And if you call within the next two minutes, with a pledge of 750 dollars, you’ll ALSO receive the CD: "The Guantanamo Sessions: Rumsfield, Addington, Cheney, and Yoo LIVE at the Whiskey A Go-Go," featuring former Attorney General John Ashcroft -- America’s Crooning Crusader -- in his legendary rendition of “Let the Eagles Soar.”

On second thought, then we’d HAVE to own up to torture.

I used to look forward to much of NPR programming, but no longer. All during the miasma of the Bush years, I listened, jaw dropping, as NPR tacked further and further right, and became just another outlet for Rethug talking points and propaganda. I stopped contributing, and won't give them a cent until their governing board is no longer controlled by Rethug hacks.

Glenn, just keep hitting them, although it's a bit like pissing upwind. Cokie Roberts, juan Williams are a disgrace and should never be heard. Even Diane Riems has been sucked into having unchallenged right wing guests and commentators spout nonsense. Obviously NPR's programming is all controlled and dictated by Bush holdovers, and cleverly packaged in reasonable sounding polite language for a better educated audience with progressive inclinations. A total hoax.

The dates for ME-4309 tell a story, Glenn.

1: Why did it take the government 3 weeks to start an autopsy? Date of Death = 4/5/04 and autopsy was 4/26/04. The other reports you show say it only takes 3 days between date of death and date of autopsy.

2: Why did it take 6 months to issue final report on this person? Date of Autopsy = 4/26/04, date of Final Report = 11/22/04. The other reports only took 3 months to issue.

If I were an auditor, I would dig at all other evidence related to ME-4309 and find the story behind this guy. There could be something else with the death of this person.

Any Republican with common sense (is that an Oxymoron?) would not go on Rachel's show. Ask David Frum why. I'm sure he still wakes up at night with cold sweats over his appearance. Without raising her voice, even with a smile on her face, she totally discredited him. It was beautiful.

NPR never fails to disappoint--and this is a classic example of how bad the quality of journalism is at this miserable corporate sponsored "news" organization.

Shepard is clearly a mouthpiece for the "phantom management" of NPR who are clearly dictating this Orwellian policy banning the use of the world 'torture'.

It's notable that even though Bush/Cheney are out of office, NPR still tenaciously clings to the banning of this word!

Shepard gets the mission of quality journalism ALL WRONG: it is NOT the top priority for good journalists to avoid using the traditionally used, definitive word for an act (torture) because the government disapproves and does not want to be criticized.

NPR management, enabler Shepard, Dick Cheney and GW Bush stand ALONE using a euphemism for what is factually torture. The overwhelming majority of organizations and experts worldwide are against them.

The silver lining in this egregious NPR policy disaster is that more and more NPR listeners will realize that NPR "news" is NOT to be trusted; NPR is NOT an objective or ethical news outlet; and that NPR has been caught RED HANDED spinning Bush government propaganda.

Hopefully more and more people will turn off NPR and listen to the wide variety of much better news outlets: Pacifica, Democracy Now with Amy Goodman, Salon, or even the UK's Guardian is much better.

"Friends don't let friends listen to NPR"

I'm listening to NPR's Talk of the Nation and they just teased tomorrow's show, where the "NPR Ombudsman will talk about why NPR doesn't call waterboarding 'torture'".

I've been following this discussion/debate closely. I read Ms Shepard's lame excuses (and she's a journalism professor, too!). I've read the comments at NPR. Today I learned from Glen site that Ms Shepard has refused an invitation to discuss NPR's refusal to call torture, torture. "Vermont's NPR Station" and North Country Public Radio (both of which have award-winning local programming I enjoy) are always asking for money, but donations cannot be earmarked to local programming. So, next time my local public radio stations ask for a hand-out, I'll tell 'em, don't expect any dosh from me until they - as an affiliate - tell NPR to clean up its act.

I find this “debate” extraordinarily disheartening. It amazes me that an organization purportedly dedicated to reporting the truth should decide to embrace a lie. What else should one term a euphemism that glosses over a genuine horror—a euphemism concocted by the perpetrators of that horror as camouflage for their debased rationales, defiance of law, and wholesale disregard for human rights and human life? All actions have consequences, and NPR's decision to propagate this lie is one more in a concatenation of corrupting rationalizations that have pushed this country off course—assuming a desertion of long-held, basic principles can be termed such. Admittedly, other influences have been more corrosive—from the amoral machinations of Cheney/Bush/Yoo, et al, to the shrill hucksterism of conservative radio assuring us that “enhanced interrogation” is all that stood between civilization and the triumph of evil, and to Obama's insistence that torture and murder are not crimes of sufficient gravity to warrant investigation—but why would a (once?) respected news organization want to contribute to the debasement of our society in even a small way?

And I disagree with Ms. Shepard's notion that avoiding the use of terms like “enhanced interrogation” and instead, describe the practice in question is sufficient. Refusing to use the term “torture” still speaks volumes about the ascendancy of rationalization over reason within the offices of NPR. Torture is torture. What do they fear in labeling it as such?

Where is this hot debate Alicia refers to, regarding whether waterboarding is torture? I'd like to go over there and wind them up a bit. Perhaps the ombudsman could point me in the right direction in her interview tomorrow.

She was interviewed on http://www.onthemedia.org Sunday and generated some very lively comments.

Monte Haun mchaun@hotmail.com