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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Friday, May 21, 2004 Here we go again An article in the Washington Blade reports that Robert Knight, of the Cultural and Family Institute (part of Phyllis Schlafly's Concerned Women for America), blames homosexuals, women in the military and the porn industry for the Abu Ghraib abuses. I suppose it was only a matter of time. Knight said:We were told homosexuality is harmless and normal, and the military should live with a ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that allows homosexuals to stay in the barracks. We were told that men ‘marrying’ men and women ‘marrying’ women is inevitable not only for America, but for the world. Imagine how those images of men kissing men outside San Francisco City Hall after being ‘married’ play in the Muslim world. We couldn’t offer the mullahs a more perfect picture of American decadence. Businessman Nick Berg, who was beheaded by a group claiming revenge over the prison abuses, is the first victim, and we can only pray he will be the last.Umm, I'm having some trouble with the logic here (not that anyone who writes for Phyllis Schlafly could be accused of employing logic). Let's see: the servicemen and women at Abu Ghraib forced prisoners into what the guards obviously considered to be humiliating poses of homosexual activities. That's right—they humiliated the prisoners by forcing them to simulate homosexual practices. And Knight blames gays? Sounds to me like the guards acted right in line with his beliefs. Objection to women in the military is nothing new from Phyllis Schlafly, the queen of repressed feminism. But logic fails here too in trying to equate "women in service" to "women abusing men." I hear echoes of "ballbuster" in there somewhere. His last claim, that the porn industry contributes to acceptance of "sadomasochism" works only if you limit responsibility for the abuses to the seven soldiers who have been charged (and even then only if you think there was really any sexual intent in their actions, rather than simple humiliation). It breaks down anyway when you start working up the chain of command. Or is he saying Rummy watches skin flicks? Actually, I suppose that could account for some of his more bizarre behavior. Makes as much sense as blaming gays for Abu Ghraib. Oh well. Someone was bound to say it. But I'm getting just a little weary of being the target for everything that's wrong in the world. [Whoo-ooops! Post in haste, repent at leisure. I clicked the button, took off for a quick grocery store run, and came back to find I'd left out a whole phrase. What I meant to say about Rumsfeld was "that could account for some of his more bizarre behavior—like authorizing the abusive interrogation techniques."] posted by Liz @ 5:15 PM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. 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An article in the Washington Blade reports that Robert Knight, of the Cultural and Family Institute (part of Phyllis Schlafly's Concerned Women for America), blames homosexuals, women in the military and the porn industry for the Abu Ghraib abuses. I suppose it was only a matter of time. Knight said:We were told homosexuality is harmless and normal, and the military should live with a ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that allows homosexuals to stay in the barracks. We were told that men ‘marrying’ men and women ‘marrying’ women is inevitable not only for America, but for the world. Imagine how those images of men kissing men outside San Francisco City Hall after being ‘married’ play in the Muslim world. We couldn’t offer the mullahs a more perfect picture of American decadence. Businessman Nick Berg, who was beheaded by a group claiming revenge over the prison abuses, is the first victim, and we can only pray he will be the last.Umm, I'm having some trouble with the logic here (not that anyone who writes for Phyllis Schlafly could be accused of employing logic). Let's see: the servicemen and women at Abu Ghraib forced prisoners into what the guards obviously considered to be humiliating poses of homosexual activities. That's right—they humiliated the prisoners by forcing them to simulate homosexual practices. And Knight blames gays? Sounds to me like the guards acted right in line with his beliefs. Objection to women in the military is nothing new from Phyllis Schlafly, the queen of repressed feminism. But logic fails here too in trying to equate "women in service" to "women abusing men." I hear echoes of "ballbuster" in there somewhere. His last claim, that the porn industry contributes to acceptance of "sadomasochism" works only if you limit responsibility for the abuses to the seven soldiers who have been charged (and even then only if you think there was really any sexual intent in their actions, rather than simple humiliation). It breaks down anyway when you start working up the chain of command. Or is he saying Rummy watches skin flicks? Actually, I suppose that could account for some of his more bizarre behavior. Makes as much sense as blaming gays for Abu Ghraib. Oh well. Someone was bound to say it. But I'm getting just a little weary of being the target for everything that's wrong in the world. [Whoo-ooops! Post in haste, repent at leisure. I clicked the button, took off for a quick grocery store run, and came back to find I'd left out a whole phrase. What I meant to say about Rumsfeld was "that could account for some of his more bizarre behavior—like authorizing the abusive interrogation techniques."]
We were told homosexuality is harmless and normal, and the military should live with a ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ policy that allows homosexuals to stay in the barracks. We were told that men ‘marrying’ men and women ‘marrying’ women is inevitable not only for America, but for the world. Imagine how those images of men kissing men outside San Francisco City Hall after being ‘married’ play in the Muslim world. We couldn’t offer the mullahs a more perfect picture of American decadence. Businessman Nick Berg, who was beheaded by a group claiming revenge over the prison abuses, is the first victim, and we can only pray he will be the last.
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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