"What's truly revealing about the torture people is that we can list dozens of historical examples of how torture was prosecuted by American officials -- be it following World War II or the Spanish-American war and so forth -- literally dozens of factual definitions that waterboarding and other techniques are torture and how they're basically ineffective. Facts and details torn from history books and official government documents.
Yet their counterargument is torn from a fictional TV series. And so 24 is supposed to trump facts and history." -Bob Cesca, Bob Cesca's Awesome Blog! Go!
Making goddamn sense about American interrogation policy...
Friday, April 24, 2009
Something Someone Else Said
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Apparently Mr. Cesca was a fan of my old and new sites.
He's a sharp guy, T101. I dig his stuff.
Who was it during the Republican Primary debates that said if a terrorist attack is immanent, "I'm calling Jack Bauer!"?
I want to say it was Huckabee, but I don't think that's right.
Of course, the telling part of that exchange was the audience cheering rather loudly...
It was Tancredo from Colorado Dave, and it was an ignorant, populist one-liner basically endorsing torture by the American government. Didn't do much to get him elected president though, did it?
Fear has receded. For now. Not so much the fear of a terrorist attack, more the pedestrian fear of political repercussion. That and the fact that a few people have had the balls to say "I don't want this done in my name" has enabled this turn of public opinion. Really, everyone has known for years that the US was torturing and no-one had the guts to call it.
I think one of Blair's advisors used to say "Fear beats Hope, but Time beats Fear".
And what have the Right got to say? Just variations on "it's not wrong when WE do it"..
The right plays Orwellian word games. It's not "torture" but "enhanced interrogation techniques."
Right. You know for a fact that any one of them who support this would crack if you looked at them cross ways. Let alone point a water pistol at them. Hiding the behind the torture of someone else is a coward's way. And when you condone this, and put us on the level of a dictatorship, you can no longer be able to say that America has a moral compass that always points toward God and righteousness.
The cons talk the talk VZ and Tim but they just can't get the walking down, and that's why they've fallen out of power.
Tim,
Interesting that you mentioned the use of superficial language tricks. This sort of double speak is a rampant tool in Law and politics.
It reminds of my friends masters' thesis on double-speak and the use of clever language to mask the real meaning and intentions of policy.
It's hard to let go sometimes JBW. Didn't mean to release my regrets or frustration on your site. That was disrespectful to you.
No worries, T101. I never took it that way.
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