Senate Keeps Ban on Pics of GI Coffins, 54-39 (LAUTENBERG)

[UTUSN]

*******QUOTE*******

Senate Backs Ban on Photos of G.I. Coffins
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG

Published: June 22, 2004


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/06/22/politics/22cong.html

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

Two Republicans, Senators Olympia J. Snowe of Maine and John McCain of Arizona, voted in favor of permitting news photographers to have access to Dover Air Force Base in Delaware, where coffins containing the war dead from Iraq arrive.

"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." ....

...President Bill Clinton took part in numerous ceremonies honoring dead servicemen. In March 2003, just as the United States embarked on its war with Iraq, the Pentagon issued a directive stating that there would be no news coverage of "deceased military personnel returning to or departing from" air bases. ....

********UNQUOTE*******

[russian33]

1. 7 Democrats?!?!?!

Bastards...Ok, I figured one has to be Zell Miller, who are the other 6 idiots?

[IronLionZion]

7. Miller, Breux, Biden, Bayh, Levin, Lincoln, Nelson, Pryor

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=108&session=2&vote=00132

oddly enough, Lieberman voted YES and Kerry was too busy campaigning to vote on this

[GreenPartyVoter]

10. So what's in it for those 7 to hide the cost of the war?

And who is going to email them and shame them for it?

[in_cog_ni_to]

13. What the HELL is wrong with those people?!

Damn them! LOOK at the list....Breaux, Biden and Bayh...have all been on Kerry's list of VP! Holy shit. Does the truth hurt them that much? WHY would those Dems vote against this? What is their reasoning behind such a vote? AND Carl Levin????? <sigh> This sucks. THEY suck!

[IronLionZion]

14. I count 10 Democrats voting NO

NAYs ---54

Bayh (D-IN)
Biden (D-DE)
Breaux (D-LA)
Carper (D-DE)
Landrieu (D-LA)
Levin (D-MI)
Lincoln (D-AR)
Miller (D-GA)
Nelson (D-NE)
Pryor (D-AR)

from senate.gov

[salin]

19. No surprise about Bayh... he continues to cheerlead for the war

not too long ago was still claiming we will find WMDs (probably still saying that - clung to it LONG after Kay went public claiming not only were none there - but there had been none their prior to the war.) Thus - wants to hide from the public the biggest cost of this foolish policy... our young people.

Don't quite get Levin's vote, however.

[GiovanniC]

20. LEVIN!?

Goddamn it! MY fuckin' senator voted to ban those photographs!? There is no "emoticon" for the rage I am feeling.

He's one of the good guys! Dammit!

[tom_paine]

21. WTF is with Biden

He is no Free American.

He is, however, one of the more "free" members of the Imperial Senate.

Which is like being the Most Honest Child Molestor, I'm sad to say.

[Solly Mack]

2. Thank goodness these people protect my beautiful mind from the truth

Lucky me.

[parasim]

3. Did they say something about

wasting the senators' beautiful minds?

[tom_paine]

4. When I see this, it bolsters my belief that the Old American Republic is

gone. Gone forever.

Can we possibly hope to instill a belief in Freedom and Liberty from a people and particularly a leadership so COMFORTABLE with Tyranny?

Can we?

I sure am going to try.

[indepat]

27. I share in your belief: for the American public to have supported what has

gone on for almost three years is beyond any comprehension for we the people are surely as guilty of what our country has done on the world stage in this century, IMHO, as any people were guilty of what their country had done in the previous century.

[Mandate My Ass]

5. IS there freedom of the press or not?

The federal government just granted itself the power to decide
which news is reported and which isn't. I hope more military
personell photograph their fallen comrades so that their sac-
rifices can be honored like fallen soldiers' sacrifices have
since time immemorial. Sneaking their bodies in like sacks of
dirty laundry is utterly disrespectful to them and their
families.

"A majority of the Senate are now working on behalf of the president to conceal from the American people the true costs of this war," Senator Lautenberg said in a statement after the vote. He said his amendment "would bring an end to the shroud of secrecy cloaking the hard, difficult truth about war and the sacrifices of our soldiers."

The issue of pictures of the war dead has been a delicate one for the administration in recent months. In April, a collection of more than 300 images of coffins landing at Dover were made available after a Web site, www.thememoryhole.org, filed a Freedom of Information Act request for any pictures of coffins arriving at Dover from Iraq.

The images were taken by Air Force photographers and released by the Air Force Mobility Command. The Pentagon later said the release of the pictures was wrong. .

[samsingh]

6. interesting that democratic senators side with bush

against America.

meanwhile, McCain, who is going to support Bush in the election - the man who sent these honorable soldiers to die based on a lie - at least wants to promote some truth here.

[Armstead]

8. Levin?!?

I thought Levin was one of the good guys. I can;t unbderstand why he would go along with this.

Biden is sort of a half-surprise. He's like the little child in the children's poem: "When he's good, he's very, very good. When he's bad, he's very very bad."

I'm waiting for Breux to pull a Zel Miller.

[GreenArrow]

11. "when he's bad

he's HORRID."

