"Moved" Indeed

The White House today released a statement that says the president was moved by images of the flag-draped coffins of the service dead. I know this will sound ill-spirited, but he damned well should be moved. In fact, it should go without saying that he should be moved. I think it's sad that we have a president so distant from the reality of normal mortals that he would need to release a statement telling us he's moved... especially since he doesn't read newspapers or watch news on TV, so we might think perhaps he had not seen them in his insulated little world.

But I do not think for a moment that, as the statement tells us, the policy of not allowing such images is done only for the privacy of the families. This administration, in particular, has little concern for the families or for the soldiers. Or lies would not have been told to get us to this point where so many flag-draped coffins are returning.

Note, too, that this policy was instituted in 1991, by another Bush president, also covering those returning dead from another Iraq war.