A picture is worth a Jihad

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As of this ramblin' the president has not made a decision on releasing the pictures of a dead Osama bin Laden.

I thought about this yesterday and was ambivalent. One part of me said do not release it. T'other said post that sucker and let the world see.

Why would I say do not post it?

The BEST image I have posted to date - a blog all by itself.

Because it will inflame bin Laden's supporters. They will use it as a rallying cry. He's already being turned in to a martyr. Shoving his carcass over the side of a boat was an incredibly smart thing to do. It prevents his burial site from become a pilgrimage location, a shrine and a rallying point.

Besides which, if he actually was stuck in the dirt in a graveyard, those who came to defile his grave would wreak havoc on the rest of the cemetery as well. The graves there would not deserve to be treated in such a fashion simply because of their proximity to the man's remains.

Of what use is posting the pictures anyway? To satisfy some prurient interest? To show he's actually dead? A picture ain't proof of demise. Gimme a few minutes and I can produce a picture which "proves" anyone you wanna name is dead or alive and I am not that great with Photoshop.

Even if presented with the corpse, which by now has been dined upon by all manner of sea floor scavengers, some people will deny his death. Some people believe Elvis is alive, Jim Morrison is living in southern France and Hitler's head is being kept alive in a jar. Some folks even believe the moon-landings were faked, the earth is flat, the universe revolves around the earth and there are monuments on Mars.

Empirical evidence, to these people, is just a government attempt to cover up the facts.

So why then would I think the images should be released?

Because I detest government-held secrets. While I do think there are a FEW things the government should keep secret - the location and names of spies being a primary secret that should stay that way, most of what government knows should be made public.

Everything, and I do mean everything, government does should be made public to some degree. While you don't need to know the names and locations of spies, you should know the US government employs spies.

Warning. Even more incongruous image to follow.

The idea that releasing the image will further inflame his supporters is probably correct. But remember, we're not dealing with the most mentally stable of people. Anything will touch 'em off and they go BOOM.

As I said yesterday, when faced with a rabid dog, the only reasonable thing you can do is shoot it.

The idea that the picture is "too graphic" is beyond ludicrous. A simple internet search, even with strong filters in place, can turn up real images of real people really dead with body parts scattered all around them. I'll bet you the images of bin Laden's body are not as bad as the stuff you can get with even a cursory search.

 No, I'm not gonna post a horrific picture here (aside from the one above of Cynthia McKinney). I will post THIS:

just for the sheer incongruity factor and non sequitur because I'm like that.

Release the picture. Those who wish to see it may do so. Those who do not will not have to see it.

Those who will become inflamed by the picture were gonna do so anyway.

Get out your rifles and shotguns mes amoebas, we've got a pack of rabid dogs headed our way regardless of what is done with the picture.