CNN showing photos of mutilated bodies in New Orleans?

[dooner]

It's so gruesome, and they keep showing them. Four bodies that were photographed in the convention center that are severely mutilated. It's horrifying and I'm pretty shocked that they are being shown.

Is anybody else wondering if we are being deliberately desensitized to horror?

And since when does a civilized society leave their dead lying around on the streets and floors for days and weeks anyway?

I remember seeing photos of dead bodies lying in the streets in war torn countries, and wondering how depraved their societies had become. How frightening that we risk becoming immune to this terrible new level of what is acceptable.

Who are we?

[Maple]

1. This is reality

and you have to know about it.

It's what turned people against VietNam.

[Maru Kitteh]

2. I'm glad I haven't seen them but I'm glad they are showing them

people need to wake the hell up, and I believe this is what it will take.

[Gman]

3. The marines never leave one of their own on the battle field

but we can leave dead poor blacks to rot in the sun in the water for a week and a half.

[ultraist]

14. "rot in the sun" reminds me of a Langston Hughes poem, "Dream Deferred"

Dream Deferred

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
Like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore--
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over--
like a syrupy sweet?
Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.
Or does it explode?

~Langston Hughes

[Olney Blue]

27. Thank you for the poem.

Langston Hughes's words are timeless.

[shaniqua6392]

4. Or they may be rebelling at the request of

the government that the networks not show pictures of the dead just like the no flag draped coffins coming home from Iraq. I do not know for sure.

[jayctravis]

28. CNN was doing a live but rather uneventful shot..

THE SITUATION ROOM...Wolf was on it. Showing a helicopter move sandbags to a levee. "So they just pick stuff up like that? Yeah...and then they set it down...yeah..."

I may have missed some of it in the noise in the lunchroom but there were closed-captions that they were discussing how they were trying their best not to show "inappropriate" images of the dead.

Somewhat...slightly understandable. Their tack was they didn't want someone watching to recognize someone they knew before they'd been informed of their fate. Essentially they don't want someone to freak out if they can help it. Not that a person...wouldn't freak out anyway. But hey.

I actually applaud some of the people who thought to cover the bodies with a sign and a prayer. Marking arrows so they could be easily found and their name if known.

[Don Claybrook]

5. Not desensitized, no way.

Americans MUST see these pictures. After all, the rest of the world sees them.

How long would the Iraq war have lasted if our press showed pictures of mutilated women and children on the news every night.

This must be seen. People must know what a horrible, horrible crime has been carried out against the entire city of New Orleans.

[mirandapriestly]

6. I wonder who did it and why nt

[dooner]

12. they say they don't know...

an anonymous person gave the photos to CNN. CNN said they the bodies have "obviously been horribly mutilated". I could hardly look, but wondered if they had been eaten by starving dogs or something. I can't imagine what else. Still in shock that they are showing this.

OMG, I'm so sickened and horrified by all of this.

[roseBudd]

17. or rats, rats had to be displaced by the water n/t

[proud2BlibKansan]

26. That was odd though

They wouldn't say who this person was or why he/she was at the convention center. The reporter said CNN agreed to not release that info.

[dooner]

34. I know, seems like a lot of secrecy over something very public

But I guess not that many people had cameras. Probably a media-related person that is afraid for their job?

[HEyHEY]

7. And if they weren't showing it people would be yelling about "CNN hiding

The bodies from us covering up for shrub!"

The media just can't win with this board.

[Roy]

15. one poster = board consensus????

nt

[HEyHEY]

18. There is no such thing as a consensus on DU, that's my point

[GeorgeGist]

8. Doesn't appear that they are making you immune... n /t

[dooner]

19. yes, but I don't watch slasher movies either

I'm sure there are people who could look at these photos and not flinch.

After you see a lot of dead bodies floating around in water, doesn't it get less shocking?

I guess I keep thinking of concentration camps and Nazi Germany. How increasing horrors became acceptable to the general population.

[wanpete]

9. was there a medical person who verified that they were mutilated?

I saw a brief bit and actually thought they just looked as if they were deteriorating due to the heat. The body is not a pretty sight after it starts deteriorating immediately upon death. Without being refrigerated or embalmed, gases and fluids begin to flow.

I actually thought cnn was sensationalizing a bit, and maybe they did it to slap fema in the face.

[achtung_circus]

10. Well

It's so gruesome, and they keep showing them. Four bodies that were photographed in the convention center that are severely mutilated. It's horrifying and I'm pretty shocked that they are being shown.

I've seen a few dead people in various stages of decomposition and I didn't see anything I could definitely call mutilation. Bodies decompse quickly in the heat and fluids leak. It's hard to be sure without a close examination.

Is anybody else wondering if we are being deliberately desensitized to horror?

Desensitised? Your country NEEDS to see these photos, to put a human toll on this.

"A single death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic."
Joseph Stalin

Don't let it become a statistic.

And since when does a civilized society leave their dead lying around on the streets and floors for days and weeks anyway?

When they are busy saving the living. It is a shame that it comes to that.

I remember seeing photos of dead bodies lying in the streets in war torn countries, and wondering how depraved their societies had become. How frightening that we risk becoming immune to this terrible new level of what is acceptable.

Simple answer, don't let your anger die. Share it.

Who are we?
I'm a foreigner, I can't answer that. I wonder myself, sometimes.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

41. "Your country NEEDS to see these photos, to put a human toll on this."

Yes, they do.

