Exporting the Gift of BDSM?
October 13, 2006 10:00 AM   Subscribe

"I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture." [brief youtube video, safe for work, only tortured analysis, no actual torture or sex]
"The bottom line was it was sex. . . . It wasn't primarily about torture."
posted by orthogonality (75 comments total)
 
Oh, so the dead ones were just rough sex?
posted by pax digita at 10:03 AM on October 13, 2006


Disgusting. I don't know how these people can live with themselves.
posted by agregoli at 10:04 AM on October 13, 2006


So we have a reached a point where anything can be defined as anything else?

I'm going to go out now and shoot myself in the head. And by that, of course, I mean I will be having crazy stripper sex.
posted by Astro Zombie at 10:06 AM on October 13, 2006


When I think about guard dogs trying to rip my dick off, it gets me pretty hot.
posted by fungible at 10:06 AM on October 13, 2006


Shays defined torture as anything that could cause mental or physical pain or sleep depravation.

Well, the rape victims don't experience mental and physical pain. Besides, the bitches were asking for it..
posted by c13 at 10:10 AM on October 13, 2006


And Josef Mengele's bottom line was medical research.... he wasn't primarily about torture or genocide.
posted by orthogonality at 10:10 AM on October 13, 2006


"But from a legal standpoint, Shays may be accurate when he says there was no torture at Abu Ghraib, said Richard Wilson, director of the Human Rights Institute at the University of Connecticut.

'There is a very fine line between cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment and torture,' Wilson said. 'A number of different courts would say a number of different things about it.'"


It wasn't torture, it was just cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment. I feel so much better.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 10:10 AM on October 13, 2006


Shays also said we were following the Geneva Convention. Apparently cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment is allowed under the Geneva Convention.
posted by Ironmouth at 10:12 AM on October 13, 2006


This make me want to puke. But this isn't a surprise coming from the same party that says the Congressional page issue is nothing more than dirty emails.
posted by birdherder at 10:15 AM on October 13, 2006


This is a bad sign. Shays was one of the most reality-based Republicans we had. Now it sounds like he's lost it.
posted by jonp72 at 10:21 AM on October 13, 2006


For the first time inj a while, Shays is running a tight battle for reelection and in the process revealing the rather silly and dumb side he has managed to conceal from many for some time. A look at his flip flopping record on Iraq lthough indicates that he is not the guy with gravitas and non-partisanship that he was thought to be. In fact, in my view, he resembles that other stalwart from Connecticut, Sen Joe Lieberman.
posted by Postroad at 10:22 AM on October 13, 2006


Is the youtube link not working for anyone else? Any suggestions on how to search for it at youtube?
posted by billysumday at 10:23 AM on October 13, 2006


There is a very fine line between cruel and inhumane and degrading treatment and torture... Shays defined torture as anything that could cause mental or physical pain or sleep depravation...

Conjunction Junction, what's your unction?
posted by hal9k at 10:25 AM on October 13, 2006


Well, okay then.

I mean, there's certainly an overlap between sadism and sex, as we all know, and that was probably part of it for some of those soldiers. Some of them most certainly took pleasure in what they were doing, and the power it gave them, and the kinds of sexual degradation they were able to inflict.

But that's not what Shays is talking about. Practioners of consensual BDSM world-wide have reason to be furious. I, myself, will just take a minute to vomit over here in the corner. Don't mind me.
posted by jokeefe at 10:27 AM on October 13, 2006


Also: batshit insane tag?
posted by jokeefe at 10:27 AM on October 13, 2006


Shays defined torture as anything that could cause mental or physical pain or sleep depravation.

Freudian typo?
posted by gurple at 10:28 AM on October 13, 2006


Not only batshit insane, but WTF with the Jewish Mother remark?
posted by DenOfSizer at 10:29 AM on October 13, 2006


billysumday, wasn't working for me; just stayed at "loading". But then I clicked the video "loading" screen and it opened a new window with a working youtube video.
posted by Stauf at 10:30 AM on October 13, 2006


Heckuva job, Shays-y!
posted by Mister_A at 10:31 AM on October 13, 2006


The exile of "bourgeois stinker" intellectuals to shovel shit by Chairman Mao was about organic farming, people.
posted by digaman at 10:32 AM on October 13, 2006


Lemme guess, it's Clinton's fault for letting the homos and the other sexual deviants into the army, right?
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 10:32 AM on October 13, 2006


This whole war has been an exercise in euphemism. Around my office we had a running joke about how, when I was on deadline and in a crappy mood, I would "liberate the crap out of" anyone who disturbed me.

