“Go fuck yourself,” screamed an off-camera passer by at Dick Cheney as he went through the motions of the empathetic Vice President, visiting the Gulf region for the first time today. While the obscenity was broadcast over all three networks covering the Veep’s trip, Mr. Cheney could hardly denounce the comment disrespectful. It was the identical utterance he had leveled at Senator Patrick Leahy on the floor of the Senate in his role as president of the Senate, after Leahy referenced Cheney’s ties to Halliburton and their no-bid contract success in Iraq.

Ironically, Halliburton is fairing relatively well in the wake of Katrina, but the bigger story here is whether FEMA is attempting to censor journalists and photographers from providing the public with images of the dead, much like the refusal of the Pentagon to allow images of soldiers returning in coffins from Iraq.

Against the backdrop of rumors that some members of the National Guard have been pointing loaded guns at journalists brandishing notepads, coupled with the refusal of rescuers to allow journalists on boats if they plan on taking pictures, FEMA responded:

The recovery of victims is being treated with dignity and the utmost respect and we have requested that no photographs of the deceased by made by the media.

Tom Rosenstiel, director of the Project for Excellence in Journalism, a part of Columbia University's journalism school called FEMA’s request and “invitation to chaos.” Larry Siems of the PEN American Center told Reuters:

It's impossible for me to imagine how you report a story whose subject is death without allowing the public to see images of the subject of the story…How is the world going to look at us if we go into their part of the world and we broadcast these images and we do not allow ourselves to look at such images when they're right in our own midst?

While we are currently raising funds for First Amendment Project, in an unprecedented auction with 18 authors, the atrocious response to Hurricane Katrina, government bungling, and a move to accuse anyone demanding accountability of playing a “blame game” (like dissent being equated with treason), we are reminded that in a time like this, freedom of expression remains critically important.