- Among the hoard of pictures from Iraq viewed by members
of America's Senate in a top-secret, eavesdrop-proof room - a rather grandiose
version of one of those smelly little, stained booths for which patrons
of Times Square shops used to pay to watch "hot stuff" - were
pictures of a young female soldier, already recognized worldwide for her
smiling-Nazi poses with abused prisoners, having sex with a gang of fellow
soldiers.
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- One of the exalted Senator spectators, with all the dignity
he could summon, was quoted, "She was having sex with numerous partners.
It appeared to be consensual. Almost everyone was naked all the time."
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- Well, I am relieved to learn that it was all consensual,
having feared that gang sex without consent was what had attracted the
secret gathering of scores of America's highest officials to spend hours
gawking at pornographic videotapes. Equally reassuring was the Senator's
observation that everyone was naked. The level of depravity would be hard
to imagine were soldiers having group sex with their clothes on. I suppose
rumors of such a remarkable occurrence might have boosted attendance at
the sessions.
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- I have to remind myself sharply that these astute observations
come from the lips of an American Senator before getting too picky about
fine points. Senators receive lifetime sinecures from wealthy benefactors
who aren't in the business of rewarding brains or independence or critical
thought.
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- It is hard to imagine a more pompous and foolish group
than America's existing and recent-past stock of Senators. Whenever I hear
Senator John Warner, I think he should change his name to something along
the lines of Senator Quackenbush or Blunderbuss. Either of these names
seems more fitting for a man who regularly delivers obvious trivialities
with baritone gravity. The man is a walking Mount Rushmore figure with
the brain of a gnat.
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- Another light unto the world, Senator Norm Coleman, added,
"It was pretty disgusting, not what you'd expect from Americans. There
was lots of sexual stuff, not of the Iraqis, but of our troops."
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- I'm sure glad he added that clarification about not involving
Iraqis, but you have to wonder how anyone could entertain the notion of
handcuffed men, beaten and peed-on, with hoods tied around their necks
managing "sexual stuff."
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- You wouldn't expect much in the arts of seduction from
a chunky-faced throwback who hails from a trailer park and probably enjoys
ripping heads off chickens while watching The Price is Right. The idea
of her having sex with prisoners recalls a Lina Wertmüller film in
which a sadistic and disgustingly-ugly German prison-guard takes off her
uniform and leather straps and boots and orders her pitiable Italian prisoner
- played by Giancarlo Giannini, who has attempted to win a few crusts of
bread by flattering her - "Now, you f*ck!" Poor Giancarlo.
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- Why would a Senator say it's not what you expect from
Americans? He could be in trouble back home if he's interpreted as questioning
the red-bloodedness of American troops. Senator, have you forgotten how
the troops used to relish duty in the Philippines or Thailand where they
qualified as doing patriotic duty while engaged in the kind of predatory
sexual tourism other people get arrested for? After turning about half
the female population under fourteen within a twenty-mile radius of Subic
Bay into prostitutes, America was finally thrown out by the Philippines'
government.
-
- Coleman also might reflect on the heritage of his own
august institution. The late Senator John Tower had to give up his cabinet
post after revelations about years of chasing women around desks in a state
of stupefied drunkenness. Senator Bob Packwood became known for greeting
attractive female visitors by thrusting his tongue into their mouths and
reaching under their skirts. Senator Ted Kennedy is reported once as having
ducked under his linen-and-crystal-covered table for a quick one with a
female reporter in a fancy Washington restaurant. A KGB report, recorded
in a history of the Cuban missile crisis, tells of Robert Kennedy asking
his Soviet Intourist guide to send a prostitute to his room.
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- A few more names confirm the illustrious moral character
of the American Senate: David Dorenberger, Dan Quayle, Trent Lott, Roman
Hruska. Jesse Helms, Strom Thurmond, Bob Smith, Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon,
Robert Torricelli, and Carol Moseley Braun - certainly not all associated
with "sexual stuff," but offering an interesting mix of fraud,
lunacy, and dangerous stupidity.
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- Then there's the simple statistic that the United States
has the highest rate of illegitimacy of any developed country.
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- One of the world's leading pompous windbags, Senator
Joe Lieberman, was quoted as saying, "It just deepens the conclusion
that this was a cell block that had gone wild." I'm grateful to the
Senator for pointing that out. It must have been difficult for a man of
Lieberman's high character to endure hours of depraved lunacy in order
to reach such a profound judgment. It shows real dedication to the job.
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- I may risk being labeled a quibbler, but I do have to
ask why the grotesque pictures already in the public domain aren't more
than sufficient evidence for the Senator's point? Maybe in Senator Lieberman's
state, piles of naked men in hoods, dog leashes on prostrate men, and black-and-blue
corpses stuffed into plastic bags with ice cubes are regarded as something
less than wild? It must have required that extra bit about group sex to
put things over the top for Senator Lieberman. Killing has never been known
to bother him greatly, but he's always touchy about sex.
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- The interesting part of Lieberman's comment is his use
of "cell block." Note how that neatly limits responsibility.
It's not the prison as a whole, not the army, not the brutal occupation,
and not the bloody, pointless invasion. It's a cellblock. Of course, this
ignores the fact that these pictures had been circulating among American
troops in Iraq for months, and it ignores persistent reports of widespread
abuse from independent human-rights agencies. You might think that a Jewish
man of Lieberman's generation would be at least slightly reluctant to promote
the idea that only local juniors are responsible for horror.
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- Why would Lieberman want to make his sleazy little point?
Because Senator Lieberman always supports the dumb use of force, the fist
in the face of disagreeable foreigners, at least when that fist is connected
to the United States..
-
- Senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell added, "I don't
know how the hell these people got into our army." Hello, Senator
Campbell, remember Lieutenant Calley?
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- It is interesting that for many of the Senators, the
object of disgust is the "sexual stuff," not evidence of torture
or abuse or murder. In fact, there is every reason to believe that many
of these pictures show acts far more ghastly than group sex with a consenting
cretin. By emphasizing the "sexual stuff," these American politicians
assure themselves some public support for not releasing the images. Heavens,
we sure don't want group sex on television during dinner hour!
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- The Senators seem to agree with Secretary Rumsfeld that
America might be violating the Geneva Conventions by releasing tapes and
pictures that demean prisoners. In other words, if you beat, torture, and
shoot prisoners, you must observe the niceties by not releasing any pictures
you take. That's what I like so much about America, its high moral tone
in the midst of sickening horror.
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