CSPAN Friday AM — Is showing or naming war dead exploitive?

[prolesunited]

If it's Brian Lamb, it must be Friday.

If you could get on CSPAN, what would be your response?

[WillParkinson]

1. I don't think so...

Not any more than it was for Bush to use the September 11th attacks and the pictures of the dead there.

[barbaraann]

2. CAUSING war dead is exploitive

n/t

[mopaul]

3. Uday and Qusay Hussein

we got to see their dead bodies, for full exploitive value. but not the dead babies and mothers, and not the flag draped coffins

[LittleApple81]

4. He was so happily excited when he found a Democrat that

said it was exploitive... but then the same person said that she would like more coverage about the Iraqi civilians being killed and his happiness vanished.

[Quetzal]

5. Bush used firefighters from 9/11 in use campaign ads

so I don't think it would be.

[Ganja Ninja]

6. They don't mind exploiting them when they are alive.

It's not as if we're trying to cover up a crime....are we?

[wickerwoman]

7. It depends on the context.

If you're naming or showing them in a respectful way to stimulate thought and reflection then it's vitally important.

If you're showing them to take credit for their accomplishments or
sacrifice, then shame on you.

[LosinIt]

8. Jim Lehrer shows them every night at the conclusion of his show

And we all know he is sooo exploitive. Just looking for ratings to up his advertising revenue. <\sarcasm>

[imax2268]

9. Look at the media...

and the Pat Tillman thing...they are tripping over themselves to have the best tribute and who can say the nicest things first...

There was an article out saying that Tillman got what he deserved...and now they are running that for all it's worth here in AZ...only showing people that disagree with the article...I mean hey...I think it's terrible what happend to him...but people have a right to say what they want...agree or disagree...

so let's talk about exploiting...it's like the local media here thinks that he's the only true hero in this war...all the rest were cannon fodder...

[KharmaTrain]

15. Phony Sympathy As Well

I saw a report on the "tribute" the Bidwells and the Arizona (are they still in Arizona??) Cardinals have been and are planning for Tilman. Surely it'll be approved by the National Fascists League, sponsored by Coors, Home Depot, Fox and the RNC.

These are also the same people who wouldn't give a second notice to someone whose returned with a scrambled brain or without a limb...or allow us to see the names, faces and caskets of those who died in this gross adventurism. Comformity, "parity" and flag-waiving. Sickening. I sure hope Tilman's family stays far away from this Roman circus.

[BlueEyedSon]

10. It is news. Showing the war dead is no more or less exploitive

than every other news story shown on TV or in a publication that accepts PAID ADVERTISING.

If it bleeds, it leads.

[LETSGETFREAKY]

11. NO

It is necessary to make this thing more real to the average schlub

[Media_Lies_Daily]

12. The public needs to be educated on the cost and causes of this war.

[BlueEyedSon]

13. How? Through the media? Not a chance!

so sad what is happening to America

[meegbear]

14. Making a fuss about naming war dead is exploitive.

[prolesunited]

16. Actually, I think the controversy

is giving the issue more exposure than it might otherwise have gotten. If it would have just aired, perhaps people wouldn't have paid much heed. Now, they are talking about it over the water cooler. To me, that is a good thing and a prime opportunity to highlight the real facts surrounding the Iraqi invasion.

[KittyWampus]

17. It's A Unifying Act. Just Because Such Unity

might not paint Junior in a good light doesn't make it exploitive.

Koppel will do it with reverence for the dead, I am sure.

[Sparkly]

18. Is telling the whole truth exploitative?

Or is looking the other way better?

I think it's amazing this debate is even going on, but at least the concept of death in war is getting some attention.

[Love Bug]

19. Is the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial exploitive?

The wall of some 50,000 names? How long would it take to name those? The dead deserved to be named. These are people, not numbers.

[Sparkly]

20. Excellent point

Maybe the people who consider it "exploitive" would advocate scrubbing the names from the wall.

[prolesunited]

21. Aha!

I think you've hit on the whole point. Right now, for the most part, the casualties are just faceless numbers. You start naming them, showing their photos en masse, it gives those we have lost humanity.

Looking at the cover of USA Today of the shots of all those killed in April, the horror and tragedy of this senseless invasion hits home. All these smiling faces never to smile again, leaving behind grieving parents, spouses, children, friends.

Someone brought up this poem this morning. Very apropos

For whom the Bell Tolls
John Donne

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece
of the continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by
the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as
well as if a manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's
death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind, and
therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for
thee.

Full text here:
http://www.vasudevaserver.com/home/sites/poetseers.org/html/greats/john_donne/for_whom_the_bell_tolls

[pmbryant]

22. Indeed. Funny how I've never heard of this concept until now.

Was it exploitive when the NY Times published not just the names, but brief obituaries, of all the dead from the September 11 attacks?

I don't ever recall such a question even being raised before, and it reflects extremely poorly on those who try to make this an issue. They are willing to send thousands of young people to fight their wars for them, but they are not willing to individually acknowledge the sacrifices.

--Peter