Via Slashdot, it appears that the AP has suspended using Department of Defense photos after they were given an altered photograph of General Ann Dunwoody. You can see a before and after comparison of the photograph here.
This is just bizarre on a number of levels. First off, and from a purely aesthetic level, it’s just a hideous photo. Are generals so busy they can’t head down to Sears to have a couple of headshots taken for this kinda thing without having to send out doctored photos? It looks like a photo somebody bashed out using Microsoft Paint for the family Christmas letter.
Secondly, we’re in a pretty poor state of affairs when the freakin’ Army has to start adding flags to their photos. Are we not able to assume that a general in the Army is a patriot? Do we have to be beaten over the head with it? Like the flag pins, discourse in our country has really sunk to a lowest common denominator level of patriotism. People can’t honestly believe that if we don’t drape ourselves in flags and eagles and meaningless signifiers at all times we’re not really Americans – but because conservatives have made such an issue of this, it has become a part of the political boilerplate. Every statement now has to begin with “I just want to make clear that I love America more than my mother, my wife and my children, and am in no way anti-American.”
And finally, won’t it be nice to have a government that can avoid shooting itself in the foot every other day?
Friday, November 21, 2008
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