WHY ARE HAITI IMAGES more graphic than those of other disasters? (via Instapundit). That one's easy.

Soft racism.

You would never see the same kind of pictures had the disaster taken place in a first-world location. But in Haiti, the images remind me when there's a heatwave that kills all the chicken in a farm, or when fish appear belly up in a lake for some reason. It's as if Haitians were of a lower species, different from us. What's particularly disgusting is that at the same time it's done while people act sad and compassionate (what an ugly, condescending word in this context). The cynic in me thinks that, intimately, those people unconsciously want to feel better about themselves rather than being sincerely, deep down touched by the situation. And the amateur psychoanalyst in me thinks that the more graphic the images are, the "better" they feel about themselves.

I know, I know. I shouldn't write when I'm in a foul mood. But this makes me angry. Not that I'm against showing lurid images. It's just that it should be all, or none.

UPDATE. Minor edits for clarity.