If they didn't work, why would Vice President Cheney and our top military leaders be so insistent on not taking them off the table.
Isn't that a complete circle in two sentences?
Wait. One. Damn. Minute.
You put your right hand in,
McCain is fond of asserting that you can't get reliable information through torture.
You put your right hand out,
In doing so, he relies on his experience in North Vietnam.
You put your right hand in,
However, the ineffectiveness of the crude tactics of his prison guards of 40 years ago does not demonstrate that the tactics available to us today are ineffective.
And you shake it all about,
In fact, it appears that our tactics worked well with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
You do the hokey pokey
If they didn't work, why would Vice President Cheney and our top military leaders be so insistent on not taking them off the table. [. -> ?]
and you turn yourself around
[It can't possibly be that Cheney makes terrible strategic judgments, can it?-- ed.]
The unstated premise of the Powerline post seems to be more fundamental than the assertion that Cheney makes good strategic decisions -- it is the radically questionable assertion that Cheney's decisions have any relationship with reality whatsoever.
It is more elegant, as well as more economical, to assume that Cheney is a mystic practitioner, whose union with to hen in ecstatic rapture is intensified by the torture of Arabs and related swarthy people. Hence, Cheney is more than a hero -- he stands in direct relationship with the absolute void of pure being, something to which McCain could never lay claim.
Torturing other people allows Cheney to maintain that balance by keeping him conscious of the frailty of mere human flesh.
Coincidentally, this is part of the reason that he never loses weight or otherwise gets in shape, even after multiple heart attacks -- congestive heart failure keeps him humble in the face of the absolute.
Paul's right. Those North Korean torturers were just ineffective. Reminds me of Ashcroft's contention that he doesn't support torture because it's ineffective.
Um, wait.
I think that Powerline should be renamed "blog with no shame."
Isn't apostropher the American hero?
Posted by Ugh | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 9:29 AM
Yglesias too.
Don't go knocking the robes, though. They're surprisingly comfortable. Like a kilt on steroids.
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 9:30 AM
Like a kilt on steroids.
So ya let it all hang out under there?
Posted by Jeremy Osner | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 9:32 AM
Confinement comes in more varied shapes than mere bars in a cell. Renounce your shackles, and roam free!
Posted by Matt F | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 9:36 AM
Isn't apostropher the American hero?
My heroics transcend puny national boundaries.
Posted by apostropher | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 9:43 AM
If they didn't work, why would Vice President Cheney and our top military leaders be so insistent on not taking them off the table.
Isn't that a complete circle in two sentences?
Wait. One. Damn. Minute.
You put your right hand in,
McCain is fond of asserting that you can't get reliable information through torture.
You put your right hand out,
In doing so, he relies on his experience in North Vietnam.
You put your right hand in,
However, the ineffectiveness of the crude tactics of his prison guards of 40 years ago does not demonstrate that the tactics available to us today are ineffective.
And you shake it all about,
In fact, it appears that our tactics worked well with Khalid Sheikh Mohammed.
You do the hokey pokey
If they didn't work, why would Vice President Cheney and our top military leaders be so insistent on not taking them off the table. [. -> ?]
and you turn yourself around
[It can't possibly be that Cheney makes terrible strategic judgments, can it?-- ed.]
That's what it's all about.
[Next]
2) left hand
3) right foot
4) left foot
5) head
6) butt
7) whole self
ash
['I come here just for the beat.']
Posted by ash | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 10:19 AM
The unstated premise of the Powerline post seems to be more fundamental than the assertion that Cheney makes good strategic decisions -- it is the radically questionable assertion that Cheney's decisions have any relationship with reality whatsoever.
It is more elegant, as well as more economical, to assume that Cheney is a mystic practitioner, whose union with to hen in ecstatic rapture is intensified by the torture of Arabs and related swarthy people. Hence, Cheney is more than a hero -- he stands in direct relationship with the absolute void of pure being, something to which McCain could never lay claim.
Posted by Adam Kotsko | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 11:02 AM
Most unique post title evar.
Posted by washerdreyer | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 11:30 AM
When standing in direct relationship with the absolute void of pure being, one wants to be sure of one's balance.
Posted by Michael | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 12:26 PM
Torturing other people allows Cheney to maintain that balance by keeping him conscious of the frailty of mere human flesh.
Coincidentally, this is part of the reason that he never loses weight or otherwise gets in shape, even after multiple heart attacks -- congestive heart failure keeps him humble in the face of the absolute.
Posted by Adam Kotsko | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 1:16 PM
Paul's right. Those North Korean torturers were just ineffective. Reminds me of Ashcroft's contention that he doesn't support torture because it's ineffective.
Um, wait.
I think that Powerline should be renamed "blog with no shame."
Posted by Brett | Link to this comment | 11-28-05 6:24 PM