I suppose if you run a major media outlet like Fox or CNN, it's a clear cut decision:
Nick Berg beheaded? Sure, run it. Full screen, close-ups, with lots of sound.
Saddam Hussein hanged? Ohhhh, better not run it in full. Dim, dark, with quiet commentary but cut away when the bastard drops.
So, it's perfectly okay to show the beheading of an American citizen; however, it's in extreme "bad taste" to show an Iraqi dictator hanged until dead? I happen to disagree.
For those of you who haven't Googled the heck out of the internet looking for it but would like to see the "taking out of the trash in Iraq," you can find it here... at least until the Google censors decide to take it offline.
(Thank you to the brave soul who videoed the execution and shared it with the world!)
Nick Berg beheaded? Sure, run it. Full screen, close-ups, with lots of sound.
Saddam Hussein hanged? Ohhhh, better not run it in full. Dim, dark, with quiet commentary but cut away when the bastard drops.
So, it's perfectly okay to show the beheading of an American citizen; however, it's in extreme "bad taste" to show an Iraqi dictator hanged until dead? I happen to disagree.
For those of you who haven't Googled the heck out of the internet looking for it but would like to see the "taking out of the trash in Iraq," you can find it here... at least until the Google censors decide to take it offline.
(Thank you to the brave soul who videoed the execution and shared it with the world!)
Comments
On a separate thought. I think it's great that you have blogrolled The Rural Democrat blog.
I wanted to take this space to say that I would like to urge ALL your readers to contact the Kentucky Legislative branch to NOT vote for Kathy Stein (D) Lexington to Chair the Judicial Committee.
Kathy Stein has had the POW/MIA flag removed from the old courthouse in Lexington. She is drafting legislation to make it legal for state workers to blog with HER FRIEND Mark Nickolas (along with Jonathan Miller I might add.)
Also, Stein refuses to allow the word God to be used in any fashion with Government. Stein refuses to acknowledge the "right to bear arms." She doesn't just want restrictions on purchase (which I agree with) she wants total gun control so we can't even hunt?
I am democrat and I say, Kathy Stein would be a scary addition to the Judicial Committee as it's chair. It would be akin to allowing the 9th. Circuit Court to chair the Committee.
Kathy Stein is BAD for the Commonwealth of Kentucky
To email ALL legislators in ONE email:
legislators2007@lrc.ky.gov
Please take the few minutes it takes to send an email with the simple phrase:
Please vote NO for Kathy Stein as Chair to the Judicial Committee.
I lived in California for 17 years and there is NO way I want to see the 9th Circuit raise even a semblance of its ugly head here in Kentucky! EEEEEK!
It was my pleasure to blogroll The Rural Democrat. It looks to be a thoughtful political blog for Democrats who care about this state and this country. We could certainly use more folks like that on both sides of the aisle these days!
Regarding censorship, like Bill, I don't remember any of the cable news channels airing the Berg beheading, though your point is more than made with the enemy sniper vid which was reprehensible in it's double standard and shame on CNN. If violent images are newsworthy, then they're newsworthy regardless of "taste."
But I think there's a case to be made that the video of Saddam's hanging actually detracts from America's legitimate presence in Iraq. (Don't get me wrong... Saddam deserved the death he got!) The vid is poor quality, entirely in Arabic, and highlights the fact that the new, America-friendly Government in Iraq more resembles the Saddam regime than a Western-style democracy.
In a way, a small and ultimately unappreciated way, CNNFOXMSNBC may have done us a favor, PR-wise, by refusing to run it.
In short:
Saddam dead = good thing
Video suppressed = good thing
Vid available on internet = good thing
Because after seeing the vid, I didn't think it did much to promote America's stabilizing presence in Iraq. What it did was highlight the sectarian strife in Iraq (no small thing, but not insurmountable, IMO) what with the chanting of "Moqtada!" and whatnot.
/ my two cents
True! That grainy, almost unwatchable video that slipped through the security net and out to the internet does actually paint a picture more like the old regime than a new democracy. I think my reaction was a more emotional knee-jerk than a well-considered opinion in this case.
Frankly though, I was glad to see the video. It made the end of that man more concrete in my mind and I felt very happy that the Kurds need no longer suffer that man's evil. I feel more strongly for the Kurds I guess because I had a good friend in California who had family in Halabja when Hussein launched his bio-chem attack there. I just wish they had had the opportunity to see him tried for that crime against humanity.
So, in a nutshell, thanks for the different perspective on the censorship of Hussein's execution. I need to keep my emotions in check a bit to see the bigger picture sometimes.
And emotionally I'm still pretty conflicted over the whole deal. (Not the execution, the video.) From a PR perspective, I think the vid damages America's interests. From a moral clarity angle, though, it demonstrates that Iraqis (at least those witnesses in the hanging room) understand and embrace "the virture of hate" better than we "turn the other cheek" Americans, you know what I mean?
I'm actually envious of their clarity. In the vid, Saddam drops, and the crowd goes wild! Meanwhile, America wrings it's hands, wondering whether we should celebrate as well. I'm not immune, I worry about PR, after all.
But the article in First Things Magazine on the "virtue of hate" is one of the most profound essays I've ever read. Of the three Abrahamic faiths to come out of the Mid-East, Christianity is definitely the oddball on the issue of forgiveness. If you haven't seen it before, I highly recomend it.
Welcome back to the blogosphere, Kadnine! You were missed!!