Here's a really positive story. Bob Parsons of GoDaddy responded to the hundreds of critical messages he received about his blog item supporting Guantánamo ...and
changed his mind! Isn't that just great! Here's what he had to say:
How to stir up a hornet's nest.
A self-review of my recent blog article.
Posted by Bob Parsons
[Excerpts]
I made an incorrect assumption.
One good thing about having an active blog is when you are incorrect you find out in a hurry. Many readers pointed out that the methods being used at Gitmo were not only inhumane but also were not very effective. So I checked the references that I was provided and sure enough I was wrong. It seems that interrogation methods that are based on humiliation and mild physical discomfort, aren't nearly as effective as certain psychological techniques that take a completely different approach. Not only are the psychological techniques more effective, they are more humane.
I immediately corrected the article.
He continues:
After learning that I was wrong, I immediately corrected the article and admitted the mistake in a special note to the reader. I also added that I agree with Senator John McCain's request that each detainee be put on trial to determine if they belong at Gitmo or not.
I do not advocate the use of torture.
One individual even posted a comment in a liberal forum that the CEO of Go Daddy supports the use of torture. Nothing of course could be further from the truth. At least it was never my intent to ever advocate the use of torture.
I sincerely appreciate everyone who took the time to read the article and those who also took the time to comment.
To those of you who commented on the article, and even those who referred to me using various obscenties (there were more than a few of you), I want you to know that I appreciate the fact that you read the article and took the time to tell me your thoughts. You've helped me understand just how powerful blogging can be.
I responded:
I'm glad to see that you did the research and have now changed your mind. You need to keep searching, Bob, and to begin questioning some of your most cherished beliefs.
I'd like to suggest that you look at torture and rape in American prisons. The real point that has to be made, is that this could happen to you. I find it interesting that some people on freerepublic.com understand this very well. I believe that we should be doing more to make sure that all Americans understand it.
Torture Inc. Americas Brutal Prisons
Savaged by dogs, Electrocuted With Cattle Prods, Burned By Toxic Chemicals, Does such barbaric abuse inside U.S. jails explain the horrors that were committed in Iraq?
By Deborah Davies
They are just some of the victims of wholesale torture taking place inside the U.S. prison system that we uncovered during a four-month investigation for BBC Channel 4 . It's terrible to watch some of the videos and realise that you're not only seeing torture in action but, in the most extreme cases, you are witnessing young men dying.
The prison guards stand over their captives with electric cattle prods, stun guns, and dogs. Many of the prisoners have been ordered to strip naked. The guards are yelling abuse at them, ordering them to lie on the ground and crawl. 'Crawl, motherf*s, crawl.'
If a prisoner doesn't drop to the ground fast enough, a guard kicks him or stamps on his back. There's a high-pitched scream from one man as a dog clamps its teeth onto his lower leg.
Another prisoner has a broken ankle. He can't crawl fast enough so a guard jabs a stun gun onto his buttocks. The jolt of electricity zaps through his naked flesh and genitals. For hours afterwards his whole body shakes.
Lines of men are now slithering across the floor of the cellblock while the guards stand over them shouting, prodding and kicking.
Second by second, their humiliation is captured on a video camera by one of the guards.
But there is a difference. These prisoners are Americans.
There's lots more and it is horrible. Some of those prisoners are innocent, as the system is hardly perfect. But none of them were sentenced to be tortured or raped. That's the real Gulag.
It can happen to you. For example, some day you might make a mistake while driving and kill someone and be charged with vehicular manslaughter. Then you're just another prisoner -- until you bail out, are found innocent or receive a non-prison sentence.
As Phil Ochs sang, "There but for fortune, go you or I.
Returning to DailyKos,
I think that Ochs had it exactly right. That's the message we have to get out to America when it comes to torture -- and poverty and unemployment and false imprisonment. It can happen to you.