The Bush administration's policy of barring news photographs of the flag-covered coffins of service members killed in Iraq won the backing of the Republican-controlled Senate on Monday, when lawmakers defeated a Democratic measure to instruct the Pentagon to allow pictures.

The 54-to-39 vote came after little formal debate, with 7 Democrats joining 47 Republicans to defeat the provision.

--New York Times

I'm trying to figure out the conservative line on this kind of thing: On the one hand, TV news should arouse righteous American outrage by showing, in all their gory detail, beheadings of U.S. hostages and the severing of fingers and tongues in Saddam's prisons. But coffins at Dover Air Force Base? Heavens, no. That would upset people.

Meanwhile, today's New York Daily News has the Marine ambush on the cover, but the cover of the Bushite New York Post avoids it altogether. What's the standard here? I'm just a humble blogger; I'm confused.