Tonight the ABC News program “Nightline” will show photographs of all the U.S. troops killed in the Iraq war, while Ted Koppel reads their names.

I won’t be able to see it. Here in Columbus, Ohio, the local ABC affiliate won’t be airing the program, on orders from station owner Sinclair Broadcast Group.

It appears that some desk jockey decided it would be “contrary to public interest” to recognize the men and women who’ve made the ultimate sacrifice in this war. They fear that viewers will be less enthusiastic about the war if they recieve information about the lives lost fighting it.

They may be right. In fact, it seems to me that any information about the cost of the war, in lives or money, is apt to sap our enthusiasm for this war. Any information that suggests that Iraqis feel anything but undying gratitude for liberating the country may have the same effect. Likewise, any story that suggests that relations with some of our long-time allies have been strained. We can’t have that.

In light of Sinclair’s insight, it seems obvious that the “public interest” requires an end to reporting anything that might be interpreted as “bad news” about the Iraq war. I’ll bet there are folks in the Pentagon and the White House who would be glad to let the news media know which stories they can carry, and which stories the public interest requires be stifled.

The Washington Post reports that secrecy rules in the USA Patriot Act prevented the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) from revealing that they had filed a suit challenging that law. From the article:

“It is remarkable that a gag provision in the Patriot Act kept the public in the dark about the mere fact that a constitutional challenge had been filed in court,” Ann Beeson, the ACLU’s associate legal director, said in a statement. “President Bush can talk about extending the life of the Patriot Act, but the ACLU is still gagged from discussing details of our challenge to it.”

This reminds me of an old Wizard of Id cartoon: The king is showing a visiting dignitary around the kingdom. The dignitary asks a passing peasant, “How’s it going?”

“Oh, I can’t complain,” the peasant says.

“Why do you say that?” the dignitary asks.

“It is forbidden,” the peasant replies.

(By the way, I discovered this story by way of Dan Gillmor's weblog.)