According to NBC Washington, conservative radio host Mancow (nee Erich Muller) put his money where Sean Hannity's mouth is, agreeing to be waterboarded, hoping to prove the technique isn't torture:
Mancow decided to tackle the divisive issue head on -- actually it was head down, while restrained and reclining.
"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.
According to the man administering the waterboard, the average person lasts 14 seconds. Place your bets now, folks, then see how Mancow did:
According to the tape, Mancow lasted about 6 seconds. NBC also has this comical detail:
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.
He thought this was going to be such a walk in the park, such a goofy photo-op, he brought a toy cow with him to drop when he got bored with it.
I've seen Mancow on TV before, doing guest shots on cable news shows, and I like him. I was never convinced that his "radio guy" voice wasn't a put-on, but apparently he really talks like that. It's a shame it had to be him, and not Hannity. To his credit, Mancow had the courage to admit that he was not just wrong, but really, really wrong.
Look, whether you support torture or not, the idea that these techniques aren't torture is completely counter-intuitive. Proponents argue that these are hardened terrorists who can resist normal interrogations. If these techniques aren't that harsh, what good could they possibly do?
And let Jesse Ventura administer the water (the full gallon) to him--and then onto Cheney as well!
RATE THIS COMMENT: (2)
JIM
8:02PM May 22nd 2009
If waterboarding isn't torture, why did we convict the Japanese for doing it at the end of WW2?
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jan
8:24PM May 22nd 2009
It was also used during the Spanish Inquisition.
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victorlazlo58
9:41PM May 22nd 2009
And by us during the Philippine insurrection, just for fun, not to get information.
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Pundit
9:31PM May 22nd 2009
PCL: Don't be stupid.
Obama bombd women and children.
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PCL
3:04AM May 23rd 2009
Ohh, a fake Pundit!
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Cube
6:31PM May 25th 2009
Oh fake Pundit. How about this for torture? "Obama To Appoint Judge Janice Rogers Brown" http://bit.ly/mALL0
I love it. Single mother, African-American, a woman, and a victim of Jim Crow. Empathize that!
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Larry
9:14PM May 22nd 2009
I will give Mancow this. He had balls enough to do it......Where oh where are the rest of the Reepukes???? Start with Hannerty and Rushhh.. Step up P U S S I E S..........................Then again they are Reepukes.........BIG MOUTHS and NO BALLS..............
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bill
9:15PM May 22nd 2009
I see Larry suggesting that hannity and limbaugh be waterboarded. I am curious, what you would suggest if one of them (Rush or Hannity) tried to kill you or someone you care about, Larry? I could care less if they waterboard enemy combatants. They will get their reward from allah.
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Gregory Dittmer
11:19PM May 22nd 2009
bill 9:15PM May 22nd 2009 I could care less if they waterboard enemy combatants. They will get their reward from allah.
The problem Bill is that calling a captive an "enemy combatant" is just a name which implies some sort of guilt. Unfortunately, the vast majority of those labeled as "enemy combatants" were nothing more than people in the wrong place at the right time or simply people turned in for the reward money or because someone had a grudge against them. If it was a certain, undeniable fact that every person subjected to torture was indeed someone guilty of terrorism, torture would be a bit more palatable. If every person captured was caught by Jack Bauer, a known enemy with knowledge of impending doom, MAYBE there would be some justification in torture. But life is not a TV show and most of the people we "detained" were innocent of all wrong doing. Furthermore, WE, the United States Government led the way, established the standards and then tried and executed Japanese and German soldiers for doing the EXACT same thing to our soldiers. WE, the people of America set the standards and wrote the laws, we signed and ratified International treaties... just because Bush43 says something is legal means absolutely nothing. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it!
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krp2
9:21PM May 22nd 2009
The terrorists who have been waterboarded are still alive. How about all those people in the Twin Towers?! Wasn't that torture too? Maybe we should ask them.. oh yeah we can't 'cause they are all DEAD! What a trade-off 1 terrorist for 3,000 people but what the heck we would still hhave our principles wouldn't we?
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Gregory Dittmer
11:32PM May 22nd 2009
That is what we are led to believe, we are told only 3 people were waterboarded and all 3 are alive and well... but hey, if you actually believe this, I have some fantastic oceanfront property for sale! Unfortunately, dozens, perhaps hundreds of prisoners have died at the hands of US personnel through a variety of methods. You have to remember, most of the torture was done by the CIA. The CIA makes a career out of lying and apparently so did Bush43 and his entire Administration... so how can you trust a liar to tell you the truth!?!
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aweiser278
8:17AM May 23rd 2009
Was the atomic bomb a torture? or terrorism in mostly innocent people who were going about their business and who, like me were against war?
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brainslug
10:05PM May 22nd 2009
This guy's still around? Talk about a blast from the past, folk's. Yesterday's news . . .
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bob
10:25PM May 22nd 2009
Sounds like a ratings cycle stupid jock trick to me. Probably worked, too.
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tdbug58
10:26PM May 22nd 2009
Libs= the Destruction of America..
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Gregory Dittmer
11:29PM May 22nd 2009
krp2 9:21PM May 22nd 2009 The terrorists who have been waterboarded are still alive.
That is what we are led to believe, we are told only 3 people were waterboarded and all 3 are alive and well... but hey, if you actually believe this, I have some fantastic oceanfront property for sale! Unfortunately, dozens, perhaps hundreds of prisoners have died at the hands of US personnel through a variety of methods. You have to remember, most of the torture was done by the CIA. The CIA makes a career out of lying and apparently so did Bush43 and his entire Administration... so how can you trust a liar to tell you the truth!?!