Integrity breakout!

America does not torture.

Therefore, when America waterboards people, waterboarding is not torture.

It's only torture when the Japs did it to us back in dubya dubya twice.

Get it? America doesn't fucking torture.

We're just real good at changing the definition of what constitutes "torture" at any given moment.

You didn't play the clip, did you?

I like Shepard's response.

I was just playing devil's advocate.

Remember when waterboarding wasn't torture?

You know, like, the day before all these memos got released?

This is the heart of it: It isn't torture because we hired a bunch of fancy pants aggressive lawyers to SAY it isn't.

And anyway, WE GOT RESULTS. WE SAVED AMERICA. Oh, and also too, We had to destroy the village to save it.

Sound familiar?

Right now, Smith is angry about torture. And yes, even on Fox News, he's calling it that

As ridiculous as he is, I hope Shep's got his resume ready; he'll be needing it by the end of the week. The one rule of Fox "news" is that one never, ever speaks the truth.

These guys know that prosecution is inevitable and they don't want to be on the wrong side of history on this one. All in all this is a somewhat clever move. Even Fox realizes you can only defend so much (especially since the turnout for their "Tea Parties" was a letdown).

Head on over to the Wall Street Journal and comment on this article [linked at my highlighted signature, "cabdriver"]

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124044375842145565.html

which contains this astounding assertion:

But at least until now, the U.S. political system has avoided the spectacle of a new Administration prosecuting its predecessor for policy disagreements. This is what happens in Argentina, Malaysia or Peru, countries where the law is treated merely as an extension of political power.

Last night around 8:15, O'reilly had a guest on who argued that torture did not do anything for the war effort. O'reilly of course argued at full volume that "enhanced interrogations" helped us. The guest was very factual citing examples, while stating that torture only made prisoners say what was needed to get the torturers to stop. O'reilly looked like a complete fool, simply repeating the talking points. Why do I have a feeling O'reilly's TV career at FOX is on borrowed time?

Of little feet running down the anchor chain. I predict that by summer it will be "patriotic" to investigate un-American activities such as torture.

I enjoyed watching him ridiculing Glenn Beck recently (Andrew Sullivan had a link to the footage), and a few years back Smith snapped at Sean "Ultimate Douchebag" Hannity on the air when the U.D. attempted to whitewash what was happening in New Orleans during Katrina. Shep was right there and was having none of it. I just wonder what he's doing at Fox.

if you're going to comment on the WSJ article, I think the sincere and direct statement is more effective than sarcasm or insult.

Obviously, the temptation is present.

I guess the writing really is on the wall. Tiny feet on the anchorchain, indeed.

I've always wondered how much thought Fox anchors gave to their prospects at other networks. From what I understand, they are a laughingstock even among the other networks so the idea that you could work at Fox and just move on to ABC or NBC or even CNN doesn't strike me as very possible. Bill'o was done as a journalist before Fox picked him up so he's pretty much their Andy Rooney. He'll be there 'til they close the doors for good or dies at his desk, one. But some of the others have to at least wonder what kind of future they may have by working there. I can't help but notice nobodies swept up Alan Combs yet.

I sometimes wonder if Shepard Smith isn't the "Theresienstadt" anchor on Fox News: A token independent journalist thrown in to show the world that FNC isn't completely a Republican-Conservative propaganda machine.

Not to completely bash Shep's contributions, but refuting the most risible nonsense put out by Joe the Plumber and (gasp!) taking a strong stand against torture, doesn't exactly make him the next Edward R. Murrow.

"... We do not fucking call it torture!"

Shepard Smith clearly misspoke.

Look for this retraction from News Corporation.

I like the way the one guy in the clip that Shpard was yelling at was explaining that former Middle East CIA officer Bob Baer's excoriations of the Bush regime's torture program was just a ploy to sell books.

I mean, talk about reaching into the bottom of the bag of cliched dismissal tactics...

good for him. It's nice to see someone in the media with a conscience.

He said fuck and he meant it.

Smith, at the end of one of the videos, talks about "Reagan's shining city on a hill". While I agree that the imagery here is very correct, that America should be a beacon of hope, an example to everyone throughout the world, the image is not Reagan's alone. Prior to Reagan's use, Kennedy drew upon the same source, Puritan John Winthrop. Both have cited Winthrop in speeches when they referred to it.

It is an appropriate image though, and while I don't want to see it co-opted as solely Reagan's, I agree with Smith that the actions revealed in the torture memos are sending us tumbling down the hill towards the darkness below.

It's a simply matter of credit where credit is due.

If Fox has a wider hidden agenda in featuring Shepard, it doesn't mean that it can't backfire in their faces.

Bravo, Shepard Smith. Thanks for putting law and, dare I say morals, before mere political expediency.

We're such an infantile country that the news coming out this will be that Smith used the "F" word, not the meaning, the clear-cut meaning, of what he was saying. Not trying to say, actually saying it.

It was refreshing and I hope he doesn't get in trouble with the FCC.