Throughout the Bush Administration, Bush supporters went to great lengths to claim that waterboarding and the other “enhanced” interrogation techniques were not torture, contorting themselves into unbelievable positions to do so. They could never come out and say that “We torture.” Indeed, they did the opposite, with Bush himself saying “America doesn’t torture” even though he knew we did, since he gave the orders.
They did so because they knew deep down that it was Un-American to torture, that is was immoral, and illegal. Well, now with the Obama Administration’s decision to shine the light on the Bush Administration’s crimes by releasing the Torture Memos, it seems like the right is ready to give up the ghost of their denials.
LIMBAUGH: The idea that torture doesn’t work- that’s been put out from John McCain on down- You know, for the longest time McCain said torture doesn’t work then he admitted in his acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention last summer that he was broken by North Vietnamese. So what are we to think here?
Here, Limbaugh is defending torture by saying it does work, because John McCain said so. In Limbaugh’s mind, it is perfectly fine to be just like the North Vietnamese, our enemy during the Vietnam War. Yes, Limbaugh is saying we must become our enemies to beat them.
Finally some truth.
One of the reasons we don’t torture is because we don’t want to become our enemies. For we Americans are better than terrorists, better than the Vietcong, better than the Nazis, better than torturers. Remember all the talk about not changing our principles after 9/11, because that would mean the terrorists win. Well, here, Limbaugh is saying we must change our principles because it works.
Except that it doesn’t. Even when Limbaugh finally reveals the truth of his position, that he is pro-torture, he has to lie to do it. John McCain never said the torture worked, and he never said he broke down under the strain and gave up vital and truthful information. What he said was he gave his captors false information to stop the abuse.
And that reveals that torture in fact doesn’t work, like most, if not all, right wing ideas.
But I am glad Limbaugh has finally admitted he loves torture and hates America, instead of trying that what the Bush Administration was doing was not torture.
Finally, a lot of my liberal friends are upset that the Obama Administration is not pursuing prosecution of those CIA agents who tortured. I am disappointed too, for if a law is broken, there should be consequences. I am pleased with the release of the memos, and with the declaration of “Never Again.” I understand Obama’s reasoning, and can see the practicality of it, since he does not want to see his Administration bogged down in prosecuting the crimes of his predecessor, and I can see the logic of not wanting these prosecutions be declared “politically motivated” by the right, as they most surely would be, if they were initiated by Obama’s own Justice Department.
So the solution is an independent Truth Commission set up by Congress, with a special prosecutor.