Letters to the Editor
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Reinforcing Mr. Owen re Weekends
Let's have some weekend coverage! You might even deputize some posters such as Garry Owen, and even me maybe, and several others, to put up some topics, and follow up, and respond on weekends.
Of course you could have Weekend Supervisors to make sure we do not go nuts or anything. Please think about it.
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is waterboarding torture?
Waterboarding is simple and requires no sophisticated equipment or experience. Here is an experiment you can try with a trusted friend and it requires only a shoulder-width piece of plywood and a source of water. Have your friend strap you to the board with your head declined a foot or so lower than your hips. Instruct your friend to pour water in your nose and mouth as you try to breath. If, after drawing a snootfull of water into your lungs you find the experience not unpleasant then it isn't torture. On the other hand, if after gagging, and almost drowning you find the experience conforms to your definition of torture, you may either confess to cowardice and terminate the procedure, or you and your friend (if you're still friends) should consider asking your government to terminate its cowardly practice of waterboarding. You may repeat this experiment if you wish.
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I didn't meant to start a mutiny
...you can read my blog though; I talked about the Thompson mess...just hit my my little Omooex and it will take you there...
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From Joan Walsh
Garry Owen, we will be keeping the joint open on weekends more as the campaign heats up, but with a relatively small edit staff, it's not an option right now beyond wire stories and some blogs. But I agree we could be empowering our readers more, and we'll be coming up with tools to do that in the weeks and months to come. I will keep you posted.
Likewise, salonmarte, we are looking at some of the suggestions you propose for increasing communication among letter writers. But in the meantime, since you're a Premium member (thank you!) have you joined Table Talk? That's our venerable Salon reader community where people can discuss topics of the day in greater depth.
Until we get more of our reader tools developed, I appreciate people using my blog comments for good ideas and story ideas. Thanks!
And finally, I know I've gotten a little one-note about torture, but that's how much it matters to me. Head over to Digby's place to read her take on the former President Bush tearing up on Fox News as he described how we treated Iraqi soldiers with dignity during the first Gulf War. Why is this man crying? Because his son has destroyed his legacy in every sense of the word. That's how much the waterboarding issue means.
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No veto necessary - Bush would issue signing statement
saying that he would obey the Congressional ban on waterboarding as consistent with his Constitutional commander in chief powers.
After so many signing statements (including the McCain amendment) why wasn't this obvious question asked? (or did I miss that?)
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Torture and the Law
Scott Horton has what I think is the definitive position on torture. It is quite clearly against the law--our law and everyone else's--and no amount of wriggling can change that.
Here's the link: http://harpers.org/archive/2007/11/hbc-90001588
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Speaking of being open on weekends...
...time was when Glenn Greenwald's readers could still post comments on the weekend, or for a few days at a time during the week, if he had not posted recently (due to travel, book commitments, etc.)
Tonight we had a first. His most recent post is now closed for comments... I won't go into why. It'll be obvious if you check it out.
If this is going to be a regular occurrence, maybe Salon could at least let people know in advance, before someone has a left a question for another commenter, that cannot now be answered. Of course, we could always go back to his old site and meet there.
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The Duty of our Moron-in-Chief is ----
-- is to ascertain what exactly what the controversial issue is all about.
One way to do this is for Bush Junior to be strapped into his Throne in the Oval Office before the television crew's and be given a Waterboard Q & A session with the issue surrounding his knowledge about the Florida Elections Fraud that put him in office placed on the table. Unless he's got something to hide a refusal should clear up what's what.
Same should go for all our gov't officials ...
a CIA chiefs' next Tehranian mischief ?? ... Sandy Berger's pantleg shenannigans ?? ... a Wyoming Senator's peculiarities & fibbery ?? ... Teddy Kennedy's Chapaquidick Secrets ?? ... Bush Junior's Air Guard delinquencies ??
You wish to honestly Serve the Voters that put you into office ?? ... then kow-tow before the waterboard ... afterall, its a harmless procedure, ain't it ??
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Request for clarification from Joan Walsh or anybody else who can answer....
Joan Waslh wrote: "Head over to Digby's place to read her take on the former President Bush tearing up on Fox News as he described how we treated Iraqi soldiers with dignity during the first Gulf War."
I am a little slow, so... Where's Digby's place?
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more examples from the American prosecution of Japanese war crimes
It is encouraging to see that prominent people are finally drawing comparisons between the present war and the American treatment of Japanese war criminals. In addition to the example of American punishment of waterboarding, there were also cases of Japanese officers being convicted for not stopping atrocities that they should have known would happen without their vigilant oversight. So far, how many American officers have been held accountable for the crimes that have happened under their watch in Iraq? Fortunately for them, as bad as things may get in Iraq, there will probably never be an international tribunal of victors' justice to judge them.
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Water Torture
Let's be realistic please. If a nuclear bomb was planted and you had the suspect would you want to eliminate this option ahead of time? Only if you want to condemn hundred of thousands of people to stand on your principle.
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One more point about the waterboard
Do you wonder why the prisoner's head is in the lower position on the waterboard? That is simple. As long as the shoulders are below the hips, the water poured into the prisoner and inhaled into the lungs will drain out of the lungs by gravity. Asphyxia is still possible if the cloth or plastic wrap over the mouth and nose don't allow enough oxygen to enter.
If the hips were below the shoulders, the lungs would quickly fill with water and the drowning would be completed very quickly. Drowning is not a function of the body being underwater, it is a function of the lungs filling with water and preventing oxygen exchange.