Time magazine's cover on the Nasdaq building in Times Square House Majority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) doesn't often agree with President Obama but he backed up the White House's decision not to release the photograph of Osama bin Laden's body. Speaking today, he said, "I support the decision by the president that they should not be disclosed, they’ve got more information available to them, in terms of its impact, but I think that they’ve made a responsible decision."
Yesterday, in an excerpt of a 60 Minutes interview that will air on Sunday, President Obama said the photograph that reportedly shows Bin Laden with a gunshot wound in his head (between his eyes) would remain under wraps, "That's not who we are. We don't trot this stuff out as trophies. We don't need to spike the football." Plus, there are concerns that the photograph would be inflammatory.
Some Senators have reportedly seen an "unofficial" photograph showing that Bin Laden is dead, which suggests that someone will leak it at some point. Reuters released photographs of other men killed in Bin Laden's Abbottabad compound—warning, these pictures, which come towards the end of the slide show, are extremely graphic.
Senator Lindsay Graham (R-SC) claims that it's a "mistake" not to show the photographs, but in the past, he's been opposed to showing photographs of Abu Ghraib prison abuse. Former Republican vice-presidential candidate Sarah Palin piped up on Twitter, "Show photo as warning to others seeking America's destruction. No pussy-footing around, no politicking, no drama;it's part of the mission." And even Jon Stewart made a point about why the pictures should be released on the Daily Show last night: