Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Elephants Self-Aware, Unlike Bush





So, elephants are self-aware? Good for them.

If Bush and his band of fascist sadists were self-aware, they'd have some sense of shame.

Would they not?
Elephants can recognize themselves in a mirror and use their reflections to explore hidden parts of themselves, a measure of subjective self-awareness that until now has been shown definitively only in humans and apes, researchers reported yesterday.

The findings confirm a long-standing suspicion among scientists that elephants, with their big brains, complex societies and reputation for helping ill herdmates, have a sufficiently developed sense of identity to pass the challenging "mirror self-recognition test."

The test, which in this case required construction of a huge, "elephant-proof" mirror at the Bronx Zoo, where the experiments were conducted, provides an index of an animal's ability to conceive of itself. It is a quality of self-consciousness that some scientists believe is a prerequisite for the emergence of empathy and altruism.

Such animals, the thinking goes, are in a position to use what they know about themselves to make inferences about other beings and their needs. . .
Empathy? Altruism?

"Inferences about other beings and their needs . . . say, what class of beings does that not remind us of?

Elephants, pictured above, pay homage to their dead.

Pro-torture Bushists call themselves pro-life whilst murdering 600,000+ of the post-born, and they just don't bother going to any funerals.

Sadism si!

Empathy? No.


WaPo here.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

CHENEY ADMITS TORTURE


WASHINGTON - Vice President Dick Cheney has confirmed that U.S. interrogators subjected captured senior al-Qaida suspects to a controversial interrogation technique called "water-boarding," which creates a sensation of drowning.

Cheney indicated that the Bush administration doesn't regard water-boarding as torture and allows the CIA to use it. "It's a no-brainer for me," Cheney said at one point in an interview.

Cheney's comments, in a White House interview on Tuesday with a conservative radio talk show host, appeared to reflect the Bush administration's view that the president has the constitutional power to do whatever he deems necessary to fight terrorism.

The U.S. Army, senior Republican lawmakers, human rights experts and many experts on the laws of war, however, consider water-boarding cruel, inhumane and degrading treatment that's banned by U.S. law and by international treaties that prohibit torture. Some intelligence professionals argue that it often provides false or misleading information because many subjects will tell their interrogators what they think they want to hear to make the water-boarding stop.

Republican Sens. John Warner of Virginia, John McCain of Arizona and Lindsey Graham of South Carolina have said that a law Bush signed last month prohibits water-boarding. The three are the sponsors of the Military Commissions Act, which authorized the administration to continue its interrogations of enemy combatants.

The radio interview Tuesday was the first time that a senior Bush administration official has confirmed that U.S. interrogators used water-boarding against important al-Qaida suspects, including Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, the alleged chief architect of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. Mohammad was captured in Pakistan on March 1, 2003, and turned over to the CIA.

"Water-boarding" means holding a person's head under water or pouring water on cloth or cellophane placed over the nose and mouth to simulate drowning until the subject agrees to talk or confess.


Or agrees, under water torture, to "confess."

What might you agree to, under water torture, gentle readers?


Just asking.


More here.


Friday, October 20, 2006

Foley's Predator Pedophile Priest Comes Out of the Pedophile Closet, Blames Victim







Archdiocese to Investigate Foley Priest

The Archdiocese of Miami announced Friday it is opening an investigation into the conduct of a retired priest who has admitted fondling former Congressman Mark Foley as a boy in Florida, calling the alleged abuse "morally reprehensible, canonically criminal and inexcusable."

The archdiocese issued a statement apologizing to Foley "for the hurt he has experienced" and said the investigation could result in Church sanctions against the 69-year-old priest, who is now retired and living on the Mediterranean island of Gozo off Malta. . . In interviews with several media outlets over the past two days, Mercieca said he had intimate contact with Foley when he was assigned to the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Lake Worth, Fla. in the mid-1960s. The 52-year-old Foley, a Florida Republican, who would have been 12 or 13 years old at the time, served as an altar boy at the church.

