FREAK OF THE WEEK: Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza

This week, the FredBlog shines its freaklight on Miss Universe Dayana Mendoza, who seems to think that a place where people are tortured and held prisoner without being charged with a crime is a greeeeeaaaaat place to take a vacation.

Caitlin Upton, the 2007 Miss Teen USA contestant from South Carolina, made headlines for her rambling speech about “the Iraq,” maps, and “U.S. Americans.” (If you don’t remember, check out http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lj3iNxZ8Dww to jog your memory.)

Well, good news, Ms. Upton. You are no longer the dumbest beauty queen ever. THAT title now goes to the reigning Miss Universe, Dayana Mendoza of Venezuela.

I guess she never got the memo – or the thousands of news reports – that the U.S. military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, has become an international embarrassment, a place where human rights were thrown out the window by the George W. Bush administration, where prisoners are allegedly routinely tortured, and where “enemy combatants” are held for years without being told why. In fact, things there got so bad that President Barack Obama has said he will shut down Guantanamo by the end of the year.

Enter Miss Universe for her version of spring break. According to published reports, Mendoza wrote on her blog last week that the prison there is a “relaxing, beautiful place” to visit. She called her trip an “incredible experience. … It was a loooot of fun!” (That’s five Os, if you’re counting.)

Here’s what else she had to say: “We visited the detainees’ camps and we saw the jails, where they shower, how they recreate themselves with movies, classes of art, books. It was very interesting. I didn’t want to leave, it was a such a relaxing place, so calm and beautiful.”

Great. Guantanamo Bay as tourist attraction before it’s even closed down.

And she didn’t want to leave? It was relaxing and calm? I wonder if those who have been sleep deprived, beaten, locked up indefinitely and tricked into thinking they are drowning find it “relaxing” and “calm.”

“We also met the military dogs,” she wrote, “and they did a very nice demonstration of their skills.” After all, going to Guantanamo is just like watching the dolphins at Sea World, isn’t it?

Makes me wonder if she thinks water boarding is a good way to ride the waves and enjoy the surf. Maybe someone should give her some lessons, and then she could see just how fuuuuun Guantanamo Bay really is.