When I read Orwell's 1984 I remember thinking "scary, so glad something like that can't happen here." Forgive me, I was only 12 then.
posted by Mister_A at 10:37 AM on October 13, 2006


It's not torture if you kill 'em first?
posted by hoverboards don't work on water at 10:37 AM on October 13, 2006


Alvy, Alvy, Alvy. It's always Clinton's fault.
posted by interrobang at 10:39 AM on October 13, 2006


Well, Clinton and alcohol...

(see last paragraph)
posted by Mister_A at 10:42 AM on October 13, 2006


Robert Chambers tried this defense back in the 80's. It didn't work then either.
posted by jonmc at 10:46 AM on October 13, 2006


Quit your squealin', it's not like I am torturing you.


posted by Mr_Zero at 10:46 AM on October 13, 2006


I think it's informative to hear people look at what happend in Abu Ghraib and see sex. I tend to think of sex as a positve life affirming experience that all involved have a stake in.

But then I'm not a family values crusader standing for all that's right and holy, so what do I know?
posted by 2sheets at 10:52 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]


Shays stays afloat because of rich people who vote for bigger tax cuts. (George W. Bush was born in Chris Shays's district.) Diane Farrell represents those voters who think that it's more important to stop torturing people and pointlessly invading other countries than it is to get a couple grand more back from the government each year. That's pretty much the extent of it. Good luck finding more nuance than that in the election this year.
posted by Saucy Intruder at 11:01 AM on October 13, 2006


Mister_A-
You've seen Get Your War On, right? If not, the office comment is the sort of thing the strip is built around.
posted by OmieWise at 11:14 AM on October 13, 2006


sleep depravation = erotic dreams
posted by matteo at 11:18 AM on October 13, 2006


If Shays has actually read the Geneva Conventions (note use of plural) and has any idea what's in them, he'd know what a lying sack he is. Otherwise either he's ignorant (which can be fixed, in theory) or he probably needs to be watered a couple of times a week (more likely, I'd say).

I'd prefer we ddn't even bother being a signatory anymore if we're going to use it as a toilet paper and a fig leaf like this.
posted by pax digita at 11:27 AM on October 13, 2006


When I think about ripping Shays dick off, it gets me pretty hot.

I can’t f’ing believe he has that last name. The Massachusetts Regulators must be turning over in their graves.
Next up - Sen. Ethan Allen decrys all guerrilla warfare as terrorism and demands imprisonment in Gitmo for dissenters.
posted by Smedleyman at 11:28 AM on October 13, 2006


I think 2sheets has it right, this is a great example of how fucked up (some people on) the rights view on sex is. It's interesting really how many of their platform points are based around how scary and dirty sex is; pro-life/ anti-choice, anti-birth control/ sex education/ anti- gay, etc.

The funny thing is, when the lights go down and the cameras aren't rolling, recent events have shown that the right does have the capacity to get it's freak on, the difference is, whenever they do, they feel dirty and ashamed.
posted by quin at 11:28 AM on October 13, 2006


Ya Omie I probably subconsciously channeled that strip. Nice to see he's still doing it.
posted by Mister_A at 11:29 AM on October 13, 2006


If Lynndie England holding a leash around my neck is wrong, I don't wanna be right.

Who's with me?
posted by pardonyou? at 11:30 AM on October 13, 2006


I'm with you pardonyou?! If Lynndie England holding a leash around your neck is wrong, I don't want to be right either.
posted by OmieWise at 11:35 AM on October 13, 2006


"The bottom line was it was sex. . . . It wasn't primarily about torture."

Where I come from, non-consentual sex = rape. Furthermore, I am going to go out on a limb and say that non-consentual BDSM = at the very least assault, even if it does not rise to the standard of torture. And since prisoners cannot refuse, they cannot consent. QED, anything that might have been about "sex" at Abu Gharib is actually about "rape". And if I recall Article 3 of the Geneva Convention correctly, "humiliating and degrading treatment" -- a staple of BDSM -- is a war crime.

So I suppose the point of this article is to be inflamatory a few weeks before the election?
posted by ilsa at 11:35 AM on October 13, 2006


i think we should take the republicans at their word, and agree that if this treatment is not torture, then it is okay to subject the upcoming cycle of jailed republicans to the same treatment...all the more reason to push for war crimes charges against those involved...they can live out the treatment they're defending...
posted by troybob at 11:38 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]


"Torture" to him must only be the things he's seen in spy or war movies.
posted by wfc123 at 11:39 AM on October 13, 2006


Get Your War On is amazing. Thanks for mentioning that. I hadn't heard of it.
posted by Aghast. at 11:43 AM on October 13, 2006 [1 favorite]


zing!
posted by matteo at 11:46 AM on October 13, 2006


Le mot juste from Josh Marshall:

"Does he think the Iraqis in those pictures were a bunch of swingers?"
posted by rdone at 11:52 AM on October 13, 2006


If Lynndie England holding a leash around my neck is wrong, I don't wanna be right. posted by pardonyou?