Mercieca worked as a priest in the Miami area from the mid-1960s until he retired in 2002. . .

"The Archdiocese of Miami is distressed by the revelations disclosed by Father Mercieca regarding former Rep. Mark Foley," the statement said. "The events described are totally contrary to the ministry of a priest." . . . Mercieca told the Washington Post Thursday that he was surprised that his four decades-old interaction with Foley had become linked to the scandal that erupted last month and cost the congressman his job.

A statement issued late Thursday from the diocese of Gozo, a small island dotted with vacation villas and second homes south of Italy, said that its bishop, Mario Grech, contacted the Archdiocese of Miami seeking further information about the case. It said the diocese had only just learned of the case from the international media.

"In light of all this . . . Bishop Grech will instruct the Response Team to investigate these allegations, according to the policies established by the Maltese Ecclesiastical Province with regards to cases of sexual abuse in pastoral activity," the statement said. "Grech will pass all information he receives pertaining to this case to the response team as he has done in similar cases."

"Bishop Grech, conscious of the gravity of pedophilia, reiterates that he will cooperate with those responsible for investigating such cases so that justice is done to the victims, the perpetrators reformed and the common good is safeguarded," it said."
Amen to that. Good for the Archdiocese of Miami. Finally.

But what continues to be disturbing is this predator's obvious intention to blame his own child victim, and his wish to spin his own criminal behavior as being somehow insignificant.

Earlier, we have blogged about experienced sexual predators and their tradition of "grooming" their victims.

That's what Foley's predator did, and did so in a position of superior power and control over his child victim.


Experts: Priest accused of molestation by Foley in denial about his behavior

AP--Experts on sex abuse say the comments of a Roman Catholic priest who acknowledged being naked with Mark Foley of Florida when the former congressman was young fit a pattern of distorted thinking that they've seen over and over among offenders.

The Rev. Anthony Mercieca told The Associated Press in a telephone interview that he was naked with Foley in a sauna, and was quoted in other interviews saying he also fondled him. Mercieca told the AP that the encounters weren't sexual, a distinction abuse experts found disturbing.

"The priest is very focused on the legalities here and I think it's important for the rest of us to see the enormous power differential between these two," said David Finkelhor, director of the Crimes Against Children Research Center at the University of New Hampshire.

"There is a tremendous abuse of authority and position involved in these activities whether or not they constitute child molestation."

Foley, 52, resigned from Congress last month after his sexually explicit computer messages to young male pages were released. His lawyer has said that Foley was an alcoholic, gay and had been molested as a youth by a clergyman.

The Archdiocese of Miami confirmed Friday that Mercieca, 69, is the person Foley said abused him as a teen. In phone interviews, the priest, who is retired and lives on the Maltese island of Gozo, has given details about his encounters with Foley four decades ago.

The priest told the Sarasota (Fla.) Herald-Tribune that he and Foley "loved each other like brothers" and that although he taught Foley "some wrong things" related to sex, Mercieca insisted their interactions were innocent.

"It was just fondling," he told WPTV of West Palm Beach, Fla. ['just'?]

From the perspective of people who have worked with abusers and their victims, that thinking is typical of a molester. Offenders, who are sexually immature, commonly view their involvement with their victims as normal and are baffled when others see things differently.

"This is the same type of rationalization that I've heard time and time again from priests who have been grooming or setting a young boy up for molestation," said the Rev. Thomas Doyle, a canon lawyer turned victim advocate.

The Herald-Tribune reported that Mercieca said he could not clearly remember one encounter "that might have gone too far" because he had been taking tranquilizers and drinking at the time.

"It's common that offenders will block out major pieces of the events. I personally believe that it's also part of the denial process, where they just don't, frankly, want to remember," said the Rev. Stephen J. Rossetti, president of Saint Luke Institute, which provides psychological counseling to Catholic priests who suffer from a variety of troubles, including sexual attraction to children. "Those are typical kinds of statements of offenders who are not in recovery."

Abusers assume that because a young person seems to be enthusiastic around them, that any boundary crossing or sexual activity is OK, Finkelhor said. And if no penetration occurs, molesters convince themselves that the interaction does not hurt the youth, he said.

Mercieca's "basic approach is, 'You're trying to take something good and trying to turn it into something evil,'" said Peter Isely, a clinical social worker who counsels abuse victims and a leader of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests.

"He literally describes this 12- or 13-year old child as if they're equals in age and in personality and characteristic, as if there's absolutely no power differential," Isely said.

"This is what makes these offenders so dangerous."

States have different legal definitions of what constitutes child molestation, but many consider inappropriate touching a criminal offense. Mike Edmondson, a spokesman for the state attorney's office in West Palm Beach, Fla., said law enforcement action is over in Mercieca's case unless other alleged victims come forward, because Foley says he doesn't want to prosecute.

From a clinical perspective, Mercieca's description of his actions indicates abuse occurred, Rossetti said.

"The things he's talking about are very sexually charged and they are sexual abuse," Rossetti said. "For an adult male to be with a young male naked in a bathtub or a shower would clearly be a major boundary violation in most cases - and also traumatic."
Adult males showering with naked boys? Sounds so oddly familiar.

Oh my. Can anyone say -- 'James Dobson'?

WaPo story here and here.



Thursday, October 19, 2006

Dirty Bush's Oedipal War on Iraq -- "A Catastrophic Blunder"












Via the Sydney Morning Herald.

The war in Iraq has been a "catastrophic blunder" that has substantially increased the terrorist threat to Australia, one of the nation's most distinguished former diplomats said today.

Richard Woolcott, a retired foreign affairs chief who advised seven prime ministers, launched a sweeping attack on the federal government, saying that Australian democracy was not functioning as it should.

Mr Woolcott made the comments during a speech at the University of Newcastle's annual Human Rights and Social Justice lecture this afternoon.

He branded the Iraq war a "disaster", saying the Prime Minister seemed unable to admit the obvious.

"The Iraq war has been a disaster and has substantially increased the terrorist threat Mr Howard said it would reduce," he said.

"The aim of foreign and defence policy is to make Australia secure - ironically some of our policies have placed Australians at greater risk."

Mr Woolcott called on the government to come up with an exit strategy.

"The United States, the United Kingdom and Australia, having made such a catastrophic foreign and security policy blunder, are now trapped in a dilemma of their own making," he said. . . Mr Woolcott's criticism of the war followed recent comments from Australia's former defence chief General Peter Cosgrove that it had boosted global terrorism and Britain's top soldier Sir Richard Dannatt, who called for the recall of his troops from Iraq.

Mr Woolcott said human rights suffered in a climate of war and fear.

"In 2006 our established ideals of decency, fairness, tolerance,
justice and truth in government are under challenge," he said.

Australia's democracy was not functioning as it should, he said.

"I believe it is affected by hubris, the arrogance that comes from 10 years in power, the politics of fear, nurtured by the so-called 'war on terror' and latent racism," he said.

"The government has also suffered from a lack of the important qualities of patience and humility.

"This is impacting adversely on the wider community, including in the areas of human rights and social justice."

Mr Woolcott said his service to four Liberal and three Labor prime ministers proved the objectivity of his remarks, but from "personal experience" he expected to be attacked.

"The present government tends to treat its critics - even those who have served it in the past - as virtual enemies rather than as possibly useful channels to community opinion," he said.



And the beat goes on, here.


Sunday, October 15, 2006

Bushist Reply to More Gitmo Abuse: Shut up, shut up, shut UP!


Lawyers: Paralegal, military attorney ordered to stop speaking to press about Guantanamo abuse

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico-- A paralegal and a military lawyer who brought forward allegations about prisoner abuse at the Guantanamo Bay detention center have been ordered not to speak with the press about their accusations, lawyers who work with the pair said Saturday.

