And so it went Friday morning when WLS radio host Erich “Mancow” Muller decided to subject himself to the controversial practice of waterboarding live on his show . “I want to find out if it’s torture,” Mancow told his listeners Friday morning, adding that he hoped his on-air test would help prove that waterboarding did not, in fact, constitute torture. Listeners had the chance to decide whether Mancow himself or his co-host, Chicago radio personality Pat Cassidy, would undergo the interrogation method during the broadcast. The voters ultimately decided Mancow would be the one donning the soaked towel and shackles, and at about 8:40 a.m., he entered a small storage room next to his studio that was compared to a “dungeon” by Cassidy.
“The average person can take this for 14 seconds,” Marine Sergeant Clay South answered, adding, “He’s going to wiggle, he’s going to scream, he’s going to wish he never did this.” With a Chicago Fire Department paramedic on hand, Mancow was placed on a 7-foot long table, his legs were elevated, and his feet were tied up.
Turns out the stunt wasn’t so funny. Witnesses said Muller thrashed on the table, and even instantly threw the toy cow he was holding as his emergency tool to signify when he wanted the experiment to stop. He only lasted 6 or 7 seconds…..
“It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that’s no joke,”Mancow said, likening it to a time when he nearly drowned as a child. “It is such an odd feeling to have water poured down your nose with your head back…It was instantaneous…and I don’t want to say this: absolutely torture.”“I wanted to prove it wasn’t torture,” Mancow said. “They cut off our heads, we put water on their face…I got voted to do this but I really thought ‘I’m going to laugh this off.’ ” Last year, Vanity Fair writer Christopher Hitchens endured the same experiment — and came to a similar conclusion. The conservative writer said he found the treatment terrifying, and was haunted by it for months afterward.
Hey, at least he had the guts to try. Sean, Rush, Dick… we’re waiting.
I thought torture was illegal. Are these guys going to be arrested?
Big whoop. So he held his breath for 3 seconds.
The sad story is these conservative, little dick machos are probably getting teenagers in on the “fun with torture”.
Pedro von Chickenhawk
Come on Get Over It!
It is torture, and it was only used on three hard core whacko’s…
Three, thats 3 nutcases were waterboarded shortly after 9/11 and it worked.
Let it rest for Gods sake. Who really cares what they did to these three people that wanted and still want to kill YOU. We should do all of them the favor they want and drop them off at around 15,000 feet over where-ever. No one should complain, after all they will soon-after be with their 70 virgins having sex on a hammock getting grapes fed to them, no so bad…
A publicity stunt. Bring out the truck batteries and make it realistic.
# 1
It is illegal in America to forcibly water-board (torture) captives, it is not illegal to voluntarily be water-boarded. It is also not illegal in to be gagged and whipped if that is what you are into (I’m looking at you repressed conservatives). It is also illegal to rape people but sex is not illegal. Hope that clears it up for you.
# 3
Beheading is bad m’kay. We shoot people for that and choose not to do it ourselves because we are not barbaric scum (most of the time).
… and Mancow wasn’t even convinced that they would kidnap his wife and kids and do this to them. (unlike the Guantanamo detainees)
Holy smokes — the conservatives sent our country into the crapper.
Stupid is as stupid does
HEY! “my father served in WWII I can say what ever I want”<Sean Hannity
Obama is so right in this issue Dick must have missed that election where even his own party was against it. I hoping for jail time for the leaders who ok’ed this TORTURE it is in the best interest of our country to admit our mistakes and atone.
Sean Hannity next!
That wussy blowhard volunteered. Will he man-up to it? (no)
http://tinyurl.com/dakhvw
sean, rush and dick will never do this… they’re just fat old big mouth cowards.
Here’s a question to ponder:
Why does it take TORTURE for a conservative pundit to divert from the party line?
#12
“Why does it take TORTURE for a conservative pundit to divert from the party line?”
