The “Situation Room Photo” officially released by the White House showing President Obama and his National Security team watching updates of the raid on Osama bin Laden’s compound is said the be the most viewed photo on Flickr according to CNN. It is historic. Many in the blogosphere are even spending time analyzing the placement of each person, their expressions, clothing, and body language. We know from news reports that the Navy SEALS had cameras on their helmets so Secretary Clinton’s grasping of her face may even be the very moment when bin Laden was found and told to surrender. I would have given anything to see the look on this face.
But that historic image was apparently viewed differently by Di Tzeitung, an ultra-conservative Hasidic newspaper in Brooklyn. According to a statement released by the paper, “Because of laws of modesty, we are not allowed to publish pictures of women.”
I suppose they could have just not published the photo, but instead their photo editor erased Secretary Clinton and the other woman in the photo Director of Counterterrorism, Audrey Tomason. The photo was an official photo from the White House. What “photo editor” doesn’t realize you can’t alter a copyrighted image? He needed to read the fine print?
“Our photo editor realized the significance of this historic moment, and published the picture, but in his haste he did not read the ‘fine print’ that accompanied the picture, forbidding any changes.”
This is in America. They are not covered by religious freedom with copyrighted images, even if they use it as an excuse:
“The First Amendment to the Constitution guarantees freedom of religion. That has precedence even to our cherished freedom of the press.”
What I like best is the paper’s final statement posted by CNN blogs:
“She won overwhelming majorities in the Orthodox Jewish communities…because the religious community appreciated her unique capabilities and compassion to all communities. The allegations that religious Jews denigrate women or do not respect women in public office is a malicious slander and libel.”
Actually, it’s Free Speech, one of those other pesky Freedoms that AMERICAN WOMEN enjoy and we will continue to use it to question any issue of female marginalization. Freedom of Religion is one thing, discounting Hillary Clinton’s influence on American Policy is another. A newspaper should reveal the true story or nothing at all.