Marine Lt. Col. Colby Vokey, who represents a detainee at the U.S. naval base in eastern Cuba, filed a complaint with the Pentagon last week alleging that abuse was ongoing at the prison. He attached a sworn statement from his paralegal, Sgt. Heather Cerveny, in which she said several Guantanamo guards bragged in a bar about beating detainees, describing it as common practice.

Muneer Ahmad, a civilian defense lawyer for Omar Khadr, a Canadian detainee whose military counsel is Vokey, said it was his understanding that Vokey and Cerveny were ordered Friday by the U.S. Marines not to speak with the press. He also said Vokey was barred from talking to the media about anything related to the military commissions — tribunals set up to try detainees.

Reached by telephone, Vokey declined to comment, saying, "I can't even talk about it." When asked if he was going to abide by the order for the time being, he said, "yes."

Ahmad said he didn't know how the order was issued. He said Vokey previously had the military's authorization to speak with the media, and believed that they would have to consider legal options to challenge the alleged gag order.

"If he doesn't abide by it then he would be derelict of his duty," Ahmad said.

The order created a conflict between Vokey's military obligations and his ethical duty as a lawyer, Ahmad said.

"It's in Omar's interests for the truth about abuses of detainees at Guantanamo, including him, to get out in the open. But Colby (Vokey) is being prevented from doing that part of his job ... and thereby representing Omar's interests," he said. . . . "I think he is very concerned about his ability to perform his job as a lawyer," Ahmad said. "It's really quite troubling ... at this point I'm not sure what our next steps will be."

Cerveny, 23, visited Guantanamo last month and said she spent an hour with the guards at the military club. She said the guards stopped discussing beating detainees after finding out that she works for a detainee's legal team.

"It was a general consensus that I (detected) that as a group this is something they did. That this was OK at Guantanamo, that this is how the detainees get treated," Cerveny said in a telephone interview Thursday night.

Gen. John Craddock, commander of the U.S. Southern Command, said Friday that he had ordered an investigation headed by an Army colonel. "The investigation is consistent with U.S. Southern Command's policy to investigate credible allegations of abuse" at Guantanamo detention facilities, the Southern Command said in a statement. . . .

Guantanamo Bay began receiving prisoners, most of them captured in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in January 2002.

Only 10 of the detainees have been charged with crimes.


More here



Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Bubble Boy's Oedipal War Kills Over Half a Million Human Beings -- How's That "Pro-Life" Stance Working Out ?







Well, if I had started a Freudian schlong-war just to get back at my Dad, I might not have chosen the one Axis of Evil country that didn't have any weapons of mass destruction to invade. But that's me.

But if I had done such a stupid thing, and later found out my policies had ruined the war in Afghanistan, killed hundreds of thousands of sentient beings, bankrupted America morally and fiscally, promoted torture, promoted a rapist's right to breed, bungled the response to a wide-scale national disaster, promoted government-forced maternity, poisoned the air, water, and civil discourse, undermined the rule of law and protected pedophiles, I might want to resign in disgrace or something (if not actually commit seppuku because I could not live with the shame) or, at least I'd feel bad about it.

Some people who do such evil things don't do that.

Why would that be?

Hmm.

Well, Virginia, it's like this:

Some people put firecrackers in frogs.


WaPo here.
NY Times, having buried this story in page 17, here.



Monday, October 09, 2006

Festschrift For "The Happy Tutor" of Wealth Bondage







Festschrift, festschrift, festschrift.

Say it twenty-one times out loud real fast, and it's almost as much fun as saying "Bushist fascist, Bushist facist, Bushist fascist," as if one could find true happiness in saying such things.

One could of course say, "Bushist fascist festschrift, Bushist fascist festschrift," which has its own kind of possibilities, but that's not really the kind of festschrift this festschrift is, is it?

