thanks to Musket for the photo.
Posted on 09/10/2005 7:32:40 AM PDT by STARWISE
THE US military is to bar journalists and photographers from documenting the recovery of bodies left on the streets of New Orleans by hurricane Katrina.
Lieutenant-General Russel Honore, the commander of the relief operation, said on Friday that while the military had allowed reporters covering the catastrophe free rein, it was now slamming the door shut out of respect for the possibly thousands of victims and their families.
"We've had total access to everything we've done — the good, the bad and the ugly — but that operation (the recovery of corpses) will be conducted with dignity and respect for the families," the general said.
"There will be zero access to that operation. It would not be good to have pictures of people, the deceased, shown on any media."
Lieutenant-General Honore called for published pictures of corpses to be removed from websites.
As the water is slowly drained by pumps — and more bodies are revealed — journalists will be restricted from entering the parts of the city that have been submerged.
(Excerpt) Read more at theage.com.au ...
Excellent decision! Lots of precedences for this.
Leadership PING!
thanks to Musket for the photo.
Amen. The media vultures shouldn't be provided with corpses to pick over.
None of which means he isn't a great field commander. It's just that some guys aren't made for the spotlight.
The Coast Guard vice admiral is the guy you want for your front man.
...waiting for the MSM to turn on LTG Honor'e any minute now...
I'll take Honore ANY day ... thank God for him.
LOL!!!!!!
Oh, we'll see the press fight for their rights
(to publish photos of the dead)
because after all, it's George Bush's fault!
/sarc
I wouldn't object to media presence on these missions, as long as there were no cameras. That way nobody can accuse anybody of covering things up and decency is preserved.
But if Lt. Gen. Honore says no media, the only thing you can say to him is, "Yes, sir!" That man doesn't take any guff from anyone.
On the CNN website
Judge supports CNN request to cover Katrina's toll
Saturday, September 10, 2005; Posted: 1:33 a.m. EDT (05:33 GMT)
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- At the request of CNN, a federal judge in Texas Friday night blocked emergency officials in New Orleans from preventing the media from covering the recovery of bodies from Hurricane Katrina.
Attorneys for the network argued that the ban was an unconstitutional prior restraint on news gathering.
.......................................G.O.O.D..........................................
This nation doesn't need to watch the MSM showing only pix of blacks, with commentary about how Bush is at fault.
Which precedents are you thinking of?
During WWII, I believe that up until Tarawa that we didn't allow war correspondents to freely publish pictures of the dead, but I believe that from Tarawa onward that we allowed such pictures of dead soldiers.
Otherwise, I cannot think of any such restriction on the press, but the history of journalistic photography is not a part of history that I spend a lot of time on, so perhaps such restrictions were more common than I thought?
After the Galveston storm of 1900, "Kodak fiends" were treated like looters and summarily shot.
To paraphrase an oldy, 'Only the Media walks in where even ghouls fear to tread.'
How ridiculous plus also those taling heads at CNN who want to have the photos are not the ones that will have to take them exposing themselves to possible disease and mental horrors. I suspect a lot of the photographers on the ground in NO are not keen on participating.
A "state of emergency" is in effect. The situation is no longer under the jurisdiction of the judge.
I also wonder if this "judge" has anything to say about the unconstitutional confiscation of firearms from law-abing citizens defending their homes from looters and thugs.
Didn't an appeals court rule against the military on this and allow journalists in?
There was an article yesterday or the day before that said the court ruled against the military's attempt to keep journalists out.
Or maybe the voices in his head told him it was time to clean weapons.
Sometimes the press needs a kick in the head to show them that they aren't above the law.
taling = talking
Do you have one of a buzzard with CNN painted on it?????
They santized the airwaves of 9/11 pics just days after the event. Wonder why they are so gung-ho to publicize the corpses of this disaster?
As a lesson in the changes PC has brought with it...after the Galveston Storm of 1900...looters and corpse photographers were shot on sight- no questions asked. Both activities stopped within 36 hours.
