[ExI] This would almost qualify as hilarious ... if only it weren't true

[Damien Broderick]

At 07:50 PM 6/11/2007 -0700, Olga wrote:

>I didn't think it was possible for our "leaders" in the Pentagon to be even
>more stupid than I already thought they were.  I was wrong.
>
>http://cbs5.com/topstories/local_story_159222541.html

But why is this *stupid*? It's tacky and careless of consequences, 
but it doesn't seem to me absurd. The following sort of objection 
seems to me a mixture of irrelevant pleading in the face of surmised 
bigotry, and argument-missing:

<"Throughout history we have had so many brave men and women who are 
gay and lesbian serving the military with distinction," said Geoff 
Kors of Equality California. "So, it's just offensive that they think 
by turning people gay that the other military would be incapable of 
doing their job. >

That is NOT what the alleged project was said to be targeted at. As 
the story notes: `As part of a military effort to develop non-lethal 
weapons, the proposal suggested, "One distasteful but completely 
non-lethal example would be strong aphrodisiacs, especially if the 
chemical also caused homosexual behavior." ' Clearly the idea is that 
certain parts of the brain can be wildly superstimulated, leading to 
hyperarousal of sexual urges and behavior. This is very far from 
self-evidently untrue. Under such an attack, with few women present 
(the assumption is a heavily male enemy force), would endogenous and 
social proclivities get redirected to available members of one's own 
sex? It happens in jail and other situations of confinement... 
classically, aboard naval vessels at sea for many months.

<And its absurd because there's so much medical data that shows that 
sexual orientation is immutable and cannot be changed." >

Pure ideology and self-evident claptrap when put in such 
unconditional terms. The cbs.5 writer can't know very many honest 
people. Granted, this sort of statement bears a closer relation to 
the truth than hysterical bullshit about homosexuals infiltrating 
schools and "turning" sexually indeterminate youths toward their evil 
ways. But it is just silly to put this up as proof that the research 
was doomed in advance "by immutable nature".

Just my 2cents.

Damien Broderick