Crooked men on crooked paths

The story of Four-star General Byrnes getting fired for some peccadillo has rightfully raised a few eyebrows on the Left. Don't get me wrong. We'd all love to live in a country where sexual infidelity or transgressions by people in uniform are swiftly punished by the most draconian methods possible, where wayward weekend warriors get their wankers (or at least their ballocks) wacked for engaging in hanky-panky with prostitutes or extramarital partners. In short, we'd love to build a nation with the stability and calm so characteristic of Saudi Arabia or Afghanistan under the Taliban. But if we are to walk down this path of purity, shouldn't we be applying the rules in a more consistent manner. The Huffington Post hits its head on the nail in its discussion of perverted priorities:

[Excerpt] Four-star General Kevin Byrnes, the third most senior of the Army’s 11 four-star generals, was sacked over allegations that he had an extramarital affair. Meanwhile, Lt. General Ricardo Sanchez, the senior commander in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib torture and abuse scandal, is being considered for promotion to, yep, four-star general.

Talk about your utterly perverted priorities.

Now, it long ago became clear that the Bushies inhabit a bizarro, topsy-turvy universe -- a place where being utterly wrong about slam-dunk WMD earns you a Medal of Freedom, dismissing a “Bin Ladin Determined to Strike in U.S.” memo earns you a promotion to Secretary of State, signing off on torture makes you AG material, another 123 American soldiers being blown up is the mark of an enemy in its “last throes”, and outing an undercover CIA agent (and then lying about it) merits a vote of confidence instead of a pink slip.

So let's get this straight, you can oversee repeated acts of forced sodomy and rape of young teens and you'll get a pat on the back, but if you're caught engaging in consensual sex with a lover, you'll get demoted. It would be nice if Shrub and Rummy could be more explicit about their promotion critieria so that our boys in uniform would know just who is a safe target for their connubial desires. But don't lose too much sleep over this, Shrub. I wouldn't want to disturb your vacation. If you don't want to tell me the whole story, it's okay. I won't ask.