One stumbled onto Wealth Bondage long ago.

It may have been the very first blog one stumbled on to. One does not specifically recall.

One does recall an instant sense of wondrousness, or wonderfulness, or some deep inner sense of -- hey, wassup with this dude, in fact, as if, if The Happy Tutor of Wealth Bondage were truly there, and did in fact in some sense truly exist, there might in fact in some sense be hope for us all?

But perhaps not. For apparently The Happy Tutor may not toot his hapful horn much longer, therefore it is up to oneself now, here, here and now, to protest too much, or just enough, or, like, what-everrrr.

Anyhow, my idea of celebrating the very existence of The Happy Tutor is to bring to light here and now the wonderful, wondrous Russell Edson. I knew him once. I know not what has become of him. His work is wondrous. Troubling, yet wondrous. Not unlike that of The Happy Tutor. But in quite a different way, is it not?

Prose poems one and three are from "The Very Thing That Happens" and number two is from "The Brain Kitchen, as one's festschrift offering that The Happy Tutor may remain and prosper.



A Chair

A chair has waited such a long time to be with its person. Through shadow and fly buzz and the floating dust it has waited such a long time to be with its person.

What it remembers of the forest it forgets, and dreams of a room where it waits -- Of the cup and the ceiling -- Of the Animate One.



The Dead Fish

There were some dead fish living in a man's house. Oh do not not live in a man's house because I am the man whose house you are living in, said the man.

The fish are quite willing to say nothing because they can say nothing; and so conclude it is better to continue what has been up to this time a most successful approach to all the man's rantings.

If you are dead, screams the man, say so, you have only to say so.

To admit the obvious is only to be disbelieved in the end, so the dead comrades think.

Oh God, let dead fish find other places to be dead, cries the man.



When the Ceiling Cries

A mother tosses her infant so that it hits the ceiling.

Father says, why are you doing that to the ceiling? Do you want my baby to fly away to heaven?

The ceiling is there so that the baby will come back to me, says mother.

Father says, you are hurting the ceiling, can't you hear it crying?

So mother and father climb a ladder and kiss the ceiling.





------------
More of Russell Edson here. And here. And here. (Thank you, Google).

Dalai Lama Warns Against Anti-Muslim Spin


The Dalai Lama against 'clash of civilisations'

NEW DELHI: The Dalai Lama, Tibet's exiled spiritual leader, has warned against portraying Islam as a religion of violence, saying Muslims have been wrongly demonised in the West since the September 11 attacks.

Promoting religious tolerance, the world's most influential Buddhist leader said on Sunday that talk of "a clash of civilisations between the West and Muslim world is wrong and dangerous."

Muslim terrorist attacks have distorted people's views of Islam, making them believe it is an extremist faith rather than one based on compassion, the Dalai Lama told a press conference in New Delhi.

Muslims are being unfairly stigmatised as a result of violence by "some mischievous people," said the Dalai Lama, who received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 for his work to bring democracy and freedom to his people.

All religions have extremists and "it is wrong to generalise (about Muslims)," the 71-year-old spiritual leader said.

"They (terrorists) cannot represent the whole system," he said.

The Dalai Lama, who has lived in Dharamsala since fleeing Tibet after a failed uprising against Chinese rule in 1959, said he had cast himself in the role of defender of Islam because he wanted to reshape people's views of the religion.

Asked about the uproar last month when Pope Benedict XVI quoted a 14th-century Christian emperor to portray Islam as a religion tainted by violence, the Dalai Lama said "if you return to past history there are a lot of complications."

"It is better to forget ... and to deal with today's reality," he said.

"Past history is (full of) uncivilised events," he said.

Benedict had quoted statements by Emperor Manuel II -- ruling from what is now Istanbul -- that everything the Prophet Mohammed had brought, was evil and that he spread Islam by violence.

The pontiff later apologised for the comments which triggered angry reactions around the world from Muslims who said the pope's statements harked back to the medieval Christian crusades against Islam.

