Ankle Deep in the Big Muddy
In the photograph, the soldier walking through a combat outpost in Kandahar is only ankle deep. And so one would like to think that there is still hope for him ... until we see the next photo.
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Something Newt and Something Old
What I really like about Nina Berman's photo of Newt Gingrich (from "somewhere in Georgia" in '96) in light of the '12 announcement.
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Radical Fundamentalism and the Need for Erasure
If the erasure of Hillary and a female White House aide by Brooklyn’s Orthodox Hasidic newspaper, Der Tzitung, from the White House “Security Room” photo is informative at all, it’s to tell us that religious fundamentalism is alive and well in America, too. If it serves a constructive function, on...
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Kandahar and the Distraction War
Just thought we'd take a brief look at some routine media practices in light of the brazen Taliban assault on the government and security infrastructure in Kandahar.
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Reading The New Yorker "Erasing bin Laden" Cover: A Process, Not an Act
The thoughtful and more realistic message communicated by the latest New Yorker cover, as compared to the TIME bin Laden snuff job is...
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Narcissist! Couch Potato! Twelve-Year-Old! — DoD Spins bin Laden Watching the TeeVee
Why is the DoD video of bin Laden watching TV so much more devastating than the "rehearsal" clip also released this past weekend?
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Framing Osama (and Obama)
If the point here is that bin Laden was overly scripted -- as well as overly concerned with his image, given the fact his beard is jet black while in other time-related pics and vids it is grey -- I give the DoD and the White House about a...
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Alan Chin: Through the Champagne Spray – Report from Ground Zero upon bin Laden’s Death
A crowd gathered at the World Trade Center site (Ground Zero) to celebrate after President Obama announced the killing of Osama Bin Laden.
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Finding the Chris Hondros "Checkpoint Girl"
NYT finds Samar, Chris Hondros' "checkpoint girl." What are the ethics, however, of capturing her seeing the iconic photo of herself for the first time?
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Sexy Seals and the Bin Laden Kill: Our Viagra Moment
It's early yet, but I expect this sensuous photo presages something bigger and more powerful in America than just the immortalization of last Saturday’s raid and the lionizing of the ultra-warrior Navy Seals.
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Thursday at Ground Zero: The Prideful Left Behind by the Modest
Obama -- mindful of a need to recognize the "first responders" and the victim's families -- has actually took a very low key approach to Ground Zero and the death of Osama bin Laden.
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So… bin Laden 2011: Threat or Legend?
Maybe Osama was as dangerous as ever, "the wanted one" simply operating in the drone-era in an effective, but super-stealth kind of way. On the other hand...
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“… and a Haughty Spirit before a Fall”
For some, no doubt, Osama bin Laden has been brought to justice. And that is no small thing. But what exactly does it mean to count that as a marker of “winning”?
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The Deeper Price of Censorship: White House Nixes Photo of bin Laden’s Body
We feel today's action by the Administration must lead to the end of a false assumption, taken for granted by the President and leaders in both parties, that the snuffing out a critical and essential photo is somehow a zero-sum game.
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Your Turn: The "Security Room" Photo — White House/Obama In Real Time
As of late yesterday, Pete Souza's image has become "the photo," akin to being in the room during during what will likely be one of the crucial moments of Obama's Administration, not to mention, any other.
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What's Wrong With TIME's X-ed bin Ladin Cover
I doubt I would have any qualms at all if TIME had X-ed Hitler, left it alone alone for 66 years, then X-ed bin Ladin. But after X-ing out three Muslims over the past eight years, today's cover (apart from the question whether bin Laden was even in Hitler's...
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