well now that'd be a shocker

From The Impolitic: Did Gonzales cover up teen sex scandal in Texas?

Jebus. When Gonzales recently announced that he was going to fight to keep his job for the children, who knew he meant for the children. It appears Mr. "War on Porn" Gonzales, who vigorously pursues adult pornography, had
no interest in prosecuting pedophilies in Texas.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and U.S. Attorney Johnny Sutton, both already under siege for other matters, are now being accused of failing to prosecute officers of the Texas Youth Commission after a Texas Ranger investigation documented that guards and administrators were sexually abusing the institution's teenage boy inmates.

Among the charges in the Texas Ranger report were that administrators would rouse boys from their sleep for the purpose of conducting all-night sex parties.

The official reason given by the assistant US Attorney in Texas for the failure to prosecute was that none of the children complained of pain while enduring systematic sexual abuse perpetrated upon them by their keepers at juvenile detention facilities. In the old days we would have called them reform schools. He goes on to suggest that the children may well have been willing participants in the abuse because none of the of the victims could describe acts of retaliation for failing to engage in the orgies.

...

So what does this have to do with Gonzales? The federal Texas office had actually prepared indictments but never served them and rejected the case only after they heard from DC. Coincidentally, the scandal arose in the middle of the Republican governor's re-election campaign. They dumped the case on the local DA instead, as if they were going to pursue it during the campaign. Meanwhile the feds actively pursued minor voter fraud issues, leaving these young boys subject to further abuse. It was only after Perry won his election that the case was finally pursued and gratefully resulted in some badly needed reforms within the system...

So, let's review what we've learned so far:

1) you can TOTALLY trust the government, especially an authoritarian right-wing government, to have good motivations and thus do the right thing when they go after pr0n or drugs or anything sexual, in the name of "protection" or "the children" or whatnot

2) "reform school" is a great place for kids to learn how to be a better citizen, you know, get the firm yet loving discipline they never got from their parents, and only those who deserve it ever go there, especially in Texas

3) Freedom isn't free. In fact, a lot of you may never be able to afford it at all. This is the price we pay for democracy. Which is TOTALLY what we have here. Democracy.

Questions? Comments?