The Dalai Lama noted the "conflict and divisions caused in the name of religion," referring to violence in such places as Ireland, Pakistan and Iraq.

But despite that "religion has great potential to help humanity on the basis of mutual respect," he said.


"Mutual respect" eh?

What a concept.



Link here.

Friday, October 06, 2006

Official No Blood for Hubris Mental Health Interlude Number Six (?)






Had enough, gentle readers?

It's been a pretty sickening week, what with the uncovering of a pedophile sexual predator under the longterm protection of the GOP.

You still hanging in there? Good on ya, then, but I'm looking for a change of pace.

From the fabulous RJ Eskow, at A Night Light and HuffPo, "Surprised GOP Reacts -- Thought Child Molester Would Be 'Greeted as Liberator!'"

From The Rude Pundit, "Ten Pranks You Can Play On a Child Predator."

And more:

"(Foley's) in rehab, which means it only happened because he was drinking. We've all done it, folks -- drunk dialing. It's just that in Foley's case, it was drunk texting erotic messages to underage pages about masturbation." --Stephen Colbert
"The good news? Florida Congressman Mark Foley has entered rehab. The bad news? Rehab is a 14-year-old boy from Pakistan." --Jay Leno
"It's simple. You drink, you forget things -- especially things that could endanger minors. And I know people are wondering why Condoleezza Rice can't remember a July 2001 meeting with George Tenet where he warned her an al Qaeda attack was likely, even though White House records prove the meeting happened. She probably just blacked out. She was playing a drinking game. Every time you hear George Tenet say 'imminent,' you take a shot." --Stephen Colbert
"We're covering a story about a certain congressman. Let's call him 'Representative Mark Foley, Republican of Florida.' He spent most of his career protecting children from Internet stalkers. Turns out he was doing it so he could have them all to himself." --Jon Stewart
"Let's see what is going on with Father Foley. I'm sorry, Congressman Foley. As I'm sure you know by now, after getting caught sending explicit e-mails to underage boys, Florida Congressman Mark Foley has resigned. So his seat is up for grabs, which is what got him into trouble in the first place." --Jay Leno
"This is like the worst thing to happen to congressional Republicans since last Thursday . . . Most people think GOP stands for Gay Old Pedophile." --Jay Leno
"Mark Foley has now checked into rehab for alcoholism. Oh, shut up. Like that's the big problem. Who cares if he's addicted to Jack Daniels? He's addicted to little Jack and little Daniel. That's the problem." --Jay Leno
"I don't know how long Foley will be in rehab, but I'm pretty sure they don't want him home answering the door on Halloween." --Jay Leno
"Have you all been following this scandal in Washington with ex-Congressman Mark Foley? Well, a couple of days ago, he checked himself into rehab. It had gotten so bad he had to go out and develop a drinking problem.

The ex-congressman, if nothing else, is contrite. He says when he gets out of rehab, he wants a fresh start, and to turn over a new page." --David Letterman



Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Foley: Power, Control, & Good "Grooming"


Oh golly, now that Congressman Mark Foley has resigned, the Bushists are so sad that they may lose their place as our designated protectors from evil, here. Foley's conduct over the years bothered the pages (WaPo here), but not the Bushists.

Doesn't seem to bother them that Foley, the cash-cow they've been coddling, is actually their own worst nightmare: a NAMBLA kinda guy, a guy whose behavior is consistent with that of an experienced sexual predator of minors.

It's the perfect set-up: an adult in a position of power and control, who has been appointed to positions that suggest his behavior is beyond reproach. He casts a wide net, presents himself as a personable and caring, and begins to encourage increasingly individual contacts.

He uses flattery, he uses images of power as lures, he frames this behavior as merely charming and benevolent. He selects his most approachable victims, and pursues them further, as Foley did in the published IMs -- starting to make personal remarks, intimate remarks, sexual remarks -- right under the nose of the child's parents.

