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.

In March, on the eve of the Iraq war, a directive arrived from the Pentagon at U.S. military bases. "There will be no arrival ceremonies for, or media coverage of, deceased military personnel returning to or departing from Ramstein [Germany] airbase or Dover [Del.] base, to include interim stops," the Defense Department said, referring to the major ports for the returning remains.

A Pentagon spokeswoman said the military-wide policy actually dates from about November 2000 -- the last days of the Clinton administration -- but it apparently went unheeded and unenforced, as images of caskets returning from the Afghanistan war appeared on television broadcasts and in newspapers until early this year. Though Dover Air Force Base, which has the military's largest mortuary, has had restrictions for 12 years, others "may not have been familiar with the policy," the spokeswoman said. This year, "we've really tried to enforce it."

Post 10: but I'll maintain that Bush's preventing the media to show American corpses returning from Iraq is the 'bunch of crap'.

Post 52: Steve, it's one thing to have a ridiculous policy on the books. It's a whole other thing to enforce it. We'd been watching caskets return home right up to the months before the Iraq invasion. Yes Steve, it is Bush.

Main entry: 2censor
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Form(s): cen·sored; cen·sor·ing /'sen(t)-s&-ri[ng], 'sen(t)s-ri[ng]/
Date: 1882
: to examine in order to suppress or delete anything considered objectionable

A hypothetical example of a Type M argument would be, "People who want to get rid of the minimum wage are just trying to help the corporate plutocrats."
..........................................
Type M arguments are about the alleged motives of individuals who advocate policies.

...[They] say their decision to go public had nothing to do with politics.

But it turns out that four years ago the duo, Tami Silicio and Amy Katz, sued Halliburton, then run by Vice President Dick Cheney, naming Cheney in the suit.
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Radio host Siegel said on Friday that the Katz-Silicio lawsuit against Cheney raises questions about the politics behind the casket-photo story, saying the two women likely had an ax to grind against the Bush administration.

He also chastised the press for not noting the Katz-Silicio lawsuit, asking, "What does that say about the Seattle Times, which printed the photo without doing any investigation?"

Ms. Katz insisted last night that neither she nor Silicio had any political motivation, telling MSNBC that they thought publishing the photo was a good way of honoring the fallen troops.

She admitted, however, that she has retained an agent to help sell the casket photo, with the proceeds to be divided between charity and a fund to help pay Silicio's debts in the wake of her firing.

"Tami Silicio drove a truck for the company, which she noted is traditionally a male profession. When she refused sexual propositions from co-workers, they started calling her names like 'bitch' and 'whore,' according to a complaint filed with the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission.

"Additionally, the coworkers told her 'you should be at home pleasing a man and not at work trying to be one.' After reporting this to upper management, she was fired in retaliation, according to the complaint."

...and I just don't think your assumptions match up with the reality...

From 1990 to 1997, he served as press secretary and general adviser to House Speaker Newt Gingrich, ultimately earning a reputation among political friends and foes as one of Washington’s most genial, quick-witted and effective operatives.

Mr. Gingrich, campaigning in New Hampshire on Sunday for the Republican presidential nomination, called his former press secretary a “very dear friend” and a key part of the team behind the 1994 Contract With America.

“His father had been the accountant for Winston Churchill. Tony grew up with this deep passionate commitment, that I think he got from his dad, for freedom,” Mr. Gingrich said. “Tony was a very special person. He was more than a great professional. He was a great human being. He was a caring and loving person. He was a tremendous amount of fun, remarkably erudite and educated.”

Born in London, Mr. Blankley became a naturalized American citizen after his parents moved to California after World War II. As a child, he acted in such television shows as “Lassie,”“Highway Patrol” and “Make Room for Daddy,” and appeared in movies with such stars as Humphrey Bogart and Rod Steiger.

He met Ronald Reagan at a 1950s-era USO performance and later volunteered to work on all of Reagan’s campaigns for governor and president.

A Loyola Marymount University law school graduate, Mr. Blankley later served six years in the Reagan administration in a variety of positions, including speechwriter and senior policy analyst. He also spent 10 years as a prosecutor with the California attorney general’s office.

Mr. Blankley joined the staff of John F. Kennedy Jr.’s George magazine as a contributing editor before taking over The [Washington] Times‘ editorial section in 2002.