I think what Ms. Greenberg did was not right at all. She confused genres, and beyond that, she chose to make a political statement where none had been requested. I understand arguments for artistic license, but here she is not the sole author, nor is this her project. She was, a contributor to the piece, but not the maker of the argument. She took advantage of the moment and did not think about the reasonable consequences of her actions, and the suffering they could and would bring, for others. Ultimately, I think she went as a performance artist instead of completing the journalistic work for which she was contracted. Unfortunately, given the circumstances, she did not meet the journalistic standard, nor the political goals, nor earned good artistic merit. A shame that her ability was so misdirected.

I agree with you also on the call to be mindful of how our actions promote our goals. As a progressive person, I think that Ms. Greenberg’s actions are very counterproductive (and I’m no stranger to protests, performances, and/or actions of various kinds). She could have done the images outside of this context, added a better performative twist, etc. and perhaps achieved her political goals in better fashion.

Thanks for posting about it so wisely. And anonymouse, please join a civil conversation that respects difference and good engagement with each other. No need to fear meeting others in that “narrow ridge” (Buber) of humanity.

Any day now you’ll wake up to find yourself mired down with the evils of universal health care, the metric system, and official bilingualism.

Don’t beleive me? Our latest inroad was getting colours other than that drab green on your paper money. Resistance is futile, you WILL be assimilated!

Oh the horror…..

And yeah, what she did was both totally legal and incredibly juvenile and unethical. Using someone elses dime to gain access and then doing such a hatchet job is really, really low.

I think the response of people like anonymouse (commenting above) is so unfortunate: they honestly think that because McCain is a bad guy, it excuses any sort of behavior – and if you don’t agree with this, you must be greedy, stupid, or weak. It’s a fascinatingly simple worldview, isn’t it? But in the end, I don’t usually use Karl Rove’s behavior as a model for my own, because I think it’s kind of important that we’re better than that. Or at least that we try to be better.

1. it’s not that she’s not a “journalist per se”, it’s that she’s not a journalist. she’s an artist who is hired specifically to create her artistic style. you clearly almost understood this, but if you really understood it your whole point would be moot. which it is.
EPIC FAIL
2. this risible argument, that any strong statement A made by a democrat leads to B strong republican response, so let’s make sure all democrats are timorous and quiescent is a joke. karl rove does not care if you are nice or naughty. he will hit you over and over and over, no matter how many times you try to be civil.
FAIL
3. you mention the new yorker and the atlantic. funny story: jeffrey goldberg, the author of the piece greenberg illustrated, wrote several articles for the new yorker using sources who were at the time already known prevaricators. these sources inevitably told him that sadaam had WMD’s and so on. goldberg, knowing these sources were lousy, used them nonetheless. his articles in the new yorker were used by many in power to justify going to war (including dick cheney). goldberg’s sources were proved even further to be liars after the first phase of the war ended–goldberg never apologized. in fact, he got rewarded with a plum job at the atlantic, one that came with a pony for his daughter (no, really, it did). his actions were evil and unethical, but no one cared.
FAIL WITH A SIDE OF FAIL
4.not germane.
F is for FAIL
5.really, none of this tells you anything about mccain? for instance, that he’s REALLY old. not important? that he cheated on his first wife after her terrible accident? doesn’t matter? that he is on record as calling his current wife a cunt in front of reporters? did you already know that? does it not give you pause? have you not maybe learned something?

it may tell you a bunch of things about greenberg, but one of them clearly is that she puts her political beliefs before her mercenary ones. she will lose jobs because of this. in a better world, that would be a badge of honor. in this (and the strobist) world, you guys just line up to toady to power so that you can grab a paycheck.

you aren’t a clever enough person to take on such a weighty subject. you didn’t do your research, you just spouted off. that david hobby of strobist thinks you are smart…that doesn’t tell me much about you, but it tells me a lot about him.