Conformity to a flawed ideology. Its easer to try and justify your mistake than admit you were wrong.
I suspect waterboarding was practiced long before the bush admin within cia ops groups. The problem is not that people were waterboarded in the last eight years. It is that bush pushed it to the the justice dept. to make it legal. Some things are best left to the shadows.
# 12 Greg Allen – “Why does it take TORTURE for a conservative pundit to divert from the party line?”
I am no pundit, but I am a Conservative. I am shamed that all Conservatives are lumped together as supporters of torture.
I did have a good discussion with a friend about this. She supports waterboarding of terrorists. I argued regardless of terrorists not wearing a uniform and therefore falling outside of the Geneva Conventions, we can still take the moral high ground.
Unfortunately, there is a dilemma. What would you do if you knew the captive 100% knew the disarming code for a nuclear bomb about to be set off in NYC?
Barring the elimination of the hated AL Yankees, I would not want to be put in that position.
How about you? Any Jack Bauers out there?
“Unfortunately, there is a dilemma. What would you do if you knew the captive 100% knew the disarming code for a nuclear bomb about to be set off in NYC?
Barring the elimination of the hated AL Yankees, I would not want to be put in that position.
How about you? Any Jack Bauers out there?”
The problem with this “dilemma” is that never, in the last 100 years of active espionage operations, has it *ever* come to pass that we:
1) Knew of an impending attack that;
2) Was about to occur in the immediate future; and
3) We *actually had* someone who could give us information about said attack; AND
4) *Actually knew* that this individual *had* that information; ANNNNNND
5) Said information was the key to stop the attack.
The chances of this ever happening are so astronomically huge I can’t imagine they’d happen more than once in the span of a given universe. The coincidences that would have to come about *alone* are mind boggling.
What does that mean? It means that we shouldn’t just hand wave torture because there’s a one in a trillion chance the ticking time bomb scenario would happen. Should the day ever come when this confluence of events comes to pass, then I’ll leave it up to the agent’s conscience to do what he must. Until that time comes to be, no amount of hand waving should be justified.
Too, Too, Too many Chicken Hawks in this country. It seems the less life experienced people are, the more Chicken Hawk they become.
It seems America has too, too, too many people so inclined to feign and talk tough when they have no idea or life experience.
Image has taken precedent over substance!!!!
Is it the video games, TV or lack of people contact the causes this???????????
I’ve been in and seen WAR and I don’t like it. America used to stand for NO WAR, except when absolutely necessary for survival. WHAT HAPPENED???????
lets do the NEXT thing..
Hammer
1 toe at a time..
BAM!!
@$#@$%!@%$#%^#%^#@^%$^%#$%$#%$@!$@%^$^%*&*%^&%&#$%^#$
Question..
BAM!!!
#E@#$!@%@#$^@%$&%$*^&(*&*((%^&#$^%#$%$#
Question..
BAM!!!
%#@^#$^&%$&*^$*U%^*%&$#%#$@#!$#!^%$&%*^&*
Question..
NEXT the hands..
Only differance, is that 1 form shows WHAT HAPPENED, the other leaves FEW/NO MARKS..
Is it the video games, TV or lack of people contact the causes this???????????
I can’t picture Rush Limbaugh playing video games…
The real cause is a populist agenda by politicians and talking heads on TV. Few viewers/listeners has the patience to listen to reason.
# 17 Alex
So you know every spy story from the Cold War? From WWII? WWI?
Keep in mind, any enemy combatant captured out of their country’s uniform is not covered by the Geneva Conventions even among ‘civilized’ nations.
Again, I do not support torture. Was just asking what would you do if you knew the ‘terrorist’ knew and it could save thousands or millions of lives…
And when exactly in the past 100 years did America stand for NO war? Certainly not since Woodrow Wilson. Even the Dems have waged war from time to time if you are trying to prove a historical point. Exhibit A – John F. Kennedy. Just saying not that it’s related to the topic.
