HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) -- Rather than fight a lawsuit by CNN, the federal government abandoned its effort Saturday to prevent the media from reporting on the recovery of the dead in New Orleans.
Joint Task Force Katrina "has no plans to bar, impede or prevent news media from their news gathering and reporting activities in connection with the deceased Hurricane Katrina victim recovery efforts," said Col. Christian E. deGraff, representing the task force.
U.S. District Court Judge Keith Ellison issued a temporary restraining order Friday against a "zero access" policy announced earlier in the day by Army Lt. Gen. Russel Honore, who is overseeing the federal relief effort in the city, and Terry Ebbert, the city's homeland security director.
In explaining the ban, Ebbert said, "we don't think that's proper" to let members of the media view the bodies.
Remember back in the days after 9/11 when the media refused to show us pictures of people jumping from the towers? Or their charred remains coming out of the rubble? We were told then that this was out of an abundance of respect for the dead and a desire not to inflame public emotion. Yet now the media wants to put pictures of the dead on your television screens and in your newspapers and magazines.
Where did the "abundance of respect" for the deceased go? What's changed?
Well, its obvious what has changed. The media is trying to pin Katrina on the Bush administration. Since the liberal media hates the Bush administration they see no harm in disrespecting the dead or inflaming public opinion. When we're talking about fundamental Islamic extremists, though, its a whole 'nother ballgame.