A bit of a background for those who are unaware of the "debate." The lady in question defends NPR's use of the BS meme created by Bush-Cheney with regards to exchanging the word torture for the phrase "enhanced interrogation techniques", IF AND ONLY IF torture is DONE BY "AMERICANS."
Greenwald interjects:
"She also said -- when the host asked about the recent example I cited of NPR's calling what was done to a reporter in Gambia "torture" (at the 20:20 mark) -- that NPR will use the word "torture" to describe what other governments do because they do it merely to sadistically inflict pain on people while the U.S. did it for a noble reason: to obtain information about Terrorist attacks."
Context follows below the fold...
The host Greenwald mentions, is one of a NPR station in Seattle, which interviewed Greenwald yesterday. Alicia Shepard, NPR's "ombudsman", was in the same show but before Greenwald and she apparently REFUSED TO DIALOGUE WITH HIM ABOUT THIS MATTER.
What Alicia Shepard argues, as a "good American Christian" would do, perhaps, is this:
"Alicia Shepard justified NPR's using "torture" to describe the acts of Gambia but not the U.S."
* Kevind Drum exchanges messages with Greenwald:
"Wow. She really did say that, didn't she? When other people do it for other reasons, it's torture. When we do it for our reasons, it's not.
You don't usually find people willing to say this quite so baldly. Congratulations, Alicia Shepard."
Link for the text in Glenn Greenwald's here:
http://www.salon.com/...
Audio of NPR's interviews here:
http://www.kuow.org/...
My thoughts on this are well known, I hope, around here. Torture not being prosecuted in the United States, when done by Americans, it is the most UN-AMERICAN response to a pervasive, criminal behavior that has been deemed "acceptable" by the American politicians only because the corporate media are willing tools used to cover the crimes perpetrated in the name of the USA's "freedom and security" during the last 8 years.
Alicia Shepard merely puts a "media face" to the immoral criminality of it.
UPDATE: Title of diary fixed so includes full Greenwald's name now. Thanks for the rec's and the addition of tags, guys.
(Also included now missing link, sorry!)