[IronLionZion]

12. I'm disappointed in Levin and Biden

and wished Kerry, Clinton, and Dodd would have voted on it. The others are kind of conservative and the D next to Miller's name stands for Dickhead.

[GreenPartyVoter]

9. Some days I actually like having Olympia as my Senator.

[Malva Zebrina]

24. err

she is up for election right? I will not vote for her again unless she formally, like Jeffords makes a declaration of her split from the party of Bush and from Bush. Anyone with the ability to figure it out can realize that he may be re-elected and as such,if she is going to take this contrarian stance, she should be willing to let her constituents know where she stands with regard to Bush and his re-election. She owes it to us. Other than that, I can observe these votes of hers as political posturing to save her ass.

We here in Maine are furious at Bush.

That is anecdotal, but I have never seen such public ranting against him. I wore my DU "worst president ever" shirt to the library and the convenience store the other day,.

Three sweet little senior ladies who are volunteers in the tiny little library, made it a point to tell me and congratulate me on the shirt--and the look on their face was one of anger. And we had a real angry conversation direacted at him, for about five minutes.

In the store,as I was checking out, a middle aged man behind me said--"I have a sign on my truck" I said to my self "oh oh", but said something like "really?" Yeah he said--it says "Anyone but Bush",

[russian33]

15. I sent the following email to all 7

Senator,

I am saddened to learn that you were one of the Democratic Senators who voted to continue the Ban on Photos of coffins of dead GIs. I can't begin to see your reasoning for this, your rationale why this is a good thing. Putting aside problems with reasons as to why this war was started, what we, the American people were and were not told, these men did their duty, and it's our duty to show them respect and honor them in their death. Sneaking them into the country in the middle of the night, without anyone noticing, is NOT honoring them!

I was forced to see the casket of a former President paraded around the country for a week stratigh, and our current President found time to honor him. Why can't we do just a little then to honor kids who lost their life in this war?

Thank you

**********************************************

I had a lot of curse words in mind, but tried to remain polite...and tried to have actual sentences and all...

[UTUSN]

16. You Said It All. What Are the E-addys? n/t

[russian33]

23. Most of them had the webemail form on their website

Except Biden and Breux, they were [e-mail] and [e-mail].

For the webemail forms I checked off that I want a response...I won't hold my breath.

[redqueen]

25. Contact links

Bayh
[e-mail]
[e-mail]
Carper
Landrieu
Levin
Lincoln
Miller
Nelson
Pryor

[redqueen]

29. Kick

for more feedback to these Democrats

:kick:

[Sabriel]

17. What's up with Biden?

Does he have Political Bi-Polar Disorder or something? First he rants at Ashcroft, then he votes against this bill. I don't get him.

[UTUSN]

18. What's ALWAYS Up with BIDEN.

I don't get him either.

[Hippo_Tron]

33. Biden's remotely liberal domestically but on foreign policy he's a hawk

Unfortunately he's considered one of the leading voices of the democratic party on foreign affairs.

[Jacobin]

22. He's a paper tiger

Screeches and moans and pontificates and then rubber stamps the fucking junta's agenda.

He makes me want to :puke:

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

26. Americans die in Iraq??? There must be some mistake!

Gosh. It must be from suffocation from all the flowers thrown at them by overjoyed "liberated" Iraqis. Or, inadvertantly beaten to death due to the frenzied back slapping and laughter at the innocent fratboy "hazing" and party games at Abu-Ghraib.

After all, it's "Mission Accomplished" isn't it?

"Bring it ON!"

Of course, some unpatriotic Americans might get the wrong idea and think that the casualties are due to a failed policy and a people who aren't grateful to a foreign power for subjugating their country.

[shance]

28. Quick! Wheres the back drop of the American Flag?

and turn up the volume on Hannity and Rush Limbaugh!!

God forbid Americans know the truth.

This makes me sick.

[GiovanniC]

30. Emailed Senator Levin

Senator Levin:

I am a life-long Democrat with a profound sense of respect for you and your work in government, particularly the US Senate. Like most people, I like to think I'm right about most issues, so it is always a pleasure when our positions agree. Happily, that is most of the time.

Unhappily, that is not the case today.

It is my understanding that in a recent Senate vote regarding photographs of coffins returning from Iraq, you have voted to ban them. This government censorship of the media for PR and propaganda-style purposes violates the very fabric of the First Amendment to our Constitution. Further, it relegates our soldiers to the status of a dirty little secret, snuck into the country under a blanket of night -- in shame.

They deserve better, Senator, and I believe you know that. These men and women have shed blood on sand and pavement on the other side of the world, and they did it in my name, and yours, and in the names of all of the American people. We have a right and a duty to see what consequences our country's policies and decisions have wrought, and to honor the sacrifices of those who have made them.

Your vote stands in stark opposition to the principles upon which this republic was founded, and it deeply disappoints me. I would like an explanation for your vote.

[Neecy]

31. outstanding letter

I hope you'll share your response, if you receive one. I'd be curious to know his reasoning.

[redqueen]

32. I think we should all call or write to them all

This is indefensible.