can’t read, does that mean he is retarded?”
Of course, the faux libertarians wouldn’t be distorting the real story, would they?
I wonder why this isn’t getting discussed.
Q: What does a Republican call censorship?
A: Strong Leadership!
Force is implicit in the word censorship. That leaves ‘request’ out. When you’re censored, the censor doesn’t request to shoot you, put you in jail or fine you for your words, etc.
They don’t request that you shut up; they make you shut up. That’s what censorship is.
TW: center;is there an adult learning center in Binky’s area to teach him what he should have learned in high school?
National Guard and FEMA? Not the same.
In fact, the National Guard is still under the control of the Governor, I believe.
VICIOUS TRUTH-CENSORING DEMOCRATS!
Nice try Geek. You know damn well that if the jouranlists had been shot/stabbed/drowned, you would then BLAME the National Guard for not “protecting the media better.”
Your agenda is out in the open…so drop the faux “outrage” and just wear your hatred in the open.
Republican’s wanted images of 9/11 to be paraded in front of the public, and did so, on a regular basis to generate the kind of fear and paranoia that gave Bush such a boost in the immediate aftermath.
Ah, finally an answer to my question:
And what political agenda is that? Reminding us of the reasons that we are using extraordinary measures to defend our country from outside attack (Homeland Security, Patriot Act) and taking the fight to the enemy (Afghanistan, Iraq, Proliferation Security Initiative)? If not, to what specific political agenda do you refer, BinkyBoy?
Fear and paranoia of what, BinkyBoy? That well-groomed, rich young Islamofascists would execute a plan both bold and brilliant in its conception to hijack four airliners and fly them into square into U.S. financial and political hubs? That other Islamofascists would plot to bomb a New York office building? That an Islamofascist might try to sneak a bomb over the Canadian border into Washington state to wreck havoc with its’ millenium celebration? That an Islamofascist would attempt to blow up an airliner with a bomb in his shoe? Yes, now I see the light! It’s all been a dream!
Who was it that said that the Left has rocketed beyond parody?
Don’t bother wringing your hands about FEMA. If they’ve got it coming, they’ll get theirs. Patience.
Binkyboy, a word or two:
Some folks here may be Conservatives, but a whole lot are more like what they used to call ‘Liberals’ in the days before that term was hijacked by the far Left. Probably before your time. Please update your notes.
We have no problem with the Constitution–only with its application. Apparently it applies to the Left differently than it applies to the rest of us. It shore is a mystery, but I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of it. Perhaps we can agree that its application is inconsistent.
What on earth makes you think we dislike Muslims? We’re very concerned with radical Islamists who are trying to turn the clock back 1000 years on Western society and murder everything we love. Strangely enough, we’re interested in eveybody’s well-being, even yours. You can thank us later, when you come to.
Watching the Democrats these days is like watching a pre-school t-ball game with a no-strikes rule in effect. They keep swinging and swinging with all their might, only the t and ball are behind them, because the helmet has fallen over their eyes. Only much, much sadder and far less cute.
No challenge to the morality police comment?
Thats fine, I realize it must be hard to keep up the amount of hate when rationality enters the equation. Keep blaming liberals for all your problems, though, I’m sure it helps keeps all the little demons at bay.
Oh, and nice name calling, but I think you can all do a lot better. Come on, get creative, you’re just not making me laugh hard enough.
Geek:
1. Your spideysense tells you that the police officer is a Republican, right?
2. The Louisiana National Guard reports to a Governor of which party? Come on, you can say it…
Not a worthy effort, even by troll standards.
Leftist Poster:
Out of ideas? They say that admitting the truth is the first step on the road to recovery….
Good luck!
After the Galviston hurricane in 1900, photographers of dead bodies were summarily executed. It’s true… I read it on the internet.
swimdad
Binky
You asking about the morality question because you are dying for a GAY COCK OF LIES post?
The reason we want to show film of the bodies falling from the WTC (but not hitting the ground) is to try and remind people we are still at war, and that this is what appeasement, or refusing to take step one in the twelve step program to eradicate militant Islam brings. Is that an exclusively Republican message? Because if you think it is, I think we’ve reached a breakthrough in diagnosing your psychosis.
And I’ll ask the same question again that I asked above. If it becomes clear that the primary blame for the catastrophe in not evacuating New Orleans lies with Governor Blanco and Mayor Nagin, are you still going to be screaming that the dead bodies need to be shown?
Turing word: sun, as in watch the roaches scatter.
No challenge to the morality police comment?
Is it Jeff’s or anyone else’s obligation to respond to the feces you fling at the screen? In this instance, the question makes no sense even in the bizarro moonbat cave that you seem to inhabit. Now please excuse me; I need to retrieve some TP to clean up my screen.
