Fifty-eight percent (58%) of U.S. voters say waterboarding and other aggressive interrogation techniques should be used to gain information from the terrorist who attempted to bomb an airliner on Christmas Day.A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 30% oppose the use of such techniques, and another 12% are not sure.
Has the guy refused to answer questions or are we just wanting to waterboard his ass?
Other interesting numbers from the Rasmussen poll:Should the attempt to blow up the airliner be investigated by military authorities as a terrorist act or by civilian authorities as a criminal act?
71% By the military as a terrorist act
22% By civilian authorities as a criminal act
7% Not sureOnly 22 percent believe that this should be handled by law enforcement! This isn't even an argument anymore, the Cheney view is now the dominant view among the American public.
....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.
m,
ReplyDeleteFirst,Happy New Year ! I wish you to be home an safe as soon as it can be.
I really don't understand Americans. 3,000 Americans die so we cause the deaths of over a million people. Some guy catches fire while supposedly gonna blow up a plane and we want to kill more Arabs.
It wasn't that long ago we prided ourselves on being the good guys. It wasn't true of course, just ask anyone on the other end of the muzzle. But we made the effort to believe it.
Now we don't even do that. I have an acquaintance at work who loves to talk about how much he'd like to beat Cindy Sheehan. He respects Bush for standing by his decisions.
When I point out that he wants to beat a woman working for peace and respects a war criminal he tells me I wasn't there when Bush had to make the hard decisions, I didn't know what he knew.
I could go on and on but you get the picture, some of us read and research and understand, others listen to Limbaugh and Beck cause they're too lazy to read and research.
And they tell us WE drink the koolaid.
Bizarre. and stupid.
thanks so much, for your good wishes and for your input.
ReplyDeletei need to clear up something, i see. the young man on my blog is my son. he's due to return in a couple of weeks - if they don't change his redeployment date yet a third time.
he knows the score - i think the reality of this clusterf%#k has opened the eyes of a lot of young servicemen and women - at least those who were willing to face reality. sadly, too many of them who did have taken their own lives rather than live with it. i think that's one of the defining aspects of this 'war on terror'.
people like your coworker are probably never going to face reality. and sadly, there are too many of them, period. as if, had you known what bush knew, you too would be an arrogant, self-promoting, self-deceiving, juvenile bastard.
i understand, though. it's enough to make a person want to avoid reality. as the saying goes, the first step is to recognize, the next is to admit. the AA people say that the only people the program can't work for are people who can't be honest with themselves. (or won't, i would add.)
i wouldn't give us good odds on the future, but we're still here, my friend, so i toast to you and say, it's better to keep your eyes open, but it's completely understandable if you choose to close them.
the author william goldman once wrote to me: 'fear not, we are in the hands of the gods.' to which i replied: 'abandon hope. we ARE the gods.'
but, fear not. ultimately, we come to life to seek the truth - to know ourselves. so in that respect, those of us willing to keep our eyes open achieve our goal, and all is right with the world.
but, let's create a different one next time.
new year blessings. many and sincere thanks for your presence and your comments.
m
m,
ReplyDeleteI misunderstood the situation. I wish your son Godspeed that he comes home safe and sound, unharmed in all respects.
My youngest daughter was gonna volunteer to get out of some legal issues but fortunately they were resolved without her needing to do that.
But as a parent I empathize with you.My fears for my kids generally are just temporary, nothing on the scale of your concern so it would be presumptuous to say I understand, but I do care and wish him and you and your family the best.
thanks very much.
ReplyDeletei used to say i didn't know how any parent could function with a child over there. and then i had my 'freak out' moment when he enlisted. after that i did what i had to do, and which every other parent does, i guess - i accepted the situation and put the terrible possibilities out of my mind. in two weeks or so, if all goes well, he will be back. we're hoping his enlistment will be up before they have a chance to send him to afghanistan. or pakistan, or yemen. of course once he signed, he can always be called back in if they decide they need another body.
we've actually been more fortunate than many - my son is in a position that keeps him on base for most of his time.
your daughter's situation points up another egregious injustice of the whole deal - our culture depends upon a large class of people for whom military service is often the only way they see out of a bad situation or a dead-end life. therefore, our 'ruling class' is never going to really be serious about eliminating poverty and inequity, and raising the quality of life for all citizens. it's just not in their interest.
best wishes to you and your family. and thanks for being.