Topic: SRA/Prisoner abuse
Further reflection on Robert Scheer's article Where is the outrage? triggered the realization that Scheer might have been daring us to recognize that articles such as his which contain phrases such as "harsh interrogation techniques" have the effect of preventing the development of outrage because they give the subliminal impression that such techniques are effective, and thus justified, despite all the claims to the contrary. When seen in the settings depicted in the show 24, it seems plausible that it would be effective, but the fact is that there is no relationship between the depictions on 24 and how "not torture" is conducted in the real world, and upon whom it is inflicted. On the show, Bauer almost always gets the right guy, and doesn't pussyfoot around with half-measures - he puts them in extreme pain and/or a justified fear of death immediately, and in a panic, they spill the beans. In the real world, there are no Islamic terrorists who pose significant threats (there might be mavericks who kill a few people, but major operations are run by Satan's intelligence agencies and disguised as Islamic extremism), and "enhanced interrogation" leave them with sufficient mental capacity in the short term to fabricate stories to confuse the Great Satan.
If the truthful phrase "intermediate SRA technique" or "mindwar technique" were substituted, Scheer would get his outrage, and more, although a lot of people would probably drop dead from the shock of seeing reality for the first time, and realizing that when Bush said "catastrophic success," he meant it.
