Is Karl Rove Running the Army?

The New York Times reports that remaining charges of mishandling classified information, adultery, and possession of pornography will be dropped against Chaplain James Yee, who was initially accused of espionage while ministering at the Guantanamo prison for--well, I was going to say "enemy combatants," but who really knows what sort of folks are being detained there?

His lawyer, Eugene R. Fidell of Washington, said the resolution demonstrated that Captain Yee had prevailed in his fight.

"This represents a long overdue vindication," Mr. Fidell said.

He added, however, that Captain Yee was still owed an apology, and he suggested that the Army was simply trying to sweep its mistakes under the rug by asserting that it dropped the charge of mishandling classified documents to keep information from becoming public.

And, of course, there's the matter of the Army going out of its way to engage in the same sort of tactics that are routine for the Republican Party--make a reckless charge, unsupported by the facts, and follow it up with a sleazy personal attack. In a classic cover-your-ass moment, the military added the porn and adultery charges when it became apparent the espionage charge wouldn't stick. Additionally, they held Captain Yee in solitary confinement for three months, and went out of their way to destroy the man's life.

Possessing pornography and messing around are crimes? Hell, if the executive, legislative, and judicial branches were held to the same standards, you wouldn't have a government. As for the adultery charge--would it have been "better" if Captain Yee did what apparently the other folks at Gitmo do, namely, hire a prostitute?

Shit--at times, the level of hypocrisy in the army amazes me.