The New York Times | Senate Backs Ban on Photos of G.I. Coffins

"The Bush administration's policy of barring news photographs of the flag-covered coffins of service members killed in Iraq won the backing of the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday, when lawmakers defeated a Democratic measure to instruct the Pentagon to allow pictures.

The 54-to-39 vote came after little formal debate, with 7 Democrats joining 47 Republicans to defeat the provision. "

We're on a very slippery slope here.

Reminds me of the old cold-war joke: Q: What's the difference between TASS and the US media? A: The Russians know that they are
being lied to.

Now how does the White House justify this act of censure?

"President Bush has insisted that the policy banning the photography protects the privacy of the families of the dead, a view reiterated by lawmakers who opposed the measure."

At least one Republican bothered to point out the Bubba in Bush's logic.

"These caskets that arrive at Dover are not named; we just see them," said Mr. McCain, a former Navy pilot who was a prisoner of war for five years in Vietnam. He added, "I think we ought to know the casualties of war."

At which point we can ask just why McCain has been stumping for Bubba Bush in the first place.