Tortorous
I'm hoping - without holding my breath - that Americans are interested in their Administration's tortured (couldn't resist) explanation of just what Vice President Dick Cheney meant when he stated that a dunk in water is a "no-brainer".
Cheney was responding to a radio interviewer's question regarding whether or not the Bush Administration condones "water boarding" suspected terrorists or enemy combatants, a form of torture where a captive's head is placed underwater for an extended period of time, so that the captive believes he is about to drown. Evidently, coming this close to meeting your Maker inspires quite a few confessionals.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2006, radio show host Scott Hennan stated on his show that his callers had told him, "Please, let the Vice President know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves lives." While interviewing Cheney, Hennen asked the VP, "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"
Here is the verbatim response from the man who is one heartbeat away from the most powerful position on the globe: "Well, it's a no brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the Vice President for Torture. We don't torture. That's not what what we're involved in."
Please allow me to provide some intellectual subtext to what Cheney said: "Well (uh-oh, gotta buy some time to think of an answer), it's a no brainer for me (yes, I condone this form of torture), but for a while there (recently) I was criticized (people realized) as being the Vice President for Torture (I am in favor of torture). We don't torture (We do torture). That's not what we're involved in. (We do it everyday).
Only in America can such a duplicitous, mind-bendingly non-answer serve to answer a question of such constitutional dimension. To make matters even more clear (completely confusing), Presidential spokesperson Tony Snow recently quipped, "You know as a matter of common sense that the Vice President of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding...You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on."
Just tortorous.
Is a "slip up" in the form of a verbal snafu, where the Vice President inadvertently admitted condoning torture, any more suprising than the "slip up" that occurred when the Vice President shot a man? That slip up was suprising as well, but it happened. The thing is, it's hard to verbally back-peddle from a gunshot. A statement made on a radio show? Well, that's different.
But it's still a no-brainer. In more ways than one.
Cheney was responding to a radio interviewer's question regarding whether or not the Bush Administration condones "water boarding" suspected terrorists or enemy combatants, a form of torture where a captive's head is placed underwater for an extended period of time, so that the captive believes he is about to drown. Evidently, coming this close to meeting your Maker inspires quite a few confessionals.
On Tuesday, October 24, 2006, radio show host Scott Hennan stated on his show that his callers had told him, "Please, let the Vice President know that if it takes dunking a terrorist in water, we're all for it, if it saves lives." While interviewing Cheney, Hennen asked the VP, "Would you agree a dunk in water is a no-brainer if it can save lives?"
Here is the verbatim response from the man who is one heartbeat away from the most powerful position on the globe: "Well, it's a no brainer for me, but for a while there I was criticized as being the Vice President for Torture. We don't torture. That's not what what we're involved in."
Please allow me to provide some intellectual subtext to what Cheney said: "Well (uh-oh, gotta buy some time to think of an answer), it's a no brainer for me (yes, I condone this form of torture), but for a while there (recently) I was criticized (people realized) as being the Vice President for Torture (I am in favor of torture). We don't torture (We do torture). That's not what we're involved in. (We do it everyday).
Only in America can such a duplicitous, mind-bendingly non-answer serve to answer a question of such constitutional dimension. To make matters even more clear (completely confusing), Presidential spokesperson Tony Snow recently quipped, "You know as a matter of common sense that the Vice President of the United States is not going to be talking about water boarding...You think Dick Cheney's going to slip up on something like this? No, come on."
Just tortorous.
Is a "slip up" in the form of a verbal snafu, where the Vice President inadvertently admitted condoning torture, any more suprising than the "slip up" that occurred when the Vice President shot a man? That slip up was suprising as well, but it happened. The thing is, it's hard to verbally back-peddle from a gunshot. A statement made on a radio show? Well, that's different.
But it's still a no-brainer. In more ways than one.
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