So, Alberto… how, and why?

I’m going to use my unexpected jump to the top of today’s WordPress listings to point out another weird Executive Branch quirk that didn’t get pointed out by the mainstream media.

Actually, they did cover it… but they covered it wrong.

Alberto Gonzales. You probably know him as the attorney general in charge of federal suits. He’s also in charge of putting pressure on ISPs to turn over customer records. Check out this AP news story, echoed by CNN, MSNBC, etc:

“I have seen pictures of older men forcing naked young girls to have anal sex. There are videos on the Internet of very young daughters forced to have intercourse and oral sex with their fathers. Viewing this was shocking and it makes my stomach turn,” said Gonzales, who was accompanied by his wife, Rebecca.

The lurid details really drive home the need for protection against child pornography… although nobody disagrees with him on that; thus the probable ISP pressuring thing. Typical politician behavior, we can go home now.

Hey, wait a minute. Let’s run that quote again:

“I have seen pictures of older men forcing naked young girls to have anal sex. There are videos on the Internet of very young daughters forced to have intercourse and oral sex with their fathers. Viewing this was shocking and it makes my stomach turn.”

You saw it, Mr. Gonzales?

What?!

First off, how did you find these “videos” and “pictures”? From “the Internet”? How hard were you looking?
Okay, let’s assume that he downloaded them from the federal archive of every child porn image ever created. Or maybe he thought he was downloading a nice, clean porno off Gnutella, but he got rape instead.

Why’d he watch it?

Is that the level of work a politician is expected to do just to make a speech? That’s seriously hardcore. These aren’t just kids in skimpy suits (which is bad enough); he somehow got hold of oral and anal sex.

Come on, Alberto, what’s up? Combine this with the specific, disgusting words you used and it’s a little over the top. Actually, I think there’s something creepy about you. Nobody else got this vibe?

edit: I found a full transcript. Cover your ears:

To many people, when you mention the term “child pornography,” they think of distasteful, but somewhat benign, pictures. Maybe a photograph of a partially nude teenager in a suggestive pose. [WHAT?!]

I have already talked about some of the images I have seen at the Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section of the Justice Department. [So yeah, he got it from our national archive. Taxpayers, you should be proud.] But there are even more shocking and vulgar images we’ve uncovered. We’re talking about a young toddler, tied up with towels, desperately crying in pain while she is being brutally raped and sodomized by an adult man.

And you can quote him on that.

“We’re talking about a young toddler, tied up with towels, desperately crying in pain while she is being brutally raped and sodomized by an adult man.” –Alberto Gonzales

I am only quoting the part of the speech which I find questionable. The rest of it is actually something I could applaud in a different situation, but it does not clear up the major issues here.