Can the use of torture ever be justified? Nope.
Three reasons: a.) It's against international law, to which the United States is (we thought) party; b.) it's morally wrong, as it utterly degrades and devalues human dignity; and c.) it's impractical as a law enforcement tool, as often enough the tortured will say absolutely anything and give up anybody to stop the pain.
One might add that a lot of Americans don't want their government to do it--69 percent, according to a CNN poll released Tuesday.
But (and there's often a "but" with these questions) what to make of a significant number of Americans who find torture entertaining? There's a developing genre in Hollywood that features people being skewered and dismembered. One recent movie, which shall go nameless, got a note in a New York Times review, explaining the R-rating: "Imagine every conceivable form of torture, then add the inconceivable."
Anyone who's read my posts knows I place a very high value on the First Amendment. And like any good American, I respect market forces.
But here's what makes me uneasy these days: what we say and do about torture we do for all the world to see. When we have an administration that seems to waffle (I'm being generous here) on declaring all forms of torture off-limits, as we used to do, and when we ship ingenious forms of special effects, gore-fest films abroad as entertainment... well, I can't help but wonder what other people make of us these days? Somehow, I don't think the Statue of Liberty and the Constitution are the first things that come to their minds.
That's a real shame. And it's ours.
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