Right Thinking From The Left Coast
"To what purpose are powers limited, and to what purpose is that limitation committed to writing,
if these limits may, at any time, be passed by those intended to be restrained?"
-- Chief Justice John Marshall, Marbury v. Madison, 1803

They’ve Officially Lost It
by Lee

Do you want to know why conservatives in this country are so tolerant of torture?  Because of people like Chris Shays.

GOP Rep. Christopher Shays said that what happened at Abu Gharib “wasn’t torture”; it was merely a “sex ring.” Today’s Stamford Advocate reports that Shays made the comment during a debate Wednesday night with Dem challenger Diane Farrell. Here’s what Shays told the audience: “Now I’ve seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from [Maryland] who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked.” Farrell responded to the paper: “For Chris to say it was a sex ring is to minimize what happened. Chris knows it was certainly more than a sex ring.”

A sex ring.  Not abuse of prisoners by junior enlisted personnel as part of a larger Bush administration policy of torture.  No, it was a “sex ring.” To say I have become disillusioned with the Republican Party is the understatement of the century.  These people are beyond salvation.

Posted by Lee on 10/13/06 at 09:29 AM (Discuss this in the forums)

Comments


Posted by dakrat on 10/13/06 at 10:52 AM from United States

I’d like to say I’m shocked by this, but I can’t.  These people are out of control and need to be stopped.

They’ll probably revoke my membership in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy for saying that.  Oh well.

Posted by on 10/13/06 at 02:22 PM from Australia

I recall that JFK publicly took full responsibility for the Bay of Pigs debacle, then sacked the dufus’s involved in the planning and execution.

This strengthened his position, showed him to be presidential and pretty much the Bay of Pigs was not a political liability.

Now if GW had done the same “I as the commander in chief take full responsibility for these abuses and will punish those in command” I believe we wouldn’t still be talking about it.

Posted by on 10/13/06 at 02:23 PM from Australia

I just read my previous post and I’m not trying to say Democrats are any better than republicans, just that as president the bucks stops at your desk!

Posted by Aaron - Free Will on 10/13/06 at 04:47 PM from United States

Not abuse of prisoners by junior enlisted personnel as part of a larger Bush administration policy of torture.  No, it was a “sex ring.”

Well, you could say they were inspired by a larger policy of poor supervision and a tolerance for mistreatment, but yes, there’s absolutely no doubt that Abu Ghraib was a bunch of filthy hillbillies getting their “Deliverance” on. To call it a “sex ring” is certainly downplaying the scope of the mistreatment, but it was also certainly of the nature of sexual domination, not interrogation or punishment.

Posted by on 10/13/06 at 07:26 PM from United States

They’ll probably revoke my membership in the Vast Right Wing Conspiracy for saying that.

You’ll be getting your copy of the “Gay Agenda” in the mail shortly :) .

Posted by dakrat on 10/13/06 at 07:36 PM from United States

To call it a “sex ring” is certainly downplaying the scope of the mistreatment, but it was also certainly of the nature of sexual domination, not interrogation or punishment.

I think everyone including Lee is missing the greater point.  Shays tries to imply that this was simply US soldiers taking nude pictures of themselves...

Let’s take another look at that quote.  I’ll put my emphasis in BOLD.

“Now I’ve seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture. It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from [Maryland] who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked.”

According to his interpretation those are just pictures of SOLDIERS who are naked.  So evidently there where no naked prisoners.  There were no pyramids of naked prisoners.  There were no naked prisoners being humiliated at all.  These were simply pictures of naked “soldiers” involved with an internal sex ring. 

The implication is that there were never any naked prisoners or victims of abuse.  The implication is that they were simply “sex crazed” Guardsmen with a sex ring screwing each other like mad and taking pictures of themselves in all kinds of sado-masochistic activies.

Posted by dakrat on 10/13/06 at 07:51 PM from United States

You’ll be getting your copy of the “Gay Agenda” in the mail shortly :) .

Got that a long time ago…

Fabulous Shoes....$200.00

Fabulous Ride. $20,000.00

Fabulous Neckware... $35.79

Learning you only have 2 more kids to recruit before winning that Faaaabulous toaster oven....

Priceless....

Posted by on 10/14/06 at 05:38 PM from United States

Sounds a bit like this blog.  A sort of innuendo sex ring gang bang.  Mostly gay, however.

Posted by on 10/14/06 at 05:48 PM from United States

P.S.

Vote Angelides.  It’ll really give you something to piss about.

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