Mancow: Conservative Radio Host Decides-- "Absolutely Torture"
Erich "Mancow" Muller, a Chicago-based conservative radio host, recently decided to silence critics of waterboarding once and for all. He would undergo the procedure himself, and then he would be able to confidently convince others that it is not, in fact, torture.
Or so he thought. Instead, Muller came out convinced.
"It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke," Mancow said. "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.' "
Now it's Sean Hannity's turn to prove it's -- not torture!
Hannity a Fox News anchor, promised to subject himself to waterboarding to benefit a charity for the families of U.S. soldiers back on April 22nd. This was over a month ago.
Keith Olbermann of MSNBC's Countdown, even offered to donate $1000 per second Hannity undergoes waterboarding torture.
Hannity has yet to do it.
Goes to show you exactly how much he really cares about our soldiers and their families --zilch!
What's really odd is -- the mainstream media isn't reporting this story about Mancow undergoing TORTURE!
Would it be too cruel if we added the element of surprise to this challenge? Hannity wouldn't know when it would happen and he wouldn't know who was going to do it. Then when he begs them to stop, Keith Olbermann would be standing in front of him with the money he promised to donate.
May 23, 2009 12:38 AM | Reply | Permalink
Another thing not mentioned is that Mancow wasn't even truly waterboarded. His hands were free and his mouth was uncovered. Yet still he called it torture.
If the MSM picks this up, as they should, it could truly be a game changer in the so-called debate.
May 23, 2009 12:51 AM | Reply | Permalink
Hannity is a pencil-necked geek!
I saw this clip on Olbermann; I think this was a huge step forward for those who up till now have differed on "is it torture?"
That clip was hard to watch. Very effective.
May 23, 2009 1:27 AM | Reply | Permalink
I did see a story on this this morning on MSNBC so maybe it's getting some traction with he MSM.
May 23, 2009 8:39 AM | Reply | Permalink
I don't know if any of you noticed but when Mancow was first shown on the table, they showed where his LEGS were tied together --- well, after the waterboard event and when he sits up on table - his are miraculously UNTIED. There is NO way they could have untied them that quick. That rope was just wrapped around his legs and not even tied.
May 23, 2009 8:45 AM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I too noticed that. In fact, if you look closely when they show his feet you can see that the rope looks to be only loosely wrapped around them.
May 23, 2009 9:01 AM | Reply | Permalink
This 'experiment' is more than interesting.
This aint no party, this aint no disco, this aint no foolin around.
May 23, 2009 9:17 AM | Reply | Permalink
I sort of think that this is absurd. Who is this guy "MANCOW" to tell America what is and isn't torture? I know he's a conservative radio host but his publicity stunt is meaningless and so peripheral and clownish in light of the central horrifying reality of those who actually suffered the brunt of torture and other war crimes perpetrated by the Cheney gang in these prison camps.
May 23, 2009 12:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Whoever he is, if this changes some minds, then I'm thrilled!
May 23, 2009 6:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
Well, I guess if journolists do it on live TV and call it torture without missing a beat, then it must be torture!
Too bad we didn't have reality shows like this back in Vietnam days. I'd love to see a journolist get fed uncooked rice or get their bones broken on live TV and let us know what their valuable assessment was.
May 23, 2009 1:02 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think you got a hell of an idea developing there, Lalo. We start by taking journalists and actually putting them up close and personal, maybe even inside the stories they're covering. Not just the press releases and speeches and ribbon cuttings, but you know, right down in the dirt, where they could experience things directly, see with their own eyes, talk to those affected by the story, interview the perps etc.
"Reality journalism."
Naw. It'd never catch on.
May 23, 2009 1:53 PM | Reply | Permalink
Hell, Why stop at 'journolists'? I'm thinking of opening a water-boarding concession at the county fair this year. I can just imagine all the kids laughing exuberantly as they and their friends are enjoying one of the most erroneously villified EITs of all time. I expect it'll soon catch on as a regular function, alongside horseshoes, badminton, and croquet at many family functions.
May 23, 2009 3:36 PM | Reply | Permalink
"DIY TORTURE, JUST $29.99!"
"AS SEEN ON TV"
"ANYONE CAN DO IT!"
"CALL IN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES AND WE'LL THROW IN SENSORY DEPRIVATION - YOURS FREE!"
May 24, 2009 4:10 AM | Reply | Permalink
I feel on the one hand disgusted and the mockery of something so serious. Clearly this was a very limited experiment. But I am glad still because what he did changed his mind and he publicly owned up to that. Now Liz Cheney will have to come up with a new talking point in response to that video
May 23, 2009 2:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Until one has walked in the shoes of the victim, one has no knowledge of whether it is torture or not.
The whole point to proving that waterboarding it TORTURE is to help SAVE our OWN soldiers in a conventional war if we should ever have one again (God forbid); but it's also to prove that WE AMERICANS are civilized and have a rule of law with standards -- until we prove that, what right do we have to criticize other inhumane actions.
May 23, 2009 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
If people are arguing about whether something is torture or not, it probably is.
May 23, 2009 3:46 PM | Reply | Permalink
Good rule of thumb, especially if they feel they have to hide what they're doing!
May 23, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
Nah, it depends on the level of ignorance of the wondering ones.
May 23, 2009 6:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
the revisionary performed a torturously equivocational dance on the fetid stage of moral relativism, as the audience, a candid world, looked-on.
May 23, 2009 10:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's a pretty good description of how some folks see it!
I don't see Cheney as a revisionist on this one.
May 24, 2009 3:50 AM | Reply | Permalink
That reminds me of Jade's blog from a while back, where she suggested that in addition to helping some of the folks in the political center to "move" into our camp, we need to change a few well-known folks from the "right" - this looks to be one.
Here's her blog, in case you missed it:
http://tpmcafe.talkingpointsmemo.com/talk/blogs/jade7243/2009/04/a-capital-idea-lessons-from-th.php
May 23, 2009 6:12 PM | Reply | Permalink
The deeper point is that anything that coerces response to interrogation is by definition coercive, and coerced testimony is worthless. For waterboarding to be considered worthwhile it must be effective, so whether or not it meets some definition of torture misses the point. Being kept awake is coercive, but it's harder to argue it is torture (I do).
Anything that compels behavior corrupts that behavior. That Mancow was not able to resist the water means only that it is physically unbearable. That anyone thought it was not unbearable is not thinking, because that is why it is used. Step right up, Sean. Let's keep you awake and standing for thirty hours first.
May 23, 2009 7:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
On the one hand, a "right wing" host seems to have made a clear and effective statement against waterboarding being merely an "enhanced technique". That will play well with some usual Cheney supporters.
On the other hand, they deliberately faked the demo. In the "authorized" method, the towel covers the mouth too (nobody holds the nose), so that bulk water doesn't just pour into the mouth. (p4 Bybee-Rizzo, Aug 1, 2002) Breathing is slightly restricted.
May 23, 2009 7:15 PM | Reply | Permalink
If a ManCow was unable to even last 10sec., there is no way in hell that Sean 'CaponHawk' Hannity can go the distance.
May 23, 2009 10:24 PM | Reply | Permalink