Here. These were, of course, kept secret from the public. Disgusting. Definitely NSFW. I’m ashamed to be American. And I think I’m going to roll into a ball. Because if these photos don’t get America horrified, I don’t know what will.
NPR, of course, is silent about these images this morning.
I’m looking at CNN’s website and there’s a tiny link to the right when this should be the top story.
Nothing at the Washington Post or the New York Times. Or even my hometown paper, the San Francisco Chronicle.
In short, the American media is thoroughly bought and paid for at a time when Americans absolutely need to bear witness to the inhumane and cruel actions that Americans — yes, that would be us — have inflicted upon the Iraqi people. They need to understand that these images were kept from them by a government all too determined to “protect” them from the knowledge that war is well beyond hell.
I can’t imagine what kind of atavistic asshole you have to be to turn away and ignore these images and walk into work with that bullshit skip in your stride, that Starbucks cup in your hand, and say to yourself just how great it is to be an American.
[UPDATE: Transcript from Australian news program containing more details on the video and link to video itself. Utterly atavistic. (Thanks for the lead, Tayari!)]
[UPDATE 2: Brian Sawyer writes in to note that the images are now the front-page story on CNN and Google News. The San Francisco Chronicle? A Valentine's Day pillow fight at the Ferry Building is apparently more important than these new photos. See screenshot below.]
The Call by Yannick Murphy: The always interesting author of Here They Come and Signed, Mata Hari returns with a novel that whips up a worldview from a rather quirky set of limitations: namely, the call logs that a veterinarian maintains as his son is unexpectedly put into a coma and an unforgiving economy denies him work. What emerges is a surprisingly optimistic, often funny, and very moving account on how one family uses acceptance and forgiveness as a way to atone for hard knocks. (
Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber: Forget Franzen and Eugenides. If you're looking for a social novel that counts, Diana Abu-Jaber is the author you're looking for. Building from the free-form exploration of consciousness and identity in Crescent and the gripping procedural structure of Origin, Abu-Jaber's latest novel is her finest, equally fluent with gutterpunk culture and smarmy real estate men. It has been suggested by The Washington Post's Ron Charles that you will likely gain some pounds while reading this novel. This is certainly true. Abu-Jaber's description of food is so precise that it often made me want to do more cooking. But I very much admired the way in which Abu-Jaber presents all her characters as unwitting victims of rough capitalism, which permits them some dignity even as they perform terrible acts.
The Last of the Live Nude Girls by Sheila McClear: This memoir isn't so much about the decline of the Times Square peepshow, as it is about one young woman's efforts to pull herself up by by her bootstraps when presented with few economic options. Filled with self-introspective candor and a quiet dignity, McClear's story is one that might befall any of us in these volatile times. While McClear does get back on her feet, her book leads one contemplating the terrible fates of other young women now moving to New York and falling into deadlier vocations. (
This is just absolutely insane. Unbelievable.
We are all going to have to pay the price for this kind of stuff at some point, and I hope that I am not still alive when the time comes…or my children, or grandchildren for that matter.
Thank you, Ed, for so perfectly describing exactly how I feel this morning. Albeit more eloquently and more spot on than I could have managed in my shaking “What will it take before Americans understand the gravity of the situation” state.
Did you see/hear the tapes on Democracy Now! yesterday. The video was of some Iraqi youngsters being beaten and you can hear the American-accented leader egging them on…
I think those were British troops. I couldn’t find the Audio Clip anywhere online after hearing it on Democracy Now. They were calling the protesters “naughty boys” and shouting “die”. It was horrifying sound footage (apparently from a video of the beating). I was surprised after hearing it on the radio, that it wasn’t top news. Something about it was even more deeply terrifying than the other news. They sounded clearly like they were getting off on the violence. Horrible. Unbelievable. Unbelievable that I’m still shocked by these stories.