Ashcroft Compares Waterboarding To Being ‘Interviewed By Jon Stewart’»

[babylonsister]

http://thinkprogress.org/2008/04/22/ashcroft-torture-stewart/

Ashcroft Compares Waterboarding To Being ‘Interviewed By Jon Stewart’»


Yesterday, former attorney general John Ashcroft spoke at St. John’s University on “Leadership in Challenging Times.” In his speech, Ashcroft aggressively defended the Bush administration’s policies on the Iraq war, wiretapping, and interrogation. At one point, he “joked” about waterboarding, comparing the torture to being interviewed by Jon Stewart:

Going to a high school dance, having to listen to loud music, to me that’s torture. I was on the Daily Show once. I was interviewed by Jon Stewart. That was torture.

Ashcroft appeared on The Daily Show on Oct. 18, 2006. Is he saying that he would rather have traded places with a detainee and been waterboarded that night? During a November 2007 speech at the University of Colorado, Ashcroft also claimed that he was willing to be waterboarded: “The things that I can survive, if it were necessary to do them to me, I would do.”

In addition to Ashcroft, conservatives have repeatedly tried to make light of waterboarding in order to downplay the severity of the tactic:

– GWEN IFILL: Do you think that waterboarding, as I described it, constitutes torture?

SEN. KIT BOND: There are different ways of doing it. It’s like swimming, freestyle, backstroke. {12/11/07}

– “At one moment, bursting into laughter, he {Sen. John McCain (R-AZ)} exuberantly explains why, after ‘a short period of waterboarding to find out what they did in their absence,’ he would take back some of the staffers who fled his campaign at its low point.” {2/25/08}

“I’m finding just out how long I can go sleep deprived. You know, running for office is sort of like being waterboarded, I think.” {Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, 2/16/08}

“And I see, when the Democrats are talking about torture…they talk about sleep deprivation. I mean, on that theory, I’m getting tortured running for president of the United States. That’s plain silly. That’s silly.” {Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, 10/24/07}

It is not like putting burning coals on people’s bodies. The person is in no real danger.:puke: The impact is psychological.” {Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT), 2/15/08}

Despite their braggadocio, it doesn’t appear that any of these conservatives have actually been waterboarded. Those who have, say it is clearly torture.

[marylanddem]

1. These people are freaking psychopaths.

[bdamomma]

2. kit bond why don't you volunteer then to see if it's like swimming.

:grr:

[genie_weenie]

8. kit bond's son is a marine...

If the tactic was used on his son while in Iraq, would kit shrug his shoulders and merely say it's like the backstroke or would he rail on the senate floor about the inhuman, lawlessness of the evil men we are facing?

[babylonsister]

11. Ironic, isn't it. I wonder how he justifies his remarks to his son? nt

[Ilsa]

3. Joking about waterboarding must be the new talking point.

Making fun of it will cause most nondiscriminating listeners to think it is no big deal, lessening the impact of the charge of torture.

I hate it when they play these nasty mindgames. They are so into psychological warfare that it scares me half to death.

[LynnTheDem]

4. So very easy to prove. Waterboard Ashcroft. And lieberman.

Waterboard every damn motherfucker who supports torture.

Then they can compare.

[enki23]

5. It's not like beatings on the bottoms of your feet put you in real danger

And really, there's no significant long-term effect from giving people chemical burns over relatively small areas of their bodies. Fingernails generally grow back, and in any case aren't really necessary. There is no real danger associated with extracting them under controlled conditions. People have teeth extracted all the time, what's the big deal? Tens of thousands of children get beaten every day. i think the terrorists can handle it. If you have a doctor present, there's really very little danger of accidental fatality associated with the careful application of submandibular ligature. People do it all the time in the privacy of their own homes. I mean, sitting through all these endless meetings, now that's *torture*.

:sarcasm:

[bushmeister0]

14. "If you have a doctor present," which they always do, I guess,

what's up with that anyway? Don't they take some sort of oath, something about 'doing no harm?'

Joseph Mengele got hanged for this sort of thing, didn't he?

[tanyev]

6. A war celebrated by those who have never been in a war,

and torture celebrated by those who have never been tortured. It's no coincidence that there is a lot of overlap in the membership of these two groups.

[sui generis]

7. for them a liberal interview IS torture

worst nightmare imaginable. go figure. So, Ashcroft. Asshole, here's question for you: then why don't we just have Stewart interview the detainees, and there wouldn't be all this namby pamby hand wringing by most of America about whether waterboarding is an appropriate interview technique.

:shrug:

just sayin' . . .

[bdamomma]

9. everytthing we were against in other countries we support now.

torture, spying,invasions, we have morally shamed ourselves.:puke:

[monmouth]

10. Jon has the makings of a great show on this...n/t

[Az_lefty]

12. anyone who supports this shit should be waterboarded...

just so they fully understand the concept! :grr:

[HCE SuiGeneris]

13. I read articles like this and...

there are no words to convey my disgust and anger at these criminals marginalizing torture and shitting on the ideals that this country was founded upon. :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Leftist Agitator]

15. I would love to waterboad any of these sick fucks.

I'm sure that I would find out in no time flat who was behind September 11th.

Disgusting Bastards. Some of these "Christians" are gonna be fucking shocked at where they end up after they kick the bucket.

[Solly Mack]

16. Nothing but a war criminal...exactly like the rest