Video: The obligatory “Hitchens gets waterboarded” clip
posted at 3:38 pm on July 2, 2008 by Allahpundit
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A snippet of vid to accompany his new piece in Vanity Fair, surely the most eloquent entry in the expanding genre of waterboarding opponents seeking to show how fearsome the practice is by … willingly subjecting themselves to it. Unlike most other pieces in that genre, the argument in favor is forcefully presented before being rejected:
The team who agreed to give me a hard time in the woods of North Carolina belong to a highly honorable group. This group regards itself as out on the front line in defense of a society that is too spoiled and too ungrateful to appreciate those solid, underpaid volunteers who guard us while we sleep. These heroes stay on the ramparts at all hours and in all weather, and if they make a mistake they may be arraigned in order to scratch some domestic political itch. Faced with appalling enemies who make horror videos of torture and beheadings, they feel that they are the ones who confront denunciation in our press, and possible prosecution. As they have just tried to demonstrate to me, a man who has been waterboarded may well emerge from the experience a bit shaky, but he is in a mood to surrender the relevant information and is unmarked and undamaged and indeed ready for another bout in quite a short time. When contrasted to actual torture, waterboarding is more like foreplay. No thumbscrew, no pincers, no electrodes, no rack. Can one say this of those who have been captured by the tormentors and murderers of (say) Daniel Pearl? On this analysis, any call to indict the United States for torture is therefore a lame and diseased attempt to arrive at a moral equivalence between those who defend civilization and those who exploit its freedoms to hollow it out, and ultimately to bring it down. I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly understand this viewpoint.
In that last sentence lies the difference between Hitchens and most of the left, which probably explains why his verdict goes down so much smoother than theirs. I don’t quite follow him at the very end, though. The quote from Malcolm Nance suggests that by waterboarding Al Qaeda we’ve only ended up teaching them how to resist the practice, but that’s a risk you absorb whenever you introduce a new weapon or tactic. And given the fact that the practice is reportedly no longer used and was never used all that much to begin with, how big of a risk is it? As for Hitch’s own final point, about the U.S. having lent credence via waterboarding to Al Qaeda’s formerly discredited tales of abuse at enemy hands, I’m not sure if his objection is moral or strategic. If it’s the latter, then he’s assuming that the propaganda value of AQ receiving credibility on that point outweighs the deterrent value of knowing that the U.S. is (or was) willing to do this sort of thing to a captured jihadi. I’m skeptical that suicidal fanatics who don’t blink at beheadings are going to feel any extra surge in motivation from knowing that KSM did hard time on the board, but oh well.
On to the clip, destined to become a cult classic among atheist-haters of every stripe. Click the image to watch.
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I had a neighbor shoot me with an M16 this morning. We must stop using M16s against our enemy.
faraway on July 2, 2008 at 3:40 PM
I’m waiting for our brave Western pundits to subject themselves to our enemy’s form of torture and have their heads hacked off.
Now that would be a cool video.
miles on July 2, 2008 at 3:42 PM
It’s Deja vu all over again.
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 3:44 PM
Did he talk?
Maxx on July 2, 2008 at 3:44 PM
He is not aging well.
Bully to him for going through with it.
VolMagic on July 2, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I’m waiting for our brave Western pundits to subject themselves to our enemy’s form of torture and have their heads hacked off.
Patience, my FRiend… The day will come…
gridlock2 on July 2, 2008 at 3:47 PM
So, at this point, it is safe to say that more Americans and British have been waterboarded than terrorists?
Queasy on July 2, 2008 at 3:47 PM
What was the torture part, having water splashed on his face or listening to the Enigma CD?
wise_man on July 2, 2008 at 3:48 PM
It was a well written article. He gained some respect with his “I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly understand this viewpoint.” line. Michael Yon has a great article on this issue that really made me rethink my position on this.
infidel2 on July 2, 2008 at 3:48 PM
An omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent God would never have allowed something as vile as water boarding to be used. Therefor he doesn’t exist.
ninjapirate on July 2, 2008 at 3:49 PM
Absolutely.
joewm315 on July 2, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Looks like my garage, and my beer fridge.
