A Disturbing Portrayal

Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison appeared as a guest today on the Diane Rehm Show. Towards the end of the interview, a caller asked Ms. Hutchison to comment on the 100,000 civilian deaths in Iraq. Although the caller is using a flawed estimate of the death toll (Iraqbodycount.com provides a verifiable estimate of the death toll ranging from 14272 to 16405 as of this posting), the response given was one of the most dehumanizing remarks made by a government official since the holocaust. Ms. Hutchison remarked that we are not killing civilians, that we are fighting monsters. By stripping the combatants of their humanity, as atrocious as their actions are, killing becomes insignificant because those who die are not even considered to be human beings. We must not allow those whom we elect into office to perpetuate the vile stereotype that conservative Muslim combatants are somehow less than human. In our efforts to achieve justice we must retain our own humanity and morality.

Each Diane Rehm Show is archived an hour after its original broadcast. This post will be edited at that time to reflect Ms. Hutchison's exact remarks.