The Allegator

"I do not deny the allegation, I deny the allegator." – Jesse Jackson

Home Archives for Torture

For Everyone Else, There’s WikiLeaks

I haven’t spoken much about WikiLeaks, but I’m glad that such organizations exist to shine some sunlight on the back-room dealing of those in power. It’s a sad day when the truth is a crime.

Our secrets are a weakness, not our power. Who can be blackmailed, if they have no secrets? Who embezzles money in the light of day? If torture is humane and effective, then why don’t we do it publicly? What investor invests in a market they know is overvalued?

If the state of our Union is strong, don’t tell us it is strong, show us it is strong. Open the books. Knowing that the data they see is the truth will brink confidence in our Dollar and our nation, not chase it away. Besides, if you don’t open the books, Assange will do it for you.

I also think it’s key, when the media and politicians talk about the damage done by a Wikileak, that we assess for ourselves whether that damage is at the feet of Wikileaks or those who perpetrated what they have exposed.

Wikipedia keeps a current list of all of the major stories they’ve broken here.

Mancow Waterboarded

Mancow is a conservative radio host who has been critical of waterboarding. This guy is a bit too much of a publicity hound for me to consider him to have any serious convictions, but this is huge in a  symbolic way.  Nobody makes windbags like conservative hosts, from Limpbaugh toCoulter, to Hannity (who actually volunteered to be waterboarded when challenged by Olbermann, and then chickened out, even after an offer of two thousand dollars a second donated to a charity for the troops(video below)). I’ve been waiting for one of them to finally have the balls to do it. Mancow made it six seconds. The bar has been set. This video should circulate until the big names either try it or change their tune. It is one thing to think of torture as ok. As much as I disagree with the position, it is valid. To claim we are just splashing some water on their faces, and that it isn’t torture,  while being so obviously terrified of it is hypocrisy of the worst kind.

Update: Olberman came through! He donated ten grand because Mancow manned up were Hannity couldn’t.

Jesse Ventura Cage Match With 4 Harpies

If you had told me twenty years ago that Jesse Ventura would be one of my favorite political commentators, I would have worried for my future sanity, but he is; make of it what you will.

In the above video Jesse discusses the merits of waterboarding and torture with the cast of The View; not a favorite show of mine, but I do give them credit for at least showcasing several viewpoints. It’s like the McGlaughlin Group for housewives who care enough to argue over politics, but not enough to do any research. Jesse shows his mental wrestling skills to be superior to his physical ones.

Torture, Religion, Life, Death, and Fear

A doomish title if ever I’ve penned one. As seen in the video below, a recent poll has shown a strong link between churchgoing and the approval of torture.

While this comes as no surprise to those of us who have been paying attention, I think it deserve some further scrutiny. The obvious conclusion would be that religion causes a desire to torture, but I think that may be backwards. Another recent study showed the religious as being far more likely to seek extreme life prolonging measures when deathly ill. What does all this have in common? A fear of the unknown extreme enough to lead people to oppose the values they claim to have, just to scrabble at a scrap of hope. It is religion that is an irrational safety blanket for some very rational fears, that provides the self  righteousness and justification for the commission of atrocities that were already desired by those susceptible to it’s pull of absolution. It is the dichotomy of hope and fear that got both Bush and Obama elected by the same electorate. While hope and fear are polar opposites, they are two sides of the same coin.

It is as if the whole country is in a Kübler-Ross model of the political stages of grief.

  1. Denial: This is where we were between WWII and the Bush years. We were the greatest country on earth. It was our birthright, not just a side effect of being the last manufacturing power standing after the war due to the distance of our homes from the front lines.
  2. Anger: We clearly transition from denial to anger early in the Bush years. We believe all of our problems are external in nature, that it isn’t our fault. The Axis of Evil is the source of our pain. Wars ensue on multiple fronts.
  3. Bargaining: Hope. Perhaps if we elect a Democrat, they will fix everything. We will give the banks whatever they want, bail out the manufacturing industry, borrow money, whatever it takes. The final days of Bush and the first 100 days of Obama.
  4. Depression: This is where we are now. consumer confidence is low, the parties are fragmented, the future unclear.
  5. Acceptance: This is where we are going. We need to accept that our problems are fundamental and widespread, that the middle east won’t have peace, China isn’t going away, and the Dollar isn’t intrinsically strong. Our economy isn’t  in a downturn, it has seen a correction, and we aren’t going back to the golden age of the 1950’s any time soon. It is time to pick up the pieces, make some hard choices, and begin to move forward.

We are a government of the people, by the people. It hasn’t led us here, we have led it here. We can take it back, but we can’t do it without a majority. Our next president should be a Ron Paul.

Update: Are we seeing the final stage of the political stages of grief  in the 2016 election? Trump certainly embodies acceptance as I laid it out. Hillary seems to me to represent the opposite form of acceptance. Voting for someone you know represents just living with the worsening problem rather than going through the pain of rehab, chemo, or bankruptcy.