Hey!!
cntrlfrk on July 2, 2008 at 3:50 PM
I wondered if he believed in god, if only for a fraction of a second, there.
lorien1973 on July 2, 2008 at 3:50 PM
Looks like a Time magazine cover for Hitch
tomas on July 2, 2008 at 3:51 PM
Maybe I missed the big deal.
I’d've said that “torture” like this, that doesn’t kill, maim, or even give you a widdle scwatch, would be the gold standard of interrogation methods.
I watched a documentary on Saddam’s Iraq the other day. THAT guy knew how to torture!
misterpeasea on July 2, 2008 at 3:51 PM
This is a subset of “if you are willing to do it to make a political point; then it isn’t torture” or “if a decent number of people get sexual gratification from it, then it’s not torture”
ain’t no one walking up to washington and having their fingernails removed one at a time as a protest. are they?
lorien1973 on July 2, 2008 at 3:52 PM
Jeez. Little late to the party, isn’t he?
tree hugging sister on July 2, 2008 at 3:52 PM
test
infidel2 on July 2, 2008 at 3:53 PM
I can’t believe we just started doing stuff like this since Bush has been in office. I remember seeing Steven Segall in the jungles while this was going on.
tomas on July 2, 2008 at 3:54 PM
aengus on July 2, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Ok I guess we just do nothing right? The point of waterboarding is it WORKS! call it whatever you want it works and that is why it is used.
We are not using it to get some “Allah Snackbar” to admit on tape Islam is BAAAAAD or comfess to some act he freely admits he commited. It is NOT used EVERY captive and is used as a last resort.
TroubledMonkey on July 2, 2008 at 3:55 PM
This is really weak. To his credit Hitchens does get it, but so he couldn’t handle this “exercise” and the “courageous” people doing the demonstration wore masks. What is the point? He isn’t an enemy combatant, trained and brain washed into believing the highest honor for him is martyrdom.
For all I know Hitchens gets scared watching horror movies and cries when he gets a hang nail. No lives are at stake here as is the case when trying to get information from a terrorist…creatures who put no value on life.
PatriotPete on July 2, 2008 at 3:57 PM
Yes. Emphatically yes.
apollyonbob on July 2, 2008 at 3:58 PM
I truly enjoyed that. It was nothing compared to what happened to Nick DeBerg
multiuseless on July 2, 2008 at 3:58 PM
What is with this troll?
wise_man on July 2, 2008 at 3:59 PM
Well, so far many more protesters, writers, pundits have been water boarded then terrorist. So to me it has been a useful tool.
You know I once read a post once (I think from Professor Blather) that made milk come up out of my nose, does that count?
*
I always liked the Iraqi Olympic (headed by Sadddam’s son) soccer player, whom when they came home after the Olympics (after losing,obviously), was tied up, stripped then dragged around a dirt rock pit until his legs and chest were scrapped and bloody. Better then his roommate that complained and had his tongue cut off. Those crazy Saddam kids, always full of mischief.
right2bright on July 2, 2008 at 3:59 PM
That’s good, the first post set the mood.
right2bright on July 2, 2008 at 4:01 PM
There seem to be 2 problems. 1) He doesn’t seem to be at an incline which means water could enter his lungs. 2) He would have had a hard time breathing before the water as there are two layers over his mouth, not 1 as described at Gitmo.
Zaggs on July 2, 2008 at 4:04 PM
No one volunteers for real torture, the fact that he volunteered for waterboarding proves it’s not torture.
RJL on July 2, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Berg I think you mean. I was on a site once and there was a clip of something playing in the lower right corner, I ignored it and thought it was an ad, then the squealing started and I glanced down and it was the video of him just as they were starting to cut.
Nasty. Burned into my mind.
God rest that poor mans soul.
cntrlfrk on July 2, 2008 at 4:06 PM
We should eliminate waterboarding. We should just do what was done to the captured SS guards at Dachau. When found, in camp clothing, and having been fingered out by those who weighed around 80 pounds - they were shot - then and there.
I’m against torturing savages. Shoot them. Besides, it makes Gitmo moot.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 2, 2008 at 4:07 PM
Sum it up nicely, IMHO.
