(CNN) – Sarah Palin is calling the AP's decision to release a battlefield photo of a dying Marine over the family's objection "an evil thing to do."
In a Sunday night post on her Facebook page, the former Alaska governor called the photo released this week of Lance Corporal Joshua Bernard's dying moments on the battlefield in Afghanistan a "sacred image."
"Many of us join Secretary Gates in condemning the Associated Press for its heartless and selfish decision to turn its back on the wishes of a grieving family in order to exploit the tragic death of a true American hero," she wrote.
The release of the photo was "a despicable and heartless act by the AP," said Palin. "The family said they didn't want the photo published. AP, you did it anyway, and you know it was an evil thing to do.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Bernard family. …"
Palin has had limited public appearances since resigning the governor's office in July. Most of her comments have come via posts on her Facebook page.
From CNN Politics
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The press is absolutely right to have published the photo. Their job is to show the realities of war – not keep it sanitized so the rest of the world can forget that we're in a war. Personally I want to know what's happening to our soldiers abroad – the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Americans need to see what war really looks like. We are isolated from those images here in this country while the people in those countries where these wars are being fought see the ugly tragedy of lives lost every day. If we are going to send our young men and women overseas to fight these wars, then the American people have a right and responsibility to see the results of those actions. War is not a lovely picture of military uniforms and American flags waving. It is Americans coming home physically maimed or psycholoically damaged for life or in caskets – images that are hidden from the American public. We need to be sure we are willing to pay that price before sending these Americans off to fight wars around the world.
Those evil-doers again.
How is Palin any different? While I agree the AP is tasteless in this situation, Palin has no connection to this story and her making comments about it is the exact thing the AP was doing–using the photo and situation to gain media coverage. Hypocrisy knows no bounds.
Will someone PLEASE tell the airhead from Alaska that NO ONE cares at all about the opinions that she has rattling around in her EMPTY head!
What's more evil, publishing the photo or exploiting the controversy for one's own political gain?
Hypocrite ! She spews lies about Obama then thinks she has a moral soapbox to stand on? Palin, go dig a hole and crawl in.
While I agree that the AP's decision to publish such a photograph without consent of the family was wrong and terribly misguided, Ms.Palin's jump into the foreray is pointless and fairly hypocritcal. She never misses an opportunity to exploit her own family to further her own headlines. Her recent comments about her Down's child not being permitted the same level of care under ALL of the proposed healthcare reform bills (She didn'tread a single one!) completely reinforces the clear conculsion that she is uninformed, easily manipulated, and cares only about her own self-perservation.
Ms. Palin, you make a lack of sagacity look like a virture.
For the first time ever, I have to agree with Ms. Palin.
Is the image of his death more sacred than the life he had before he was shipped off to die?
Sarah Palin has never done anything or said anything important enough to make me want to read her "memoirs".
Who cares what she thinks. She is a troublemaker from the work go.
Why is she in the news? She is NOT a politician. She quit. Remember?
Will she ever go away !!!!!!!!!
They should have granted the family that last wish for their son's photo not to be shone. PS I care what Sarah has to say and so do hundres of tousands of people otherwise the media wouldn't keep posting it, so if you don't want to read or hear it then close your eyes and ears everytime you see the word Palin, as for those of us that do Thank you CNN.
No one embraces the idea of seeing a photo of one of our young men killed at war. Unfortunately, we lose young men and women to this war every day and we must not forget that. Ms. Palin supports the war and should understand the consequences. Every American needs to understand the consequences of fighting a war abroad that costs Americans money, resources and most importantly American lives. Ms. Palin should be more concerned with what this war represents and what we are fighting for than about a single photo of a single life lost. Does anyone remember why our patriotic men and women must lost their lives over there? The Taliban is re-building, Al Queda is re-building, our armed forces have weakend and we have a huge deficit. Let's not keep talking ourselves into why this was is a good idea or we will have another Vietnam on our hands. Stop defending poor policy and blindly following your own party lines and let's all start THINKING INDEPENDENTLY – where have I heard idea before?!
Sarah Palin's decision to post anything on a Facebook page is an evil thing to do. The media's decision to read and repeat anything Sarah Palin posts is also an evil thing to do.
The people who laud the Associated Press for publishing this photo are the same people who censor images of 9/11 as being too "inflamatory". You can't have it both ways folks.
Whatever your politics and likes or dislikes about Sarah Palin, she is absolutely right. The AP aka the government controlled media must not go against the wishes of the fallen soldiers parents.
Did the family give the AP permission to use the photo? If AP used it without permission, then I actually agree with Palin (believe me, that's a first and probably last).
If the family gave permission, I have no problem with Americans seeing the real cost of this war. However, if reports are true that the family did not approve it, then it's unforgivable to do that to the family.
well, she is the expert on being selfish and exploits!
Really,Palin doesn't support freedom of the press – shocking. I did notice that she has no problem exploiting soldiers deaths for her own benefit .
Way to go Sarah! I love that she tells it like it is!
Now let the libs trash you in a feeble attempt to divert attention from their IDIOT in the White House.
When people die in battle or accidents or other events that happen in the public, out in the open, during things that are public like WARS, then all images are correct. Families are not allowed to censor the news if something happens in PUBLIC.
That is, our collective right to know how our soldiers are dying and to see this directly trumps family desires to keep this private. Our soldiers are invading distant lands to kill the people who live there and in turn, these people have a right to kill our soldiers any way they can, it being their own homes at stake here.
And we are paying for this. The family of the dead soldier was not paying for him to be on vacation. He was paid by the US public to go there and kill people. So we must see the results of our hiring him and his actions, there.
All wars should be fully covered in greatest detail. We should see every single possible death, IN FULL. This seems to be the only way to wake people up to the reality of what is going on.
People are dying overseas in wars. The press never shows the horror of war, as a result the people voting for for pro war parties never see what is actually happening. Folks make up their own fantasies of valor and honor bases on fictional movies and the Disney channel. Soldiers come back from war mentally traumatized and the general public doesn't understand how it happened, as it doesn't line up with the fantasy they have created.
If you decide to go to a "Public" war in another country, then the press has the right to show public pictures of you. By showing these picture the population will get a better idea of what is actually happening.
If you do not like war pictures being shown then don't vote for war political parties and don't sign up for organizations that are going to war.
She is exactly right. What possible good does it do to have that picture shown?