By Dana Milbank
Tuesday, October 21, 2003; Page A23
Since the end of the Vietnam War, presidents have worried that their military actions would lose support once the public glimpsed the remains of U.S. soldiers arriving at air bases in flag-draped caskets.
To this problem, the Bush administration has found a simple solution: It has ended the public dissemination of such images by banning news coverage and photography of dead soldiers' homecomings on all military bases.
One official said only individual graveside services, open to cameras at the discretion of relatives, give "the full context" of a soldier's sacrifice. "To do it at several stops along the way doesn't tell the full story and isn't representative," the official said.
The photos of coffins continued for the first two years of the current Bush administration, from Ramstein and other bases. Then, on the eve of the Iraq invasion, word came from the Pentagon that other bases were to adopt Dover's policy of making the arrival ceremonies off limits.
Other news images that might be taken out of context, and which therefore have also been banned, include: U.S. Troops complaining, video or still photos of armed resistance, anti-U.S. crowds, or reporting on medics, military hospitals, or wounded GIs. Any mention of WMD, or the search for them, is banned until we find them.
In other news, the Federal Government today announced a total ban on photography of, or visits to, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. "Seeing a bunch of majestic caribou wandering through a windswept, oil-slick free environment doesn't tell the full story of the iniquity of the caribou," said Interior Department Spokesman Yosemite Samuelson. "To get the full context of our energy policy, you need to photograph the beast standing next to a gas pump showing a price of $3.00 a gallon. Now that's what I call context."
Also, the Treasury Department today issued a directive forbidding print or broadcast news outlets from using the phrase "record deficits" without including the phrase "President Bush's Hugely Popular Middle-Class Tax Cuts" in the same sentence. "We think that reports of the deficit need to be put into the proper context," said Ned Screamer , Under Secretary for Downplaying Bad News. "Just like those stinking Chinese and their nefarious currency games are part of the story of unemployment in this country, which is why two must now be reported together."
Finally, The White House has announced that as of today, any reference the President's educational accomplishments or struggles with the language must be accompanied by a headline, in type no smaller than 24-point Helvetica, reminding readers that "President is Well-Spoken, Highly Intelligent Man, Compared to 98% of Trailer-Park Residents."
Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product.
The rest is the fakey part.
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