The important question isn’t “is it torture or not,” but simply “have we come to the point where this is the acceptable line for certain high value terrorist captives?”
12thman on July 2, 2008 at 4:07 PM
As before.
*sigh*
Hitch, you advocate the fight, but you don’t advocate the weapons with which to fight. How do you expect to win?
MadisonConservative on July 2, 2008 at 4:10 PM
P.S. You want “torture”? I just paid $4.30 for a gallon of milk.
Thank you - Greenies.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 2, 2008 at 4:10 PM
That’s what happens when you go with the lowest bidder….
TheBigOldDog on July 2, 2008 at 4:10 PM
Are you an Aggie?
OhEssYouCowboys on July 2, 2008 at 4:11 PM
Depends on what the meaning of IS is.
I could honestly say that being forced to watch Oprah, a Hillary speech or ‘Fiddy Cent’ is torture, but does that make it so?
Hey, Chris…. Give me five minutes and I could make you realize that waterboarding is no more than a REALLY scary bad dream.
LegendHasIt on July 2, 2008 at 4:13 PM
Reading or listening to Hitch blather on about evolutionism is real torture.
corona on July 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
I remember seeing a “RedEye” where they were talking about this. Levy (I think) said something about why are people still going on and on about waterboarding being torture. It’s not like anyones on the other side talking about how pleasureable it is. I don’t understand the point of these “demos.” It’s torture. No one’s disputing that. However, terrorist being waterboarded vs. terrorist attack in D.C.? Yeah, waterboarding.
mjk on July 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
ninjapirate on July 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
That’s his one glaring omission in an otherwise good story. Used 3 times, on the likes of KSM, immediately after 9/11. Then, walked this back and didnt use it anymore.
I dont have a problem with it. It’s torture, so yes the left will use that as a cudgel over and over. Comparing it to the worst torture imaginable both directly and indirectly. But let them. Try and think of it as a coalition of wussies safeguarding us from going too far ;)
Dash on July 2, 2008 at 4:15 PM
Water boarding?
That looks like an exorcism to me.
Is that Booby Jindal’s shadow that I see?
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM
I contacted Code Pink and asked if I could be one of the torture simulators at their protests: I volunteered to have women’s panties stretched over my head.
Still no answer back.
Bishop on July 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Hey, Hitch, next time have a few extra honks before you start.
Quick, somebody pour that man a drink!
petefrt on July 2, 2008 at 4:16 PM
Running out of fags is probably torture as well to Hitch.
Compared to what our enemy does to captives, water boarding is like Twister, but you get a little wet.
Hening on July 2, 2008 at 4:17 PM
Word is that he took back all the bad things he said about God.
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Just goes to show you, if he thinks waterboarding is torture, he doesn’t know what torture is …….
gstrickler on July 2, 2008 at 4:18 PM
Did they get any valuable data or intel from Hitchens?
Ehhh, guess thats kind of an oxymoron.. valuable data or intel from Hitchens..
seems to be last place someone would look..
Chakra Hammer on July 2, 2008 at 4:20 PM
He recited the Athanasian Creed to get them to stop.
Akzed on July 2, 2008 at 4:20 PM
Hook ‘em, net ‘em, gut ‘em and be done with it.
Limerick on July 2, 2008 at 4:20 PM
he has a large beer belly..
maybe taking away his beer would be torture.
Chakra Hammer on July 2, 2008 at 4:21 PM
That was a good article by Hitchens. About the most even-handed rejection possible of waterboarding as an appropriate technique. As someone willing to go to bat for his assertions, I do respect Hitchens’ opinion more than most.
The main thing I got out of the video, though, was that waterboarding is extremely effective and ensures quick compliance. KSM broke nearly as quickly, by all accounts, as Hitchens. As a military guy I guess I view these things from vastly different angles than journalists. Just because I wouldn’t particularly like to be waterboarded doesn’t mean I wouldn’t like to see it used to stop terrorist attacks.
I wouldn’t particularly like to be shot either, but that doesn’t stop me from using my weapon. I didn’t particularly like the process of removing shrapnel from my skin, but I continue to use many forms of explosives.