It's whatever is left that I'd worry about.
posted by hal9k at 11:58 AM on October 13, 2006


subject the upcoming cycle of jailed republicans to the same treatment...all the more reason to push for war crimes charges against those involved...they can live out the treatment they're defending...

In some cases, they'd probably enjoy it.
posted by jonmc at 12:02 PM on October 13, 2006


I'm with you pardonyou?! If Lynndie England holding a leash around your neck is wrong, I don't want to be right either.

It was a joke, OW. I find Lynndie England abhorent and disgusting.

Of course, you may be joking, too. In which case, I'm the one needing a humor tune-up.
posted by pardonyou? at 12:04 PM on October 13, 2006



sorry people, just couldn't resist piling on
posted by forwebsites at 12:10 PM on October 13, 2006 [3 favorites]


And Josef Mengele's bottom line was medical research

Did you say bottom line? It is all about sex!
posted by kirkaracha at 12:21 PM on October 13, 2006


py?--I totally got it. I was joking, too. She squicks me out, which is why I made sure to change the pronoun.
posted by OmieWise at 12:31 PM on October 13, 2006


Sickening.
posted by shnoz-gobblin at 12:54 PM on October 13, 2006


Thanks, OW. I just couldn't stomach anyone actually thinking Charles Graner and I had something in common.

On a related note, how scary is it that there is a child on this earth whose DNA is a hybrid of Lynndie England and Charles Graner? That kid's fucked.
posted by pardonyou? at 12:58 PM on October 13, 2006


On a related note, how scary is it that there is a child on this earth whose DNA is a hybrid of Lynndie England and Charles Graner? That kid's fucked.

I'll put you down in the "nature" camp.
posted by The God Complex at 1:02 PM on October 13, 2006


pardonyou?: That kid's fucked.

Already? Damn, they don't waste any time in the Graner household.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:07 PM on October 13, 2006 [2 favorites]


I'll put you down in the "nature" camp.

If Lynndie England's responsible for the nurturing, the kid's still fucked.
posted by pardonyou? at 1:08 PM on October 13, 2006


I can see how he thought this was a sex ring. It's probably not unlike some of the clubs he and other Republicans visit. Cut him some slack.

I'm kinda shocked he didn't comment that they're lucky they didn't have to pay for this kind of treatment like he does.
posted by Rusty Iron at 1:12 PM on October 13, 2006




Shays has lost it. The pressure has gotten to him.

This is really crazy bizarre, because Shays has, for some time, had a reputation as "one of the good guys": a Lincoln Chaffee-like Republican who more often than not did not vote the party line.

Needless to say, I've always considered him to be a half-witted lightweight. I voted for Diane Farrell in 2004, and I'll be voting for her again. Numbers are looking like she may win this time, so I would encourage Mr. Shays to keep on keepin' on.
posted by psmealey at 1:49 PM on October 13, 2006




If this is the case I don't want to hear a fucking word about McCain being tortured the next political cycle.
posted by edgeways at 2:36 PM on October 13, 2006




ilsa writes "So I suppose the point of this article is to be inflamatory a few weeks before the election?"

Democracy doesn't work unless voters know what they're voting for (or against). Getting that word out isn't inflammatory, it's one's civic duty. Especially a few weeks before an election.

The idea that the NIEs concluding the war in Iraq makes us less safer, or the expected to be critical of the war Baker Report, shouldn't be released until after the election for fear they would be "politicized" is quite siimply anti-democractic. Not anti-Democrat, anti-democratic.
posted by orthogonality at 2:51 PM on October 13, 2006


I voted for Diane Farrell in 2004, and I'll be voting for her again. Numbers are looking like she may win this time, so I would encourage Mr. Shays to keep on keepin' on.

I hope everybody (or at close to it as possible) in your district does the same.
posted by blucevalo at 3:15 PM on October 13, 2006


If someone has already mentioned it, I apologize in advance, but Shays is the same Republican asshat who defended child abuser Mark Foley by bringing up an event from 37 years ago (Chappaquiddick).

