The media is showing this clip over and over to sell ad space.

THANK YOU! Doesn't anyone read posts in here?

I don't believe this for a second.

They have plenty of other footage. I've seen it on a couple of stations. They've got footage of about three million different "experts" speculating on what this means. They've got footage of half the members of the Bush admin speculating on what this means. They've got footage of Saddam & friends beating the isht out of people (which, despite its shock value, might be a better choice if they want to dehumanize Saddam given the reactions that Kiki and many other people I know have had to this footage).

Seeing Saddam get checked over for lice is NOT history in the making, and it is nowhere on par with the footage of the towers going down over and over again.

None of that will sell as much ad space as the fresh footage of Saddam.
Money talks, and bullhsit walks.

Let me add the professional broadcasters opinion. In fact, I said it very early in the thread.

The "examination" footage is undoubtedly the first tape the Army released. Many would argue that it is a not so veiled insult to see this brutal dictator being "inspected" by his captors.

When that had been used to death, the Army probably released the night scope footage of the actual raid. The cynic in me finds it easy to believe that this was a purposful thing on behalf of our side. Subtle, but effective I think.

As for "selling" ad time, that's wishful thinking. Commercials aren't added on the spur of the moment. Those shows are formatted for a certain number of spots per hour. The footage is really of more promotional value than sales. We're just not efficient enough to get commercials ordered, delivered, dubbed (copied), logged and aired that quickly. Unfortunately.

Maybe some of the people in the Holy See grew up on farms? I know several priests who have.

Eta: I just went to check this fact, and ALL Catholic priests have to receive graduate degrees. Since the majority of the Vatican (referring to the institution, not the country) is consisted of PRIESTS, I have a feeling that in their minimum of eight years of education, they figured out a little something about cows.

What she said. In essence, all Catholic policy is founded off of this principle. The way I look at it: If we dehumanize him, we are no better than he is.

Oh I'm sorry - the first video footage we have of an INSANE dictator that we haven't seen in like 8 months....that's not history in the making (nor is the fact that our army found him). Sorry but I disagree.

And as someone who has a degree in journalism with a sequence in public relations...it's MEDIA baby. They do anything to get ratings up. Plus the footage of us capturing Saddam is good publicity for our country, our cause, our army and Bush.

By the way, I'm not saying that this is a bad strategy by the Army. If fact, it's pretty effective. Government use of the media is a highly practiced art -- and the military is/are masters at it.

My real problem with this technique is that when you consider all of the 24 hour news services, when they are only fed two or three shots (like the physical exam sequence), you see them used over and over until nauseus, because CNN/FOX/MSNBC, etc. feel they must have video -- as opposed to "talking heads."

The only rationale for this is that most viewers only watch for a few minutes at a time.

Either that or Republicans/Democrats, Liberals/Conservatives, Men/Women (pick you own -- I ain't goin' there) have real short attention spans.

ETA that Hootie's post above was added while I was typing mine, I guess. I would also add that even the "examination" footage is more compelling than "expert" talking heads, etc.

We're worried about dehumanizing him? I have a difficult time calling someone who's done what he's done "human". He's an evil man and all I have to say is karma is a biotch.

I'll agree with Kitso, sometimes the Vatican says things that make it hard to be a Catholic. But I guess it's their duty to stand up and bitch about the principle of things while everyone else exists in reality.

As far as the comments about pedophilia.. not that it makes it okay, but I know for a fact that the Catholic church is not the only church that has covered this stuff up. There was a LDS bishop that did this in my area. When the family accused him, they were excommunicated and then refused to press charges. I guess they just have better damage control. It has nothing to do with this thread. Take your Catholic-hating comments somewhere else.

Exactly!

As a Catholic, I understand the point that the Cardinal was making as well as adduncan, Geeky Penguin, and FAB*SpiceySpice.

As a flawed human being, I believe that forgiveness and reconcilliation occur after the perpetrator expresses remorse and attempts to compensate for the damage done. I doubt that SH will ever do that.

I watched Saddam Hussein Biography the other night, and it really clarified what a cruel, vicious, evil dictator this man was when he was in power. It shows the tape that Munchkin referred to in her post. If you get a chance to watch it, I strongly recommend it.

Neither I nor Saddam are Catholic - neither of us have the Vatican to answer to so neither of us will follow Catholic standards.

-Rudey
--Leaves the office at 12:10AM; Hot dog!

Delt Alum-When that had been used to death, the Army probably released the night scope footage of the actual raid. The cynic in me finds it easy to believe that this was a purposful thing on behalf of our side. Subtle, but effective I think

Soooooo agree with these posts! (and others too)

On O'Reilly last night, Bill was debating a Jesuit priest and the
Catholic stance on forgiveness was mentioned. Yet Bill countered with Jesus' reaction to the blaggarts in the temple-a reaction, by Jesus, of anger and intolerance to their sacrilege. The priest really didn't have too much of a response, mostly, that it wasn't the same thing. The Church's stance in addition to what GeekyPenguin said, is that their view relates to the WORLD, not a position one would take from the US or Iraq political perspective.

Is it OK now for people to quote any religious leader? If, on one hand, certain groups want to keep religion out of politics, why are they seizing this opportunity to AGAIN belittle our efforts through the words of a VATICAN principal? (Remember the screams of separation of church and state.) I for one don't give a care WHAT spokesmen for the Pope have to say on this. And if ANYONE starts their anti(whatever) speech with "THE VATICAN SAID...", then throw away you birth control pills, vote to abolish abortion, never get a divorce and go to church every Sunday and Holy Day of Obligation! These too are stances the Vatican takes! (Forgive me if I'm cranky-had a late/late night and very early alarm!)

You know, considering DeltAlum has a lifetime of experience in the field, I think I'm going to go with what he said. As I've learned in the past year or two, a degree means very little unless you can back up what you've done with experience. You can read a lot of books about something, but until you've been in the trenches at least a few months, you don't have a leg to stand on.

They do have other footage, and it's not just the American press. I watched the BBC Monday, and they had a mixture of footage--but the primary one was the examination. I agree that this is an important milestone in the American campaign, but more footage would have befitted those of us with better attention spans. :p