I’m always intrigued by the editorial choices of CNN for its International portal. Covering the Olympics occupies the right half of the screen; covering the massacre in Aleppo and other Syrian cities takes over the left part of the page’s layout.
In the times that the ancient Greeks competed among themselves – not for “the gold”, but for a head-wreath made of olive tree leaves – wars would stop and both Athenians and Spartans would sit at the same table to celebrate the games, along with the Macedonians, Thracians and the Boeotians – all of the Greek tribes paying tribute to Zeus and the Olympian gods.
In modern times, we are expected to be more civilized, more tolerant and less vindictive. But oh, how do those images of celebratory triumph at the London Olympics clash with the bloodied faces of Syrian civilians!
Meanwhile, Harry Truman’s grandson met with survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki nuclear bombings; his grandfather’s Japanese victims respected his act as that of “a relative.”
Perhaps, with more imagery like the one displayed on CNN’s international portal pages, we will think twice before dropping the Bomb ever again.
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