Cusack: Bush photo ban one of 'most cowardly political acts' in my lifetime

[unhappycamper]

Cusack: Bush photo ban one of 'most cowardly political acts' in my lifetime
David Edwards and Jason Rhyne
Published: Tuesday December 4, 2007

When the Bush administration began enforcing a controversial policy banning photographs of military caskets returning from Iraq, the move provoked outrage -- and now, a film -- from actor John Cusack, who calls the media ban "one of the most cowardly political acts" of his lifetime.

Appearing on PBS with host Tavis Smiley, Cusack explained that his new movie, Grace is Gone, is the result of a storytelling interest largely inspired by the Bush photo policy.

"The screenwriter, James Strouse, had approached my company and I had been looking for a story, a human drama to tell about the Iraq conflict," said Cusack. "It stemmed from a place of outrage for me when the Bush administration banned the photos of the dead coming home." That directive, ordered in 2003 at Dover Air Force Base, was technically on the books prior to Bush's presidency, but was seldom enforced.

"I thought that was one of the most cowardly political acts I'd seen in my lifetime, in some ways" the actor said. "So I thought, we have to tell the story of one of those coffins coming home, right? It seemed clear that would be a really smart thing to do."

Asked by Smiley to explain his characterization of the Bush decision as "cowardly," Cusack said that if the war was worth fighting, its casualties should be appropriately honored.


Rest of article at: http://rawstory.com/news/2007/Bush_political_cowardice_prompted_new_John_1204.html

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Not a big fan of Tavis Smiley, but I love John Cusack-now even more...

[unhappycamper]

2. I've been a hugh Cusack fan forever.

His sister Joan is pretty good also.

[BrklynLiberal]

4. She is also terrific. Loved her in everything she has done.

As for John, I thought "Identity" was a fantastic pic..

[progressoid]

6. I'm gonna have to go with "Gross Pointe Blank"

"a certain moral flexibility"

I love that line.

[BrklynLiberal]

8. Another winner from John Cusack...

[TahitiNut]

12. "Gross Pointe Blank" was a winner, imho

Not only was Joan in it (I like the Cusack siblings together) but Minnie Driver and Jeremy Piven are terrific when playing off John. Ackroyd was excellent as the comedic sociopath. Funny film.

[Captain Hilts]

11. I agree. Joan is great. nt

[knitter4democracy]

3. He's entirely right--if the war is worth it, why not honor the dead?

Not shove them behind the curtain and try to pretend they're not there.

I'm a big fan of Cusack's work, so I'll have to see this.

[rakeeb]

9. How exactly do you preceive letting the press turn your son

or daughter or parent or spouse's remains into a media circus as "honoring" them?
This reg is on the books out of respect for the next of kin. If the next of kin would like to turn their fallen soldier into a media circus, that's their choice once they have custody. Oddly, not one family has chosen to do so, which tells me the policy is pretty much in line with the next of kin.

I would think that putting faces on the numbers has a much more sobering effect, I don't know why more news shows don't do that.

[underpants]

5. The "Dover test"

It used to be the last (unofficial) check before giving the order for military action. Poppa Bush was seen in a split screen on CNN laughing while a C-130 was bringing caskets home from Mogadishu so they put a hold on allowing photos THEN the Republicans raised hell when Clinton hadn't changed the rule when we went back into Somalia to try to fix the aborted effort from the Bush mis-administration and stayed the rule until Iraq when this Bush super secretly changed it.

The Dover test is an informal test and a journalistic phrase to describe whether the general population of the United States is supporting the participation of the United States in a war or other military action by the public reaction to returning war casualties. The test is usually used to support a partisan position concerning the United States government's actions than to actually determine the level of public support for the war.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dover_test

[formercia]

7. Sneaking in the casualties under cover of darkness

so people can't take pictures or count the wounded.


"Bunch of cockaroaches"

Tony Montana

[Captain Hilts]

10. Flying the wounded to Bethesda Naval and Walter Reed only after dark is. nt