He's Not Even, er, Black

This is truly weird. Glenn Greeenwald has an estimable twofer about Jose ("Dirty Bomber") Padilla, the terrorist so elusive the government is still having trouble coming up with a good charge against him (link). They are both worth the reader's attention but for my money, it is the second one that is the more extraordinary. It's about the Padilla we all know--this guy:


...as seen in uncountable scary news shows over the past several years. But Greenwald says he is also this guy:



...in plain English, far more like some poor bloke who got caught in a police dragnet than the Central Casting picture of terrorism.

Greenwald comments:

I have no idea whether there were any deliberate alterations made back then to the photograph, but I do know that the total dehumanization of Padilla -- allowing him to be dubbed with cartoon villain names and accused of plotting the most heinous crimes, while he was not permitted to be either heard from or even seen (except in one dark and extremely menacing photograph) -- was a critical factor in enabling the Bush administration to throw him into a black hole and detain him incommunicado without provoking much protest from Americans or their media.

Greenwald is an ex-litigator. I learn most of my criminal justice from Batman comics. But can this really be the full story?