Political differences aside, I do respect that Americans are noble enough to afford even their worst enemies such dignity and comfort, but in truth that’s a terrible way to fight a war. I generally don’t like employing the slippery slope argument, finding it to be a strawman in most cases, but I really do feel that a lot of other things about the way the military protects America are going to come under fire after this successful outcry over waterboarding.
joewm315 on July 2, 2008 at 4:21 PM
Exactly. I like Hitch, but I’d be more impressed if he (or any other anti-waterboarder) volunteered to have elecrodes attached to his genitals or have his teeth pulled out with pliers.
infidel65 on July 2, 2008 at 4:22 PM
In due time. In due time.
Romans 14:
11. For it is written, As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.
12. So then every one of us shall give account of himself to God.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 2, 2008 at 4:24 PM
Hitch’s Kindred Spirit.
Stephen M on July 2, 2008 at 4:27 PM
Or any ONE thing that John McCain went through in 1968.
Wait. There doesn’t seem to BE anyone in THAT amusement park line…
tree hugging sister on July 2, 2008 at 4:28 PM
Even stronger: More people to make a political or journalistic point that terrorists. I wonder, in addition to these, how many Western soldiers have been waterboarded in order to train to resist it at the hands of others or to understand how to apply it to interrogatees.
The odd thing is that, watching it, it looks deceptively harmless. I await reports of some activist’s kid being waterboarded by a friend who wanted to “be like daddy.”
calbear on July 2, 2008 at 4:29 PM
The very fact that Hitchens did this at all is proof against his absurd thesis.
Which journalist is going to hop into an iron maiden? Or press hit irons into their flesh? Or get bamboo shoots hammered under their toenails? Or volunteer for a vivisection? And which journalist, after having other people saw his feet off, is going to avoid a mental institution? And which person, upon helping that journalist get tortured and mutilated by power-tools, is going to avoid being thrown in jail forever for actually torturing someone.
Hitchens didn’t think twice about getting waterboarded. His helpers didn’t think twice about doing it to him. And no one is thinking about prosecuting any of them for doing what they all claim loudly is a war crime.
The fact that more journalists and leftists have waterboarded themselves than the Government has terrorists is proof enough about how unserious the whole argument is.
Lehosh on July 2, 2008 at 4:30 PM
If I were to construct a God I would furnish Him with some way and qualities and characteristics which the Present lacks. He would not stoop to ask for any man’s compliments, praises, flatteries; and He would be far above exacting them. I would have Him as self-respecting as the better sort of man in these regards.
He would not be a merchant, a trader. He would not buy these
things. He would not sell, or offer to sell, temporary benefits of the joys of eternity for the product called worship. I would have Him as dignified as the better sort of man in this regard.
He would value no love but the love born of kindnesses conferred; not that born of benevolences contracted for. Repentance in a man’s heart for a wrong done would cancel and annul that sin; and no verbal prayers for forgiveness be required or desired or expected of that man.
In His Bible there would be no Unforgiveable Sin. He would
recognize in Himself the Author and Inventor of Sin and Author and Inventor of the Vehicle and Appliances for its commission; and would place the whole responsibility where it would of right belong: upon Himself, the only Sinner.
He would not be a jealous God — a trait so small that even men despise it in each other.
He would not boast.
He would keep private His admirations of Himself; He would regard self-praise as unbecoming the dignity of his position.
He would not have the spirit of vengeance in His heart. Then it would not issue from His lips.
There would not be any hell — except the one we live in from the cradle to the grave.
There would not be any heaven — the kind described in the world’s Bibles.
He would spend some of His eternities in trying to forgive Himself for making man unhappy when he could have made him happy with the same effort and he would spend the rest of them in studying astronomy.
– Mark Twain
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 4:31 PM
Dittos that cool video. When you have people that are committing mass murder, a subpoena isn’t going to do it. The next round is probably going to be nuclear.
tarpon on July 2, 2008 at 4:32 PM
I quote Scripture. You quote Mark Twain. I’ll take that duel, any day.
OhEssYouCowboys on July 2, 2008 at 4:34 PM
From the looks of it, 10 minutes on a treadmill would be torture to this fat-ass Brit.
