Hero City Councilman Will Stop Man-on-Dog Sex In The Military By Posting Facebook Pictures Of Man-on-Dog Sex
South Bend, Indiana, City Councilman Henry Davis, Jr. just wanted to spark public debate about a matter of national policy that he was very concerned about, which is why he posted an "explicit photograph of a man and a dog" on his Facebook page Sunday, to call attention to a very important but nonexistent issue: a supposed loophole in the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" that makes it legal for members of the military to do sex with animals. Never mind that there is no such policy, which he could have found out with a little searching. But he was concerned, so the natural thing to do, obviously, was to post a dogfucking picture to Facebook.
Davis, a Democrat, posted the photo (no, we can't find a screenshot, you weirdos*) along with a link to this dumb blog post that repeats a dumb lie that has been around since 2011, when Congress removed the military's ban on sodomy from the Universal Code of Military Justice. Since the UCMJ's only specific reference to sex with animals was contained in Article 125, the section that made sodomy illegal, rightwing groups claimed that in repealing Article 125 to comply with DADT repeal, Congress was in effect giving the green light for animal fucking.
The story was debunked in Stars & Stripes within days, but has become something of an article of faith for the loony right. Specifically, Article 125 stated that any service member who
“engages in unnatural carnal copulation with another person of the same sex or opposite sex or with an animal is guilty of sodomy.”
But repealing Article 125 didn't legalize sex with animals, no matter how much wingnuts insisted it did. Stars & Stripes points out that doing sex to critters is still punishable under Article 134, which outlaws “all disorders and neglects to the prejudice of good order and discipline in the armed forces” and “all conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the armed forces.” And in fact, military cases of animal sex were all prosecuted under that article, not the repealed sodomy ban.
So, back to Indiana and Councilman Davis's weird Facebook photo. Davis posted the link to the dumb blog thing along with a sort of a disclaimer saying "I am aware the picture is disgusting and way out of order but read the content in its entirety--" Just goes to show, an attention-getting image won't necessarily get people to click through to the content you want them to see. (Thank god he didn't post ponies.)
After an almost immediate flood of complaints, Davis removed the post and added an apology of sorts:
I regret that an article posted to my Facebook page was mistakenly taken as an expression of my personal or political views.
My Facebook and Twitter outlets are used as a platform to inform and generate discourse and debate on topics ranging from the mundane to the controversial. The wide ranging commentary and views expressed on these mediums by “friends” and “followers” create a virtual public square.
Of course, before posting stuff in your virtual public square, it's not a bad idea to do a little fact-checking. But what the hell, you have smartasses like Wonkette to take care of that, right?
Davis went on to say that thanks to such dialogue with the public, he was persuaded to vote in favor of a resolution urging the state to reject a constitutional amendment that would ban gay marriage, so yay for his "evolving" views on the topic. No, of course he didn't explain how that vote made up for or in any way related to a dogfucking photo and a link to a gay panic story claiming that the end of DADT legalized dogfucking (Mostly, we just like typing "dogfucking" because we are 13 years old).
Other members of the South Bend City Council have been fielding calls from constituents complaining about the photo, but it's unclear what, if any, action they may take. WSBT-TV has arguably the best quote on the whole affair, from 5th-District Republican Councilman David Varner:
“It’s disappointing for any member of the council to have to answer [a question about a Facebook post involving bestiality] about anybody, let alone another council member.”
How true this is. How very true. And needless to say, Wonkette never would have reported on something like this if Davis were a Democrat.
[ South Bend Tribune / WSBT / Stars & Stripes ]
*A commenter on WSBT's story says that the photo showed "a naked man having sex with a dog; the caption said 'If you need me, I'm in my lab.'" Somebody visits 4chan, sounds like. The photo is indeed NSFW, should you go a-Googling.
Follow Doktor Zoom on Twitter. He finds the internet endlessly fascinating.
Frankly, I don't understand why this whole discussion has managed to avoid falling victim to the Wonkette Banhammer. I have seen stuff that was much tamer than this get blown to oblivion on multiple occasions. Mind you, I'm not complaining about the present exchange (far from it); I'm just kind of amazed that it has been allowed to persist right out in broad daylight.
Well he did, just not in the literal sense.