A new NBC News poll suggests that either the administration was on the same wavelength as most Americans about releasing the Osama bin Laden death photos or it made its case to most Americans:
The latest NBC News poll finds that nearly two-thirds of Americans back President Obama’s decision not to release the photos taken after Osama bin Laden’s death.
Fifty-two percent said they strongly believe the Obama administration should not release the photos, and an additional 12 percent agreed, although not as strongly.
By comparison, 24 percent said they strongly believe the photos should be released, and 5 percent more agreed not so strongly.
On Wednesday, the Obama administration announced it would not be releasing the photos, even though some politicians claimed they were needed to prove to the public and world that bin Laden was dead. However, on Friday, al Qaeda confirmed that bin Laden was killed.
As Shaun Mullen notes in his post here on TMV, there are valid journalistic reasons to argue for releasing the photos. That is far different from the controversy gleefully fanned by talk show hosts who tried to re-set the birthers button with their listeners and imply that bin Laden wasn’t killed or the photos weren’t being released because it would say something negative about the military operation or Obama. Most of these talk show hosts with their big salaries probably knew better but that’s the way the game is played.
And then there was Sarah Palin — who probably knows better – telling Obama on Twitter to stop “pussyfooting” and release the photos. Palin’s 24/7 sarcasm on Twitter act is growing old (one view HERE).. Palin should know better. On the other hand, she probably doesn’t. Or — most likely — she picks anything she can fit in a Tweet that is negative and throws red meat to her steadily dwindling hardcore number of supporters. You betcha..
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.