Placing the blame where it belongs

Sometimes satire is the only way to break through the bullshit D.C. rhetoric and get to the heart of an issue:

U.S. To Court-Martial Disposable Camera
Kodak Fun Saver 35 Snapped Abuse Pictures

A disposable camera that allegedly took humiliating photos at Abu Ghraib prison will be court-martialed in Baghdad next week, the Pentagon confirmed today.

“The camera that took these humiliating photos must be brought to justice,” Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld told reporters. “If, in fact, it is determined that the Kodak Fun Saver 35 did this heinous deed, then it must pay the ultimate price.”

By putting the camera on trial in Baghdad and broadcasting the proceedings around the globe, the White House hopes to show the Arab world that the U.S. is serious about bringing the Abu Ghraib wrongdoers to justice.

But in the tiny hamlet of Patoutville, Louisiana where the camera was first purchased, residents expressed shock and disbelief that the Kodak Fun Saver 35 could be responsible for such abhorrent photos.

Frank Toolin, a lifelong Patoutville resident who recalls seeing the Kodak Fun Saver 35 in the local 7-Eleven, told reporters, “The camera I knew was not capable of taking those pictures.”

Mr. Toolin said he fears that the Pentagon is turning the Fun Saver into a scapegoat, adding, “They should be court-martialing the film, not the poor camera.”