House of Eratosthenes

Via Rottweiler, we find out Christopher Hitchens underwent waterboarding. Hitchens then decided waterboarding must be torture, because he doesn’t like it. He then seizes on an interesting argument against it:

It opens a door that cannot be closed. Once you have posed the notorious “ticking bomb” question, and once you assume that you are in the right, what will you not do? Waterboarding not getting results fast enough? The terrorist’s clock still ticking? Well, then, bring on the thumbscrews and the pincers and the electrodes and the rack.

That’s a great point, Hitch. Let’s turn it around. You aren’t willing to use thumbscrews and pincers and electrodes and rack because you don’t want to “open doors,” so you don’t waterboard either.

How bad does a looming disaster have to be, then, before you consider doing something?

Your rhetorical was good; mine was better. In fact, I have an even better one — your concern is opening the doors, who opened this one? Them, or us?

I notice something about these two words: “Torture,” and “Constitution.” These words do not seem to mean what people want me to think they mean, when they use them in my presence. By paying close attention to what’s going on as these words have popped up — and I’m not that bright about this stuff, so they’ve had to pop up a whole lot during that time, but don’t worry because they certainly have — I’ve finally figured out what’s happening here.

Me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me, me and me.

I, me, we, I, me.

“Torture” is torture when it’s something I don’t want to have done to me.

You have broken the “Constitution” when you do something I don’t think you should be doing.

Most of the people throwing around the T-word have no meaning in mind beyond the one above; most of the people throwing around the C-word have no meaning in mind beyond the one above. What is above, most of the time, is all there is. And that’s a fact.

These are children who grew up into adulthood, having never done anything they didn’t want to do. And now they’re re-defining our words for us, words that already have meaning…or are supposed to. But not to worry too much about Hitchens and the T-word; he ultimately redeemed himself by inspiring Stoaty to give it a new definition that was more to the Rottweiler’s liking, as well as my own. Torture is…

…any experience so horrible that no-one would consider trying it out simply for the purpose of writing a Vanity Fair article about what it’s like.

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Ooooh. Ghee LIKE that definition of the “T” word.

Plus, as to the discussion of the “T” & “C” words — it brings to mind Inigo Montoya’s little expression:

“You keep using that word. I do n’t think it means wha’ you think it means.”
- philmon | July 3, 2008 @ 1:07 pm

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Hitchens is WaterboardedThursday, July 3rd, 2008

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Hitchens is Waterboarded
Thursday, July 3rd, 2008