And remember Abu Ghraib, the scandal that the Left used to demand the resignation of Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and to paint the entire Bush administration as torturers? You know, the one where the ACLU found memos from the commanding general that authorized the use of dogs in interrogations of prisoners held there, which the Left went bonkers over? Guess who the Democrats have apparently picked to run for the open US Senate seat in Texas:
Democrats appear to have recruited retired Lt. Gen. Ricardo Sanchez to run for the U.S. Senate in Texas, setting the stage for a potentially competitive race in 2012 for the seat of retiring Republican Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison.
Former Texas Lt. Gov. Ben Barnes confirmed that Washington Sen. Patty Murray, the head of the Democratic Senate campaign committee, was referring to Sanchez Thursday when she said that Democrats were very close to announcing a candidate in Texas.
Sanchez, reached by phone at his San Antonio home, said, “I can neither confirm nor deny.”
Let’s try to make some sense of this selection. Are Democrats now saying that Rumsfeld as SecDef had responsibility for Abu Ghraib while the military commander actually in charge of the theater that reported to Rumsfeld did not? Or are they withdrawing their accusations entirely? This isn’t just a case of allowing Sanchez to retire in honorable peace after a slew of vicious allegations about the integrity of everyone in that chain of command; they’re now endorsing him for further public service.
That should at least require some sort of reconciliation of their positions from the Bush era to now, and not just on Abu Ghraib, but also on Guantanamo — as Sanchez’ memo outlines practices beyond anything used at Gitmo.
Doesn’t matter because the guy may be repugnant as a military leader, but he’s Hispanic and he’ll run in Texas. That’s a Democrat strategy.
That’s what happens when you play the politics of identity. Black, Hispanic, or Woman are the first qualifications. Everything else is secondary and tertiary.