tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post2389277697703260602..comments2024-03-17T08:27:53.658-05:00Comments on Stonekettle Station: Mike McConnell: Jerkoff of the weekJim Wrighthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-63247363792951970702008-01-13T17:05:00.000-06:002008-01-13T17:05:00.000-06:00Not defending McConell, but I'd like to read the i...Not defending McConell, but I'd like to read the interview itself instead of just Reuters take on it. If they've interpreted the interview faithfully, then yeah, scum.<BR/><BR/>There's part of it where he seems to be saying "Yeah, its torture but I can't say that because then some people might be prosecuted. And the people who gave them orders might be prosecuted, so no."<BR/><BR/>BTW there's CONTEST RESULTS posted on some other guy's site.Nathanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00648438549121320566noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-6921386558011599142008-01-13T16:20:00.000-06:002008-01-13T16:20:00.000-06:00Ah, Jim. You're so cute. Personal responsibility...Ah, Jim. You're so cute. Personal responsibility in an elected official and their minions? Surely you jest.<BR/><BR/>Actually, I agree with you (as usual), but I'm getting cynical enough that I don't think anyone will step up.Janiecehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14190655869710465713noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-79921551267617823522008-01-13T16:02:00.000-06:002008-01-13T16:02:00.000-06:00Eric, yep, I am aware of it. And in fact, Levin ac...Eric, yep, I am aware of it. And in fact, Levin actually went through a much abbreviated version of waterboarding - and he had a safe word and knew that nothing terrible could really happen to him - and he still concluded that it was torture. As have those of us who have gone through SERE and/survival school.<BR/><BR/>I say that if this is the course we as a nation have decided to embark on, and the American people continue to elect leaders who endorse torture as a national policy (and thereby indicate their acceptance of the fact that America is a nation that tortures people), then the very least we can do is make our elected leaders go through the same training as those of us they've ordered to perform torture in the first place. <BR/><BR/>When I was assigned to Valley Forge, the CO was the first through the pepper spray course, not because he was ever likely to end up on a boarding team, but because he was the kind of man who never ordered his men into a situation he wasn't willing to do himself. This is leadership by example, and it is one of the reasons that I respected Valley Forge's Captain more than just about anybody else in the world.<BR/><BR/>I wonder just how quickly Bush, Cheney, McConnell, et al, would be willing to order torture - if as a prerequisite they were required to undergo the process themselves - and periodically have to requalify. Frankly I don't think Cheney would survive it - I damn sure know he wouldn't have made it through my training.Jim Wrighthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11259550121437562338noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8243351006478134285.post-23021239111552392742008-01-13T15:17:00.000-06:002008-01-13T15:17:00.000-06:00Jim, you do know that in 2004 the acting assistant...Jim, you do know that <A HREF="http://abcnews.go.com/WN/DOJ/story?id=3814076" REL="nofollow">in 2004 the acting assistant attorney general, Daniel Levin, allowed himself to be waterboarded and concluded that waterboarding could be torture and that the Bush administration had failed to come up with proper guidelines and supervision for when and if the technique could be used</A>.<BR/><BR/>Guess what happened to <I>his</I> career at DOJ?Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.com