Without Bush, media lose interest in war caskets

[AllHereTruth]

Source: Washington Examiner

Remember the controversy over the Pentagon policy of not allowing the press to take pictures of the flag-draped caskets of American war dead as they arrived in the United States? Critics accused President Bush of trying to hide the terrible human cost of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

"These young men and women are heroes," Vice President Biden said in 2004, when he was senator from Delaware. "The idea that they are essentially snuck back into the country under the cover of night so no one can see that their casket has arrived, I just think is wrong."

In April of this year, the Obama administration lifted the press ban, which had been in place since the Persian Gulf War in 1991. Media outlets rushed to cover the first arrival of a fallen U.S. serviceman, and many photographers came back for the second arrival, and then the third.

...

That's an understatement. When the casket bearing Air Force Tech. Sgt. Phillip Myers, of Hopewell, Va., arrived at Dover the night of April 5 -- the first arrival in which press coverage was allowed -- there were representatives of 35 media outlets on hand to cover the story. Two days later, when the body of Army Spc. Israel Candelaria Mejias, of San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico, arrived, 17 media outlets were there. (All the figures here were provided by the Mortuary Affairs Operations Center.) On subsequent days in April, there were nearly a dozen press organizations on hand to cover arrivals.

Fast forward to today. On Sept. 2, when the casket bearing the body of Marine Lance Cpl. David Hall, of Elyria, Ohio, arrived at Dover, there was just one news outlet -- the Associated Press -- there to record it. The situation was pretty much the same when caskets arrived on Sept. 5, 9, 10, 12, 13, 14, 16, 22, 23 and 26. There has been no television coverage at all in September.

Read more: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/Without-Bush-media-lose-interest-in-war-caskets-8310113-62427012.html

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The Mainstream Media has forgotten.

Congress has forgotten.

The Administration has forgotten.

The American people have forgotten.

WE have forgotten.

I was one of those clamoring for more media coverage. Screaming for the country to understand the horrors of what our men and women are going through. Yet WE. I. failed to cry out when the media coverage dwindled. Failed to stand up. Failed to sympathize. Since November 4th i have taken a back seat. I have been groveling at the feet of this Administration. Holding them on a pedestal above the former. FOR WHAT?

We have failed in holding the Media accountable. The Media has failed in holding the Administration accountable. And lost the middle of it all are DEAD Men and Women. In the middle of it all are families torn apart. What have we done? Where have WE been? All the while more and more are forgotten. All the while more and more are lost.

And this Administration does nothing to end the bloodshed. Shines no light on a new plan for the region. All the while the MSN talks Brett Favre, Weather, and Traffic.

I feel sick to my stomach over what i have let happen. Over what i have failed to notice. Over what i have forgotten.

[Kaleva]

1. The media, a for profit business, will cover what increases revenues

[boppers]

2. Have we really forgotten?

Or was the issue never about media coverage of caskets?

Or was the "coverage" issue just a proxy for politics, for some folks?

[tomm2thumbs]

3. disappointing that the issue was left to flounder

[timeforpeace]

4. Either now it's no big deal, or it's actually OK. Bush was crucified but Obama gets a pass?

[Chulanowa]

8. After eight years of "no", the Media just stopped giving a shit

We have to hear about Paris' crotch, which was exposed to far more cameras than any coffin, yanno.

[gimama]

5. Thank YOU for CARING so much

& for reMinding us. Now let's raise some hell.
Bring 'em HOME, now!

[AllHereTruth]

6. To continue...

The media has completely ignored this occupation since the election. That is a fact. And in my opinion we have allowed it.

I rarely see threads on DU or Daily Kos. Or CNN or FOX. I rarely see Olbermann or Maddow cover this. They do, don't get me wrong, but not hardly as much as...well everything else.

I remember when Afghanistan and Iraq threads DOMINATED this site. DOMINATED Daily Kos. DOMINATED Olbermann. Yet since the election we have acted as if Obama has it under control, and have gone on to worrying about other issues. Valid issues that deserve being worried about, BUT all the while losing the big picture.

I for one have done this. And I for one will not let it happen again.

[phasma ex machina]

12. Out of sight, out of mind.

Sweep the troops under the carpet instead of bringing them home.

[bemildred]

7. I had not noticed that the media ever had much interest in war caskets.

But it is probably true that they are even less interested now than before. Starting a new war with Iran is much more appetizing than contemplating the ruins of the Iraq and Afghanistan efforts. There is always that hope that things will work out better next time.

[FreedomTrain]

9. Kicked & Recommended

It's sickening the things we give Obama a pass on just because he's not Bush. And a sickening number are reluctant to question him just because he's "our guy". I thought we were better than how the Republicans acted under Bush, but it's eerily similar.

[phasma ex machina]

13. It seems we still get stuck with the same old clique of gray haired men ...

running things out of the back office. Out of sight, out of mind.

[Demeter]

10. AP Is NOT Chopped Liver

It's probably the most widely disseminated news source. One has to wonder how many versions of this story exist, or need to be told. If AP screws up, the competition will be back, I hope.

[CJCRANE]

11. "The Associated Press, which supplies photos to 1,500 U.S. newspapers

and 4,000 Web sites, has had a photographer at every arrival for which permission was granted."