“So you know every spy story from the Cold War? From WWII? WWI?”
Fair enough. Documented, at least, we’ve had no evidence of a ticking time bomb scenario. And I maintain that for all of the five things that are needed for said ticking time bomb scenario to happen (the five elements I named) would be virtually impossible. (Of course, a virtual impossibility is only an actual improbability.)
“And when exactly in the past 100 years did America stand for NO war? Certainly not since Woodrow Wilson. Even the Dems have waged war from time to time if you are trying to prove a historical point. Exhibit A – John F. Kennedy. Just saying not that it’s related to the topic.”
Technically, America stood for “No war” during the period after the war of 1812 right about to 1890 or so. The war against Santa Ana was entered into more or less reluctantly, and the Civil War was entered into (by the Union, at least) involuntarily.
But, yeah, more or less since Spanish American War American Imperialism has been on the rise, with a war or major military engagement at least once every decade.
What an absolute circus. None of this showboating will stop State sponsored torture. Every state does it when ‘necessary’ and will continue to do so. This has all come about because the Neocons bragged about it. They are so utterly bereft of morality that see nothing wrong with it.
Its wrong and its evil, but it aint gonna stop.
So it takes 14 seconds to discover the location of the hideouts of brutal killers of American soldiers and other innocents, huh?
Relatively speaking, I wonder how tortured combatants feel when a bullet courses through their guts. But I guess, regardless how they feel, that’s defined as legal and therefore accepted as civilized.
RBG
# 23 Hugh Ripper
None of this showboating will stop State sponsored torture. Every state does it when ‘necessary’ and will continue to do so.
Not if we rise up together and say no more. Throw the bums out that support torture. You know they would be begging, pleading, bribing, anything if it was someone they cared for being tortured.
While the terrorists are not reciprocal, we cannot invalidate our moral stance.
Just curious to ask the resident anti republican trolls on here how many enemy combatants were actually water boarded by the Military/CIA? Can any of you tell me? Please. I want to know.
Water boarding isn’t torture by law. The use of it is to extract information and not to cause pain or mental anguish for the sole purpose of causing pain and mental anguish.
Torture is prohibited under 18 U.S.C. § 2340. The definition of torture used is as follows:
1. “torture” means an act committed by a person acting under the color of law specifically intended to inflict severe physical or mental pain or suffering (other than pain or suffering incidental to lawful sanctions) upon another person within his custody or physical control;
2. “severe mental pain or suffering” means the prolonged mental harm caused by or resulting from – (A) the intentional infliction or threatened infliction of severe physical pain or suffering; (B) the administration or application, or threatened administration or application, of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or the personality; (C) the threat of imminent death; or (D) the threat that another person will imminently be subjected to death, severe physical pain or suffering, or the administration or application of mind-altering substances or other procedures calculated to disrupt profoundly the senses or personality;
>The problem with this “dilemma” is that never, in the last 100 years of active espionage operations, has it *ever* come to pass that we:
1) Knew of an impending attack that;
2) Was about to occur in the immediate future; and
3) We *actually had* someone who could give us information about said attack; AND
4) *Actually knew* that this individual *had* that information; ANNNNNND
5) Said information was the key to stop the attack.
KSM said ‘you will find out soon.’
Point 5 you don’t know about till after you get your information.
I’m surprised reporters had just one question for Nancy Pelosi on the subject at her last press conference. She basically says no comment, and that’s that.
So accuse the CIA of lying to Congress’ oversight, and no big deal. Call for an investigation into the CIA over their lying, and the Democrats vote no.
Yea, the point is to make people talk, so by definition, the fact that they talked means they were submitted to something ‘torturous’.
#29 I’m surprised reporters had just one question for Nancy Pelosi on the subject at her last press conference.
I’m surprised they had any question for Nancy Pelosi on the subject at her last press conference.
We in the USA like to think we are the best country in the world so why can’t we act like it? There’s little evidence that torture works anyway.