Political Contest of Stupidity

Unbeknownst to the media, the contest for "Political Candidates Saying Dumb Things" was held this week. Chris Shays thought he had the contest lead all to himself with his statement(s) on Abu Gharib:

"Republican Rep. Christopher Shays said Friday the Abu Ghraib prison abuses were more about pornography than torture.

The congressman, who is in a tough re-election fight, said a National Guard unit was primarily responsible for the abuses.

"It was a National Guard unit run amok," Shays said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press. "It was torture because sex abuse is torture. It was gross and despicable ... This is more about pornography than torture." (source: CBS)

The AP noted drily that "In fact, the 372nd Military Police Company from Cresaptown, Md., is an Army Reserve unit not National Guard." Not to be outdone, Linda Roberts, running for State Treasurer joined the fray with this gem:

"... may be acceptable in states like Kansas, Idaho, and Arkansas where financial acumen is far less important than animal husbandry." (source: Courant)

Shay's earlier comment in a debate against Diane Farrell also qualified.

"Now I've seen what happened in Abu Ghraib, and Abu Ghraib was not torture," Shays said at a debate Wednesday.

"It was outrageous, outrageous involvement of National Guard troops from (Maryland) who were involved in a sex ring and they took pictures of soldiers who were naked," added Shays. "And they did other things that were just outrageous. But it wasn't torture." (source: CBS)

Lastly, John DeStefano prvides this one:

We've had an administration without a leader and we've had a campaign without a candidate on the Republican side."(source: Connecticut Post)

Apparently, DeStefano was unaware that his opponent was in fact M. Jodi Rell. The contest is still open, plenty of time to submit nominations, it might be the only contest some of these candidates may win.