How many households tune into The View? Apparently around 4.42 million for the 18-34 group. How many blog-readers click onto FA discussion threads? 300? A thousand?
Can you understand why stupidity persists on American daytime tv and how that affects public attitudes, knowledge and opinions?
There is a peculiar aspect to the debate over the use of waterboarding on terrorist detainees. Those who have actually experienced the procedure first hand insist it is ineffective at best and torture at worst. Those who couldn’t be more removed from its employment argue that it works in thwarting terrorist attacks.
On Monday’s taping of The View, former Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura — who was waterboarded as part of his military training — repeated the mantra he offered last week, calling waterboarding torture and demanding criminal prosecution for those who authorized it.
“I would prosecute the people who did it,” he said. “I would prosecute the people who ordered it. And they would all go to jail.”
His opponent in the debate was none other than the conservative Elisabeth Hasselbeck, who insisted that the technique worked in breaking down al Qaeda suspects.
The exchange was good-natured and lively, with Ventura asking some leading rhetorical questions before making a few rather provocative political points.
“If waterboarding is OK, why don’t we let our police do it to suspects so they can learn what they know?” he asked. “If waterboarding is OK, why didn’t we waterboard [Timothy] McVeigh and Nichols, the Oklahoma City bombers, to find out if there were more people involved? … We only seem to waterboard Muslims… Have we waterboarded anyone else? Name me someone else who has been waterboarded.”
Jesus frakkin’ Cripes….the bozone layer is impenetrably thick around this one…what is it with Minnesota’s choice of governors, anyway?! What’s sad is this 9/11 Truther and (Ron) Paul bearer, this former WWF entertainer, will command some level of credibility amongst the viewing audience because he was a former governor and former SEAL UDT frogman, riding on the reputation of SEALs (thanks, Hard Right!).
A former fetus, the “wordsmith from nantucket” was born in Phoenix, Arizona in 1968. Adopted at birth, wordsmith grew up a military brat. He achieved his B.A. in English from the University of California, Los Angeles (graduating in the top 97% of his class), where he also competed rings for the UCLA mens gymnastics team. The events of 9/11 woke him from his political slumber and malaise. Currently a personal trainer and gymnastics coach.
The wordsmith has never been to Nantucket.