If that is indeed the young man's penis, then he will be making a whole lot of new friends in the near future.

I'm sorry if this is crass, but the belt or scarf or whatever that was was SO MUCH LONGER than your typical flaccid penis! It looked at least 6-7" long! There's no way I would have mistook that for a penis. That's so weird that so many people thought so!

I agree with the others who have commented--indeed, I'd go so far as to say that the tourniquet or whatever is hanging there would have to be about 12-14" long if it was hanging over the groin and through the legs. Where was this woman's mind when she saw this photo? And, really, how many penises has she seen if this is the conclusion she jumps to?

Umm, maybe I am missing a note of sarcasm in the previous letters, but it is not the bandage hanging down between Mr. Sterne's legs that caused the uproar, but rather what appears to be protruding above his groin. That is the part of the photo that both People and the New York Post digitally obscured.

A) It's not his dick. B) Who cares if it is? It's a newsworthy photo from a shocking event. It's not a picture of a penis, it's a picture of the victim of a crime and the people who've come to help him. Good grief.

Anyone who looks at the picture and gets upset that they are seeing a penis is probably a person who sees penises in their Cheerios. Delusional, irrational, pathological. Take your pick.

...just what it is that's supposed to be the kid's member, that kinda indicates just how high a degree of ludicrous this hits.

"As for Sterne's take on the whole thing? He reportedly has the photo hanging on his bedroom wall."

Well, sure -- because after all, second only perhaps to money, celebrity is the ultimate value.

I'd be willing to bet that at least 30% of the public, offered front-page fame in exchange for getting non-fatally shot, would go for the deal -- and more than 30% among people under 25. Any takers?

I agree that it's not his penis, and frankly don't get why anyone would be offended even if it was (remember Kim Phuc's iconic photo of Vietnam war?)

What discomfited me was how awkwardly the young man was being carried. He must have been in excruciating pain. Where were the gurneys??

I almost saw one once and I still haven't recovered .

I particularly like the "Think of the children!" responses. Perfectly fine to let 8-year-olds see pictures of severely wounded people being carried away after a deranged killer has terrorized a classroom--that's not gonna cause any nightmares. But oh, how will I ever explain an imaginary penis?

Oh dear.

How crass is it to say that there may have been a bit of Freudian slippage when Karen Hunter announced that she had been "rocked to her core"?

...how could anyone mistake that for a penis? Have none of these people ever seen a naked man. I am dumbstruck...absolutely dumbstruck.

What the f***?

As regards "former" Eagle Scout. Once you get the award you are an Eagle for life, no "former" about it.

...now people who gave the photo a once-over last week and never gave it a second thought, are now checking it out for the naughty bits...Thanks a lot!

I'm gonna pile on the side that says "so what if it was his penis."

The disturbing thing is the disturbed people who, as Clark-Flory points out, are more disturbed by the sight of what they (hope) is a man's genital than they are of the reason they got to see it in the first place.

So let's see, we are more offended by the sight of an instrument of procreation than we are of the occurrence of a wanton massacre. Yep, Bush & Rove were right to get rid of the Salt Lake City U.S. Attorney because he wasn't hard enough (on pornography.) But since Fredo needs a home run right now, this student shouldn't be surprised if he gets indicted as a pornographer. That would be just their style-- Abu Ghraib meets New Orleans. Doin' a fine job there...

The guy was on the receiving end of a shooting spree by a madman and kept his cool enough to apply a tourniquet to his gushing wound and save his own life.

This guy's penis is indeed that large. His balls are even bigger.

And I screamed at my kids. A lot. Because I'm a bad person.

I remember after the tsunami a few years ago seeing giant color picture on the front page of my "family" newspaper: It was an overhead shot of a huge pile of dead bodies, in various states of dress. Fairly prominent in the photo was the body of a woman lying face up, her dress flapped open to reveal full frontal nudity.

I remember thinking at the time that our news media refused to show pictures of dead American soldiers in Iraq but never had a problem showing dead Iraqis. And in this picture, they had no problem showing a naked dead tsunami victim from another brown people's country. Trust me, no one complained.

This false prudery among American media and their many stupid viewers/readers is disgusting.

Disappointment apparently

Some madman storms into his classroom, starts spraying bullets all round and the victim who is shot TWICE does the heroic act of saving his own life by keeping enough cool to properly bandage himself. And all the public does is fuss about whether or not his penis was captured on national TV and not commending him for his heroism? Oh for god's sake, gimme a break. This kid should be lauded for his bravery and as Californian aptly mentioned - he's got bigger balls than the rest of us. If it was my relative I'd be proud.

It makes me want to engage in self-touching.

to see a penis in that little piece of cloth or whatever it is sticking up?

And why is it that the people in the "decency" brigade always spend so much more time thinking about other people's genitals than I do?