I like to watch The Daily Show. I don't have a TV, so I have to get my fix from clips available online (TDS and C&L mostly).
I caught a clip of Wolf Blitzer conducting an interview with Sen. Carl Levin (D) Armed Services Committee, during The Situation Room. Wolf asks Levin about any possible circumstances where he would condone the use of torture.
Transcript and Thoughts inside...
From The Situation Room:
BLITZER: But, don't you think there is a case that can be made under the most drastic circumstance, the so-called ticking time bomb out there, the Alan Dershowitz argument from Harvard Law School, that there may be that rare moment where torture is absolutely essential to save lives?
LEVIN: That's not what this issue is. The issue here is what are the criteria, in general, for the use, the way, in which we are going to treat prisoners and treat detainees?
It's the kind of "what if" question you can't help but come up with when you're 7 years old. Plain and simple, there is no moment when torture is absolutely essential, or could ever be justified.
Think about the very situation he describes: (1) a ticking time bomb (2) a terrorist with the info you need in captivity.
How far will you have to go with your torture to get him to talk? He's not going to give up easy if his goal is within sight, so you may very well have to take it to the limit. Is it ok then? Do the ends justify the means?
No, they don't.
How many children would you sacrifice to save 1,000,000 other people? 1? 10? 100? Where do you draw the line? It's not a road we can afford to go down. If I need $1,000,000.00 fast, the easiest way to get it would be to take it from somebody else. But that doesn't make it right.
We are not playing a kid's game when we invade another country. But we are playing a game - only ours is one of life or death. As in any game, there are rules and there are consequences. And as in any game, it is a weak player that seeks to cheat the system. Because they have justified to circumvent the system and apply torture to cover their butts.
Contrary to everything they claimed to get elected, the leaders of this nation are weak. They do not have what it takes to truly lead a nation in any direction but down, and it is so blatantly transparent. But the disgusting truth is that it takes a largely idle (and ignorant) populace to allow this level of incompetance to not only work its way in, but to then reward it for its failures as well. And while I love this community for everything that it does, we are but a small subset of this nation. I truly do not believe that America has had its epihpany, or that it's woken up. How many generations has it been since a truly significant number of Americans had to work, fight, suffer and die for what we believe in? Our problem is a rotten core.
This is my first diary, and while I have much more to say, I will leave it as concise as possible out of respect for those that take the time to read it.
Thank you.