CMoore.com

If the report is true, apparently, Katrina spelled the end of our civil liberties as well as the end of New Orleans.

We are in Jefferson Parish, just outside of New Orleans. At the National Guard checkpoint, they are under orders to turn away all media. All of the reporters are turning they’re[sic] TV trucks around.

And the legal justification for this is…?

Banning the media is the only way to suppress knowledge of the body count as the waters recede. Note: this is after FEMA has already told the media not to take any pictures of the dead.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency says it doesn`t want the media taking any pictures of the dead in New Orleans.
The agency is leading the rescue effort in the area and has been sharply criticized for its response to Hurricane Katrina.
On Tuesday, FEMA rejected requests by journalists to go out on boats with rescue crews in the city.
A FEMA spokeswoman said part of the reason was because crews needed the space, adding that, quote, “the recovery of the victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect.” She says the agency has requested that “no photographs of the deceased be made by the media.”

See, the problem with Abu Ghraib wasn’t torture, it was the pictures of the torture. The problem with Fallujah wasn’t the civillian casualties, it was the pictures of the casualties. The problem with the more than 2000 dead US soldiers in Iraq wasn’t the dead soldiers, it was the pictures of the flag-draped coffins of the dead soldiers.

In the same vein, the problem with Katrina isn’t the massive deaths and flooding, it’s the pictures of the massive deaths and flooding.

Denying the free press access to public areas not under martial law is per se unconstitutional. Illegal. Something a totalitarian state does, not a democracy.