Last Friday, Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza posted her impressions of Guantanamo Bay -- which apparently was "such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful" that she "didn’t want to leave" -- at her official blog.
Now, mysteriously, that post has been removed.
Attracting shockingly little media attention, Mendoza was in Guantanamo Bay with Miss USA Crystle Stewart visiting troops as part of a U.S.O./Armed Forces Entertainment tour.
As the New York Times reported Wednesday (video of Fox & Friends coverage of Mendoza's comments embedded right):
Ms. Mendoza’s glowing account of Guantánamo has sparked an active debate among readers, on our Web site and others, about whether her visit was inappropriate or instead supports the argument that the facility is somehow too nice for those still detained there.
The Miss Universe Organization has posted a statement on the main page of Ms. Mendoza’s blog defending the visit and the now-removed blog post.
What was so offensive about Mendoza's comments that required their removal? You decide:
This week, Guantánamo!!! It was an incredible experience.
We arrived in Gitmo on Friday and stared going around the town, everybody knew Crystle and I were coming so the first thing we did was attend a big lunch and then we visited one of the bars they have in the base. We talked about Gitmo and what is was like living there. The next days we had a wonderful time, this truly was a memorable trip! We hung out with the guys from the East Coast and they showed us the boat inside and out, how they work and what they do, we took a ride around the land and it was a loooot of fun!
We also met the Military dogs, and they did a very nice demonstration of their skills. All the guys from the Army were amazing with us.
We visited the Detainees camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how the recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting.
We took a ride with the Marines around the land to see the division of Gitmo and Cuba while they were informed us with a little bit of history.
The water in Guantánamo Bay is soooo beautiful! It was unbelievable, we were able to enjoy it for at least an hour. We went to the glass beach, and realized the name of it comes from the little pieces of broken glass from hundred of years ago. It is pretty to see all the colors shining with the sun. That day we met a beautiful lady named Rebeca who does wonders with the glasses from the beach. She creates jewelry with it and of course I bought a necklace from her that will remind me of Guantánamo Bay :)
I didn’t want to leave, it was such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.
Doesn't sound offensive to me, although MSNBC's Rachel Maddow didn't seem pleased Tuesday night:
Do you think this blog post would have been removed if Miss Universe trashed Gitmo calling it the most horrible place she'd ever seen in her life?
No...I don't, either.