"On conservative talk radio, especially, Nagin has been characterized as an irrational and incompetent local official who lost control of his city, his police force and, ultimately, his senses when he publicly dressed down the president. Even some of his underlings think the critics may be right.
"He should have evacuated the place earlier," said one city firefighter, echoing a mostly whispered sentiment here as the collection of dead bodies begins in earnest. The firefighter asked not to be identified for fear of retribution.
Determining what could have been done better, and what mistakes were made, will take months and perhaps years. President Bush is among those vowing to do some accounting. In one recent interview, the mayor said that everyone, including him, shares the blame for the untold numbers of dead lying under the fetid waters that now cover 60 percent of the city. Pressed on the criticisms, Nagin shot back at a news conference this week: "To those who would criticize, where the hell were you?" he said. "Where the hell were you?"
==============================================
I guess because it's been such a disgusting drama queenish convention of idiots down there, but I'm cracking up at this whine of Nagin's. It's like the Menendez brothers whining that now they were orphans ... AFTER they killed their parents..... dear Lord, save us.
================================================
This snippet from the above article:
"Nagin has shown signs that he wants to reach out. Once the Superdome and the Convention Center -- from which horrible scenes were broadcast around the world -- were cleared, Nagin thanked everyone who provided resources and complimented the Army lieutenant general who helped get the ball moving. He also has attempted to show his human side.
"You know, my heart is broken," Nagin said. "And, you know, it's, it's a tough thing, when you see a city that you love so much, and you see it so devastated and so -- almost dead, and you wonder what the future looks like. I'm basically homeless now."'
I suppose common decency is too much to expect.
My Mom saw dead bodies in NO on CNN a couple nights ago - one had been murdered in a horrific way. No faces were shown but she wishes she had not seen this because as she says....you cannot UNsee what you have seen. Told her to quit watching CNN - they will be going for the sensational National Enquirer type coverage.
We have the decent people of America behind us (and we have the guns).
Any questions?
There is no right to gather the news, only to publish what you have gathered. The press has no more right to be somewhere than members of the general public. In fact they have no special rights that the rest of us do not have.
OTOH, there is a "right of the people" to keep and bear arms, which the Constitution says "shall not be infringed" (or in the case of the LA Constitution, a "right of each citizen" which "shall not be abridged"). Where is court order restraining the police and National Guard from confiscating the arms of the citizens?
Common decency has never been a trademark of the MSM. "Bush's fault" is their mantra, their talking point, and their mission.
If the NO body count is "only" two or three hundred rest assured the MSM will not cover the "low" body count.
Their only interest is a "high" body count and their mantra, "Bush's fault." Believe it!
U.S. Coast Guard Chief of Staff Vice Adm. Thad W. Allen, left, briefing Vice President Dick Cheney, right, on the status of Hurricane Katrina relief efforts aboard the amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima, Thursday, Sept. 8, 2005
President George W. Bush talks about Hurricane Katrina disaster relief with FEMA Director Mike Brown; Michael Chertoff, Sec Homeland Security, and Alphonso Jackson, Sec Housing and Urban Development. Sept. 2, 2005
========================================
Guest Lineup for the Sunday TV News Shows
ABC's "This Week" — Coast Guard Vice Adm. Thad Allen; Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.; the Dalai Lama.
___
CBS'"Face the Nation" — Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore; Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., and Susan Collins, R-Maine.
___
NBC's "Meet the Press" — New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin; Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa.; Ivor van Heerden, director of the Louisiana State University Hurricane Center; historian John M. Barry.
___
CNN's "Late Edition" — Honore; Sen. David Vitter, R-La.; Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.; former Sen. John Edwards, D-N.C.; Gov. George Pataki, R-N.Y.; American Red Cross President Marty Evans; Baton Rouge, La., Mayor Melvin Holden; former Sept. 11 Commission Co-Chairmen Thomas Kean and Lee Hamilton; Iraqi President Jalal Talabani.
___
"Fox News Sunday" — Allen; Landrieu and Vitter.
==========================================
Where's Blank-o....???
Yes, Don't know if that was before or after this -- but if it was before, and Honore is simply saying "I don't care", then I'd like to see how many federal marshals the court can call to enforce their order.