Isn’t a Binky some type of… pacifier?
Kinda fitting, no?
Binkyboy:
I think if I had to answer you with deadly candor, I’d have to suggest that it depends on whose ox is being gored.
But since we’re looking for consistency here, I think it’s best for the news media to put side their burning desire to embarrass the administration and exercise the prudence that held them is such good stead during the 9/11 disaster: eyes off the bodies.
Hey, c’mon you guys, Binky and the Geek have left the happy confines of Balloon Juice to expose all you Bushitler apologists to all the penetrating arguments and fact-filled exposes that have made Cole’s place such an, um, interesting place to visit short of actually going to Daily Kos.
What on earth makes you think we dislike Muslims?
Projection. The Angry Left has become so Know-Nothing isolationist parochial that any resistance to the forces that seek to destroy several centuries of Western civilization can only be motivated by the basest of motives.
Wait wait wait…
Andrew Sullivan is GAY???
Why doesn’t he ever mention it???
It’s a well-known secret.
So still no answer as to why a federal agency needs to be the morality police? I thought open markets and capitalism would answer that demand, no?
The reason the Guard can’t let members of the press in yet is they haven’t had time to cover up the evidence from the levee bombings! Geeeezzz!
And I apologize for making fun of the dude who said people where cannibalizing corpses, he wasn’t that far off apparently.
tw: million, that’s how many of ‘em I got! /rimshot
BinkyBoy:
NOW I get it. You don’t have any desire for discussion, civil or uncivil, straight or sarcastic. You just want-the-last-word. Yes, I remember the days of HAVING-TO-HAVE-THE-LAST-WORD, those halcyon days of pre-algebra, smelly week-old gym clothes, and bra snapping. Good times…goooood times….
“So still no answer as to why a federal agency needs to be the morality police?”
You are begging the question again, tard. Look up: Non Sequitur
“I thought open markets and capitalism would answer that demand, no?”
Nobody is stopping you from going down there and taking pictures of dead bodies (and horrifying the victim’s friends and families).
What is wrong with the Feds (or anybody) for ASKING people to be civil and respectful and not be a cynical ghoul?
Bink – if I may call you that – Bink, old man:
what part of common decency and a respect for the families of the recently departed do you fail to comprehend?
Really, Dude, you should cease and desist. I’m embarrassed for you, and you’ve long since lost the painful, wincing-funny-in-a-David-Brent-sort-of-way appeal you had a few posts up.
Here’s an idea – read the other posts on this thread carefully, perhaps have a friend help you with some of the “hard” words, and then, after a quiet period of reflection, consider whether it’s sometimes not the best thing to seek political advantage in the tragedies and suffering of others.
Binky: What federal agency is setting itself up as the morality police? That your question? FEMA requested that pictures of the dead not be taken out of respect. To ‘police’ something means to enforce your will or mandate. As Juliette has already responded, they didn’t claim they’d string up any photographers, did they? So you tossing the word ‘police’ in there is disingenuous.
So once again, dragging out the video of 9/11 for an election is ok, standing on top of a pile of rubble and body parts while hugging a wincing firefighter is “leadership” but documenting the worst catastrophy in our lifetimes is “out of bounds”.
Nice to know. Thanks for the morality lesson.
Oh, and BLT, do the Fashion Police wear cute little badges?
Let me sum up BinkyBoy’s post:
“BECAUSE OF THE HYPOCRACY!”
Hey Binky, how many dead bodies were shown in the video?
Are you going to answer why you keep begging the question or are you just another commie-usefulidiot?
Plenty of bodies were shown, they just hadn’t finished dying yet.
And as I pointed out earlier, would it be ok to replay a video of a drowning victim and use it to scare people just to win an election?
“And as I pointed out earlier, would it be ok to replay a video of a drowning victim and use it to scare people just to win an election?”
Fine, I’d be cool with that. So we are agreed that that the GOP can show drowing victims to avoid being hypocites. Big problem solved. So what’s next chuckles?
No challenge to you being a commie-usefulidiot. So let’s talk about how wrong it is that your mom’s a slut. How wrong is it that your mom is a dirty whore?
What a sad, sad little BinkyBoy … grasping at straws ….
Here’s the thing: had people like you not turned a hurricane into a political football, BinkyBoy, people like me would be less troubled by your desire to “document” the “worst catastrophy in our lifetimes.” But you aren’t looking to “document.” You’re looking to exploit. And in either case, going out looking for corpses to photograph is simply ghoulish—particularly when families are separated from loved ones still only “missing” in their minds.