Americans like to pretend, avoid and deny when it comes to death of our own. If this horror had taken place in a foreign country we would be showing the dead as they lay there, screaming about the lack of respect shown to them. Since they are our own we prefer to avert our faces and attribute it to respect for their families.

We are hypocrites.

[Pepper32]

11. If they don't show them America will become disconnected from the truth.

It's horrifying to see, however what happened in NOLA is HORRIFYING.

[Junkdrawer]

13. Killed by "Looters"=OK to Show...Drowned in their Homes=Censored...

Now, what could be the difference? :think:

[ultraist]

25. ding, ding, ding!!! Sensationalize the "looters"

and downplay, scrub, & sanitize the deaths caused by Bush.

[Junkdrawer]

29. And we got us a new racial codeword in the bargain...

beats "urban youth"...

[TwilightZone]

33. I hope you don't think "looters" is a new code word.

It's been a code word for decades. At least since the Watts riots, if not longer.

[TwilightZone]

32. To be fair, they've shown a lot of bodies in the water...

the past couple of days.

Additionally, people should really pay attention to why they're showing the pics from the convention center. They're showing them because administration officials keep denying that these things actually happened and are trying to downplay the poor conditions.

[BootinUp]

16. Tha average sheeple is a long way

from being desensitized. Just getting them to turn the news on is a struggle. They need to see it.

Now you on the other hand might need to turn off the tube for a while. :)

[dooner]

22. you are probably correct. n.t.

[Carni]

20. disgusting but I keep wondering if they were mutilated for a reason

I couldn't go there after 4 days (I don't think anyways) but that doesn't mean some desperate people with a stronger resolve for survival wouldn't.

I don't want to think about this too much because my head might explode.

I kind of doubt random sickos just carved up bodies to get their jollies--if they were that warped they would have attacked living people IMO

[ultraist]

31. Mutilated, decomposed or half eaten by dogs and rats?

Do we know how those bodies came to be in that condition?

Regardless, people need to see the harsh, brutal reality that Bush has created: NO DIGNITY, NO RESPECT FOR HUMAN LIFE, and understand that HE DENIED THEIR RIGHT TO EXIST.

[dooner]

39. perhaps they will provide more information...

now there are only photos. Who knows where those bodies are now. Maybe some expert will offer opinions about what happened once these images are out.

[Carni]

43. Definite possibilities

In addition a cop that was in the superdome said there were two ATTEMPTED rapes-- he said the death and mayhem was because the ill were dying and the conditions were subhuman and filthy. He rebuked the rape and murder horror stories that have been bandied around portraying the people in the dome as animals. It's about time someone did!

[adigal]

21. FEMA "asked" them to not show any bodies.

Well, are we a totalitarian govt or not??? If not, we need to show the result of 20 years of trying to destroy the federal govt, plus tax cuts and cuts in Medicaid, housing and food for the poor.
Just because we try to pretty up the truth for children doesn't mean we should not see it.

[mcscajun]

23. This is what America NEEDS to see....a good harsh dose of reality.

Not that Faux Reality crap like Survivor or Fear Factor, but the real, horrifying, unsanitized stuff.

Let the horror creep into their heads, and just maybe this country still has a chance to reclaim itself.

[LittleClarkie]

24. Sounds like they're defying the "no photos of the dead" rule

good for them. We need to see.

[Donailin]

30. perhaps the hundreds of animals starving to death that were abandoned

are responsible, rather than the "depraved" society you seem to imply.

[dooner]

36. actually I think (hope?) it may have been animals

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to imply that the mutilation was done by people Although by calling it "mutilation" without any suggestions on how/what CNN seemed to be implying that.

I'm shocked and horrified that we are leaving our dead lying around all over the place, while we run around dragging people (who don't want to leave) out of their homes.

I"m shocked and appalled that we are stepping over rotting, mauled/mutilated citizens when we are turning away volunteers.

I'm still disgusted that our citizens died waiting for help.

I'm just in shock and awe that our society has allowed this disaster to happen.

[elehhhhna]

35. They're also showing a car KILLING a blonde woman--crashing

through the side of a bar, then into her --the driver was "angry" or something--

'Is anybody else wondering if we are being deliberately desensitized to horror?' is a valid question.

[freemen2005]

44. are you serious? video/link ??

[zulchzulu]

37. Hate to say it,but I'm glad they are showing what Bush is an accomplice to

It's nothing like seeing and SMELLING the dead. Believe me, you don't want to know or live though that.

[flyarm]

42. actually they said when they showed the pictures there were..

two photos they would not show..and that is of two people mutilated in a wheelchair..did anyone else hear that??
they said the pictures were too gruesome..

soooooo sad ..i hold * 100% responsible!

fly

[Julius Civitatus]

38. I saw that too. It was very gruesome

I feel shocked and a bit disturbed now.

:scared:

[Thegonagle]

40. Sadly, I'm glad...

...they're showing what needs to be shown. The MSM has been so NICE to the rethugs up until now, but now, they're finally reporting news.

Unfortunately, they're still only trying to make money.

"If it bleeds, it leads."

That's where the money is.

[VOX]

45. Show the photos. Let ALL of America be disgusted and horrified.

The right wing, and the fundamentalist reactionaries that drive the Republican Party, as much as killed these people with neglect.

The media had the resolve to show the carnage in Vietnam -- the blood, the confusion, the gaping wounds, the napalm victims. It sickened Americans, and it may have turned the tide of thought against that needless war.

Making people sick to their souls is perhaps the first step in the right direction.

This is America. This is how America treats its poor. Show it. Show all of it.