This, friends, is what's called "playing to your base." But it's always fun to watch Republicans play themselves.
posted by bardic at 3:21 PM on October 13, 2006


Related:

Southern Command to Probe Gitmo Charges

The U.S. Southern Command has been told to investigate possible abuse at the Guantanamo Bay prison after a Marine officer said she overheard guards boasting about abusing detainees, the Pentagon's Inspector General's office said Friday...
posted by taosbat at 3:39 PM on October 13, 2006


Oh. You guys. It's all just a rare case of non-consenual BDSM. Most of those dudes got off on it, deep down. Way deep down.
posted by tkchrist at 3:56 PM on October 13, 2006


Is a sex ring somehow better than torture? We're still talking about prisoners. I don't understand who Shays is trying to mollify.
posted by owhydididoit at 6:21 PM on October 13, 2006


The idea that the NIEs concluding the war in Iraq makes us less safer, or the expected to be critical of the war Baker Report, shouldn't be released until after the election for fear they would be "politicized" is quite siimply anti-democractic. Not anti-Democrat, anti-democratic.

/cheer

Exactly, exactly. The fix for many of our problems at this point is not less information, it's more. Let's take a look at some problems-du-jour:

1) Foley Scandal: Could have been avoided by more accurate information being shared and people willing to act on information available.

2) Abramoff Scandal: Could have been avoided by more accurate information being shared and people willing to act on information available.

3) Iraq War: Could have been avoided by more accurate information being shared and people willing to act on information available.

I could probably do this all day. The essence of democaracy is not that the current Presidential Administration worries about the problems, keeps them secret, and the citizens go about their business.

The essence of democracy is that the citizens are informed about what their government is doing in their name and with their money. Secrecy is for authoritarians and royalists.

Democracy only wins when its tenets are adhered to. We have nothing to gain by ignoring information, and frankly everything to lose.
posted by illovich at 6:49 PM on October 13, 2006


WTF?!?

Rove must have something really good on Shays. That's the only explanation I can come up with for his unbelievable comments (this one, and the one about Chappaquidick.)

His is a unique district (I know it well -- he lives two blocks from me.) His recent behavior as a tool of the spin machine can only alienate the traditionally-Democratic voters he's always needed to keep his seat -- people who've supported him in the past thanks to his carefully-cultivated image as a maverick, social liberal and Republican outsider.
posted by Opposite George at 12:59 AM on October 14, 2006


It wasn't primarily about torture."

It was only secondarily about torture.

Shays defined torture as anything that could cause mental or physical pain or sleep depravation.

Sex can cause sleep deprivation. Not to mention mental and physical pain.
posted by sour cream at 1:54 AM on October 14, 2006


The U.S. Southern Command has been told to investigate possible abuse

Yeah. That's comforting.

This crap's been going on for five years and they're always bringing up some 'investigation' of 'possible abuse', it's just exhaustion tactics.

Hey it's definitely not torture and quite possibly not even abuse, but we're so thorough and fair and like democratic, not like those shady torturers in ugly prisons in backwards countries who you never hear starting investigations, we do start them, we're always starting them, into what exactly we don't know because nothing ever comes out of it and if it does we'll deny everything anyway or call it naughty behaviour by some bad apples or something, and we don't allow any external entity to check what's going on cos as you should know by now, international organisations are evil and antiamerican, and oh by the way they're all dirty terrorists in there so even if it was possible 'abuse', you shouldn't really care, but see, we're a democracy, we pay some lip service to the legal process here! and the prisons don't look that ugly either, oh and did we tell you we give them three meals a day, including yummy chicken masala!

Rinse and repeat, until most people just go oh please shut up already, I don't wanna hear anymore of this. Let's talk about sex.
posted by pleeker at 2:13 AM on October 14, 2006 [1 favorite]


Dinesh D'Souza explains it all in his new book: "Abu Ghraib did not reflect the shared values of America, it reflected the sexual immodesty of liberal America."
posted by homunculus at 1:04 PM on October 14, 2006


Torture and the Magical Mind
posted by homunculus at 1:31 PM on October 14, 2006


Inside the CIA's Secret Prisons Program

An explosive new book provides a rare glimpse into the full extent of the agency's controversial terror renditions — and the curious coalition of partners who helped the U.S. pull them off...

Quotes of the day:

Friday, Oct. 13, 2006

“It's a lot safer than it was when he didn't go the first time.”

— Ben Barnes
the former Texas lieutenant governor, when asked if he had any advice for President Bush as he prepares for his first-ever trip to Vietnam next month
posted by taosbat at 2:40 PM on October 14, 2006



posted by delmoi at 9:07 PM on October 14, 2006


The rest of the world just doesnt understand, thats all. US soldiers were getting OFF on torturing Iraqis. That's not torture! Thats a, uh, well-intentioned, er, sex ring or something.
posted by mano at 10:49 AM on October 15, 2006


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