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Friday, August 17, 2007

Guantanamera!

The FRC's Tony Perkins has found his new favorite boy-toy in "Lt. Pete Hegseth", a "former Princeton grad" (how is one a "former" Princeton grad? Did they strip him of his diploma?) and Witherspoon Fellow who now dedicates his time to supporting the surge in Iraq and "stay the course" policies. That Perkins would fall for such a man wouldn't mean much to me, but I was intrigued by this description of his combat experience:
As a soldier, he's taken on Samarra, Baghdad, and Guantanamo, but no challenge has been greater than his mission as veteran here at home--battling the constant anti-war drone from congressional leaders and reporters.

Putting aside the idea that playing lobbyist is tougher than fighting a war--something I doubt even Hegseth would endorse and certainly a sentiment I doubt is shared amongst his peers--I'm just curious what it means to have "taken on" Guantanamo? Guantanamo is essentially an island prison bordered by the Caribbean on one side and an oppressive dictatorship on the other, where we house mentally broken detainees in sub-par facilities that we occasionally deign to let the Red Cross inspect. Hence, I can only assume that one "takes on" Guantanamo by taking down the various forms of extra-legal imprisonment and "harsh interrogation tactics" that go on there as the Bush administration works to blur the boundaries between us and Cuba as much as possible. But I don't think the FRC would celebrate that. So, I'm drawing a blank.

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous3:36 PM

    For more information on Pete Hegseth and Vets for Freedom, check out my SourceWatch articles:

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pete_Hegseth

    http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Vets_for_Freedom

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