By now, most of you have heard about and/or seen the pictures of State Department security contractors hazing the newbies in Afghanistan. Many people have been shocked and outraged by the behavior displayed by these men.
But there have also been some opposite opinions - especially from gay men. Dust Bunny Dan was one of the first bloggers to say he wanted to travel to Afghanistan and partake in the festivities (unfortunately his trip to New Orleans will interfere). Even John Aravosis, the usually uptight and prissy founder of Americablog, made me LOL with his conclusion...
Git it, Girl!
I agree. Their behavior was undignified and it's embarrassing. But OMG - this is the "straight boy" party that most gay guys DREAM of stumbling into! Besides, those drunk bastards now have to explain to their wives/girlfriends how it's "not gay" to eat chips out of another man's butt.
That's strange ... I've suddenly gotten the fever for the flavor of a Pringles...
But there have also been some opposite opinions - especially from gay men. Dust Bunny Dan was one of the first bloggers to say he wanted to travel to Afghanistan and partake in the festivities (unfortunately his trip to New Orleans will interfere). Even John Aravosis, the usually uptight and prissy founder of Americablog, made me LOL with his conclusion...
Providing security in Afghanistan, of all places, has got to be a nasty job, so I'm willing to cut some slack in how these guys get their jollies during their time off ... [snip] ... these photos, in my view, don't constitute evidence of much other than some of the guys being damn hot.
Git it, Girl!
I agree. Their behavior was undignified and it's embarrassing. But OMG - this is the "straight boy" party that most gay guys DREAM of stumbling into! Besides, those drunk bastards now have to explain to their wives/girlfriends how it's "not gay" to eat chips out of another man's butt.
That's strange ... I've suddenly gotten the fever for the flavor of a Pringles...
Oh Tranny! The fever for the flavor!!!! LOL!! You are TOO funny! and I LOVE you!!!
ReplyDeleteDon't worry about me Tranny....things are good.
Love you, love your hair!
XOXOXO
LOL! It hadn't occurred to me how the gay community would view this incident. I think my reaction was something like "Good grief!" and then laughter. I bet most of these guys are big ol' homophobes, too. Now I'm laughing at the thought of them having to explain this to their wives and GFs.
ReplyDeleteRemember those old Pringles commercials about popping the top, and you'd hear that sound of the vacuum releasing when they pulled the top off? LMAO!
XOXO Beth
I love how shocked people are at stuff like this. Straight male bonding at it's best. This allows them to get oh-so-close to the fire . . .
ReplyDeleteImagine what WASN'T caught on film.
Buzzkill alert . . . I agree with one of Aravosis's commenters who said: "Well it turns out that I'm not as hip as I thought I was, because I find the entire story - the acts and the frat-boy mentality that created it, the resulting hostile workplace that results from it, the lack of qualified supervision that allows it, the on-going civilian thugs-for-hire that causes it - disgusting."
ReplyDeleteRead the Project on Government Oversight report.
A few months ago I had to read an article about how diligent and valiant the security guys guarding our Embassies in Iraq and Afghanistan were. They screen for bombs, suicide vests, etc. Yep, it's a stressful job. And if you're serving in a country where the normal outlets are denied - no real boozing and whoring about - it's not surprising that this frat boy/hazing activity is the result.
ReplyDeleteHowever, what I'm not too happy with is that these people are essentially contract workers paid by my tax dollars, meaning oversight of these people can be pretty dodgy. And I'm with Michael in pondering what WASN'T caught on film.
My cousin is currently serving in Afghanistan (after 2 tours in Iraq), and I'm wondering what HE thinks of this, if he's even been able to see it. I already know the attitude he has to these soldiers-for-hire, and I'm sure he's even less impressed with them now.
Yeah, it's 'Frat Boys Gone Wild', but these are also people representing the US abroad to a country that already has so many other reasons to hate us.
I admit it is kinda hot
ReplyDeleteMmmmm...butt-sweat flavored Pringles.
ReplyDeleteSorry ahead of time for this buzz-kill rant.
ReplyDeleteThe contractors piss me off just existing. Those Blackwater guys get paid tons more than our servicemen, have all the latest and best equipment, kill people without it counting, and do all kinds of things they are not accountable for.
So when I saw the frat boys cavorting on television, I thought about what would happen if the servicemen and women had been doing this. Hell, they can't even admit they are gay, but these guys can do whatever they want to. Hazing, huh?
I do like thinking about how they'll explain this to their wives and girlfriends.