"Privacy"

By now, you've probably seen this story which quotes the Bush administration on the photos of returning soldiers' coffins. "The message is, the sensitivity and privacy of families of the fallen must be the first priority."

Privacy?

Question: How is "privacy" the issue when the photos show large numbers of coffins and do not provide names of the fallen? We've all seen these shots by now. Have you ever seen one of these images overlaid with an arrow pointing to one coffin, alongside a caption reading "Timmy Smith of Azusa, California is in here"?

The Bushite's newfound respect for privacy is startling. Most of us were under the impression that the Patriot Act gave the FBI and other agencies new abilities to read our email and scope out which books we checked out of the library.