Let me point this out yet again for you, as you seem so smugly self-assured (amazing, isn’t it, all the horrific “stands” you can take when you post anonymously?): this was a natural disaster. 911? That was an act of war. Reminding people of the war becomes necessarily poltical when one side of the political equation is attempting to downplay its seriousness. Seriousness of the war was part of the Republican platform.
As for this:
Sure. Provided you are running against Mother Nature, and she whips out photos of you building levees.
I never realized that asking for a little common decency is equivocal to being the “morality police,” Bink. Frankly, it is kind of frustrating that anyone even needs to voice this type of appeal.
There really is no good cause being served by showing us the bodies being pulled out of the water. NOLA has been through a natural disaster unlike anything America has seen since Galveston. Need we drag the families through any more pain and grief?
You know, why don’t you just wait until the death tolls come in and claim how they are on par with 9/11? It would STILL be tasteless, but at least it would have some sort of relevance above and beyond the weird voyeristic stance being thrown around right now.
“We NEED to see the bodies to know!”
No. Really. We don’t.
It is just telling that our media outlets need to be reminded of this.
Oh, and Geek? How about trying this on for size?
Nagin orders everyone out of the city, asks the police and guard units to enforce this order, yet it’s all the fault of the evil Republicans? Mmmmm. Yep. Nagin apparently changed political affiliation while I wasn’t looking. Damn him.
I have no need to see the bloated bodies, pulled a few of them out years ago. I don’t know why they want to take pictures of them, I don’t really care. What I do care is that the Federal Government believes that its the morality police. Jeff telling the press that taking photo’s is wrong is one thing, but the federal government has no dog in that hunt.
So, dying bodies ok when we want to whip up a frenzy of hatred, not ok when a Republican President has destroyed an Emergency Response Department, causing untold numbers to die in the fetid muck after a natural disaster. Just trying to get things clear here.
Binky: but of course. Fashion police wouldn’t be caught dead without their color-coordinated and tastefully accented badges. Matching holstered blow dryers are optional, of course, depending on the season and outfit.
I guess the journalists now want to “embed” with FEMA? Why don’t we ever see the bodies from suicide bombers in Iraq? Or the decapitated heads? Or the compassionate hangings and beheadings from Saudi Arabia and Iran? Or footage from 9/11? Aren’t these too graphic for the general public? Haven’t these same people been “protecting” us from such horrible images that might be used for nefarious political purposes?
Undoubtedly they’ll treat this with the dignity of Abu Ghraib.
I think Jeff speaks for many.
AFAIC, anybody caught disrespecting the dead of New Orleans should be taken down to the levee and pumped straight into Lake Ponchartrain along with the rest of the toxic scum.
Some national Democratic politician could do him/herself, *and* the country, a lot of good right now by coming forward as a voice of reason. Sadly, even moderates like Lieberman have already followed the raving lunatics over the cliff in their race to be the most outraged the soonest.
Bill Clinton is the only Democrat I’ve seen in the last week who hasn’t OD’ed on the Kool-Aid.
It’s the CINDY! gambit. Just pretend your question hasn’t been answered and keep asking it over and over! Leave it hanging there, fraught and filled with juicy portent like some overripe rhetorical tomato!
*Whip up a frenzy of hatred? Begs the question and ascribes racist motives.
*Republican President destroyed an Emergency Response Department? Begs the question, assumes facts not in evidence, misunderstands the law, the Constitution, and the proper apportionment of responsibility. Also presupposes a dearth of understanding about logistics.
*Causing untold numbers to die? Forgets that it was the hurricane that is more likely responsible for this—coupled with the local governments failure to get the city evacuated.
* fetid muck? That would be the flood waters. Which is what happens when a levee breaks and you live below sea level.
All dealt with.
Just trying to get things clear here.
No you’re not. You’re being an obtuse, snarky, asshole throwing a hissy fit about gov’t agencies being “morality police”. As if that’s some major crime.
I’m surprised you haven’t thrown out the word fascist, yet.
I think it is important to remember as well that post 9/11 the country was united in their outrage and desire to kick ass. It wasn’t until the Democrats looked amonst their ranks and found they had no FDR’s and no Kennedy’s (Teddy does not count) that they decided this whole war thing wasn’t in their best interest. So really, it was them making that political as well.
They did have Zell, but really he’s not nearly blue enough, and most assuredly too G-d bothering.
MoveOn.org now says it was all a misunderstanding, and they never planned to run an anti-Roberts ad using images of Katrina victims:
Right.
Don’t we need accountability here? Shouldn’t Brandzel be fired for even suggesting such a thing? Shouldn’t Pariser resign for allowing it to happen on his watch?
Oh, that’s right I forgot – accountability is only for Republicans.
The row-back begins…
Is binky opposed to the Federal Morality Police when they bust kiddy porn rings?
Well, that should get Sully’s attention.