I hope they will keep the cameras out.
I'd like to know the constitutional argument for saying I can't stay in my own home because it is too dangerous, but the news media can go wherever they want because of a "free press".
Maybe those who don't want to evacuate should write a little note, put "MY NAME PRESS" on the top, and post it at their door, and say "you can't take me, I'm covering the aftermath!!!"
FRANKLY I AGREE WITH MY DAD VULTURES SHOULD BE SHOT ON SIGHT
At last someone with a brain.
Where does that notion come from? It's within the Jurisdiction of the government of the United States, that makes it within the jurisdiction of the federal and state courts, if they are functioning, which they clearly are. Doesn't mean this judges decision is right. In fact, now that I think about it, the Fifth Circuit may not be functioning, unless it's set up in Houston, because it's normal location is New Orleans, which is less than a mile (in the drier direction) from the Superdome. Otherwise a federal district judge in Texas does not have jurisdiction in Louisiana.
U.S. drops banning media from body hunt- CNN filed suit for access to search for New Orleans' dead
HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Rather than fight a lawsuit by CNN, the federal government abandoned its effort Saturday to prevent the media from reporting on the recovery of the dead in New Orleans.
Joint Task Force Katrina "has no plans to bar, impede or prevent news media from their news gathering and reporting activities in connection with the deceased Hurricane Katrina victim recovery efforts," said Col. Christian E. deGraff, representing the task force.
U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison issued a temporary restraining order Friday against a "zero access" policy announced earlier in the day by Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who is overseeing the federal relief effort in the city, and Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security director.
In explaining the ban, Ebbert said, "we don't think that's proper" to let members of the media view the bodies.
The judge was to consider granting a permanent injunction Saturday when the government announced its decision not to fight CNN's lawsuit.
In an e-mail to CNN staff, CNN News Group President Jim Walton said the network filed the the lawsuit to "prohibit any agency from restricting its ability to fully and fairly cover" the hurricane victim recovery process.
(snip)
.....Walton wrote, "CNN has shown that it is capable of balancing vigorous reporting with respect for private concerns."
=================================================
Mods: I leave it up to your judgement -- if you think this thread should be pulled.
It's the Mainstream Media. Any decency, common or otherwise, is way beyond too much to expect, depending on what you've been smoking or otherwise ingesting I suppose.
I am so sick of the media. They DIDN'T want any pictures taken or shown of the 100's of people who jumped out of the World Trade Center, but they sure want pictures of all the dead and bloated drowning victims.
The difference is if they had shown the jumpers the people might have HATED THE TERRORISTS MORE, but if they show the bloated drowned people they will accomplish what they want and get a majority of the people to HATE THE GOVERNMENT MORE.
Because the only thing that motivates any of them is a hatred for President Bush.
The death of 9/11 'helped' him, because he was responding to the attack with strength. The death from this hurricane 'hurts' him, because they have been screaming that it was his fault from Day 1.
This, IMO, will result in the death of what is left of the MSM's credibility. Their hatred for this President has been their demise.
Hidden away, only to be brought out for carefully selected photo ops with carefully scripted and focus-grouped lines.
Notice any pattern with those line-ups for the Sunday shows? VADM Allen vs. rabid-left hosts and race-warlord-in-training Obama? Lt. Gen Honore vs. rabid left host, rabid left Sen. Lanbrieu and lefty Sen. Collins? All around lib/Dim circle jerk on MTP?
Not only did they sanitize, I don't recall many, if any, pictures of dead bodies even early on. They showed the soon to be dead bodies plunging from the towers, and may have shown a body bag or covered corpse, but I don't recall anything like the picture of the dead guy outside the Convention center. A guy clearly not killed by the storm, BTW.
Maybe the General can confiscate some cameras first and then deliver some street justice and explain common decency to some very ill people.
HUMMMM, that Bitch Blanco really is a coward and a charlatan. since she has abducted the throne are Gov. of LA, who takes her place.
You're giving vultures a bad name. Vultures and maggots clean up dead stuff, a partial solution to the problem. Media is part of the problem, not part of the solution.
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