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:28 PM): ya

Maf54 (8:10:40 PM): take it out

Xxxxxxxxx (8:10:54 PM): brb…my mom is yelling

Maf54 (8:11:06 PM): ok

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:02 PM): back

Maf54 (8:14:37 PM): cool hope se didnt see any thing

Xxxxxxxxx (8:14:54 PM): no no

Can you say "consciousness of guilt"?

Maf54 (7:46:33 PM): did any girl give you a haand job this weekend

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:38 PM): lol no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:40 PM): im single right now

Xxxxxxxxx (7:46:57 PM): my last gf and i broke up a few weeks agi

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): are you

Maf54 (7:47:11 PM): good so your getting horny

Xxxxxxxxx (7:47:29 PM): lol…a bit

Maf54 (7:48:00 PM): did you spank it this weekend yourself

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:04 PM): no

Xxxxxxxxx (7:48:16 PM): been too tired and too busy

Maf54 (7:48:33 PM): wow…

Maf54 (7:48:34 PM): i am never too busy haha


One can admire Foley's technique -- his prey mentions a girlfriend, but Foley pays no attention. The prey mentions he feels uncomfortable, but Foley is so reassuring. It's hard for children to resist coming under the power and control of an adult, especially a powerful adult like Foley.

A predator tries to wean his prey away from the prey's protecting pack. Foley tried to set up private meetings with this boy, because that's the next step.

Once they've had sexual contact, a predator in a position of power can use his prey's own behavior (pictures, or other proofs) to further entangle the minor, blaming the minor for what happened, threatening to expose the minor to parents and society, and prevent the minor from turning the predator in.

Have some fun. Go Google good "grooming." Of the sexual kind.

Meanwhile, sit back and wonder why, though the FBI has known since July about these emails, they failed to confiscate Foley's computer.

These Bushists aren't really interested in protecting children from predators or adults from terrorism.

They're only protecting their own.



Prior Foley predator grooming behavior, here.


Sunday, October 01, 2006

Aren't You Glad to Have the GOP Protecting a Predatory GOP Pedophile Who's Also In Charge Of Not Exploiting Children Sexually?






Recently resigned Congressman Mark Foley has worked for a long time for the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. When he resigned, the Center said it was very sorry to see him go.

I think everyone at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and everyone who is interested in Bushist fascist family values needs to read ex-Congressman Mark Foley's obscene exchange with an underage boy, available here.

This is what's called grooming.

It's how predatory adults sexually seduce minors. Which is, I believe, a crime (at least to those of us who still believe in the rule of law).

And Foley's doing it right under the nose of the kid's Mommy, who thinks her son is safe because she's right there in the same house with her kid.

Well, Mommy's wrong.



Here's a WaPo story about House Speaker Hastert knowing about Foley's criminal behavior since 2005.

Here's a WaPo story about Foley's career "protecting children."

Here's an article on preventing predators from "grooming" their prey, as Foley did:
This article is designed to increase awareness of the sexual predators who infiltrate youth-serving organizations. Since 97% of these predators have no criminal history, and virtually all of them maintain "trophy testimonials" to offer as references, ordinary screening methods are grossly ineffective. Worse, the customary reference-checking methods are mistaken for "screening" and further fail to elicit red flag information, which would suggest risks. . . .
WHO INFILTRATES AND WHY ARE THEY HARD TO DETECT?
Of specific focus in this article are the prolific serial, preferential predators described by Kenneth Lanning so well in his free book from the National Center on Missing & Exploited Children . . . this type of predator averages from dozens to hundreds of victims, operating undetected for whole lifetimes because they are expert at deception, . . . expert at impersonating "the perfect volunteer" and because 97% of them will never have a criminal history or fingerprints-on-file.

Ring a bell?

Why is the GOP protecting pedophiles?

Don't they even know enough to move them on to another parish?



Here, a WaPo story on the sadness of chickenhawks coming home to roost.
More here.