And waterboarding is different than a keg-stand HOW?
omnipotent on July 2, 2008 at 4:34 PM
The important question isn’t “is it torture or not,” but simply “have we come to the point where this is the acceptable line for certain high value terrorist captives?”
I for one think it is. We are not playing games here with these people, this is not for fun. The whole water boarding issue has been used for theatre by code pink and the like for their own gains. We are either going to fight this war or we are not.
We all know the answer to the argument “If we do it to them what will they do to our guys” how many of “our” guys are still alive?
TroubledMonkey on July 2, 2008 at 4:34 PM
Exactly. I’m pretty sure our guys would prefer to be waterboarded, given a belly slap, and shaken vigorously instead of having body parts buzzed off with circular saws.
Lehosh on July 2, 2008 at 4:38 PM
*Buys omnipotent an e-beer for that comment.*
wise_man on July 2, 2008 at 4:45 PM
20 seconds! worst prisoner EVER!
windbags on July 2, 2008 at 4:46 PM
(then again, since 8 minutes on a treadmill would do me in, I can’t laugh too hard. (Stress test, actually.))
wise_man on July 2, 2008 at 4:46 PM
This part of his article really bothers me:
Coming from someone who I generally regard as a realist, this boggles my mind. We already know that many regimes, particularly the ones we are at war with, not only use this method, but the far more brutal ones. He also acknowledges that those more brutal and lethal forms of torture are not comparable unless you’re trying to foment a moral equivalence argument.
Well then, what is the risk here? We’re using what he seems to be describing as one of the more tame forms of torture, while fully aware that far more dangerous methods are already being used on our soldiers and citizens. That argument doesn’t stick that the use of waterboarding is somehow subjecting them to MORE danger.
MadisonConservative on July 2, 2008 at 4:51 PM
I’m guessing he soiled himself, cried like a school girl and then fessed up to everything he’s ever done since his birth after about 2 seconds of this…
sabbott on July 2, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Did Mark Twain heal the sick or blind? Hmmmm. Yeah. . . I’ll prolly stick with that other guy. Thanks though!
P.S. Why couldn’t they just leave Hitchens tied up in that basement indefinitely?
Vaporman87 on July 2, 2008 at 4:57 PM
The guy on the left is grayden carter.
peacenprosperity on July 2, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Then you will lose every day.
No god and no religion can survive ridicule, no political church, no nobility, no royalty or other fraud, can face ridicule in a fair field and live.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 4:59 PM
Did Mark Twain every make anyone sick or blind?
Did your vapor God or you vaporless God ever do anything good?
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 5:03 PM
Most people are bothered by those passages of Scripture they do not understand, but the passages that bother me are those I do understand.
- Mark Twain
MB4 on July 2, 2008 at 5:06 PM
QFT
- The Cat
P.S. In one breath he denounces moral equivalence and in another he uses it. Or did I read it wrong?
MirCat on July 2, 2008 at 5:12 PM
What a wuss… I’m pretty sure I could have gone 30 seconds.
Maxx on July 2, 2008 at 5:13 PM
Hitchens: “I myself do not trust anybody who does not clearly understand this viewpoint”.
Does this include Andrew Sullivan?
For me it certainly does. But for Hitchens?
SteveMG on July 2, 2008 at 5:16 PM
Hmmm, your giving me some ideas for evangelizing tools.
NO…. I’m kidding … I’m Kidding :)
Maxx on July 2, 2008 at 5:27 PM
Oh come on. I have had more liquid thrown in my face at a Gallagher concert.
Besides, it is a waste of time and Poland Spring to waterboard Hitch. Simply take his smokes and Scotch away for ten minutes and he will agree to be baptize by Billy Graham and circumcised by the blind Sheik.
RobCon on July 2, 2008 at 5:29 PM
What a puss. Should have used vodka.
Vigilante on July 2, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Cheers!!
The awesomeness of that comment is NOT to be undersestimated! You owe my employer a new monitor.
omnipotent on July 2, 2008 at 5:34 PM
I wonder what was worse, the wax job he got or the waterboarding.
.
GT on July 2, 2008 at 5:53 PM
Why is waterboarding “torture” when used on the enemy, but “training” when used on our military in the SERE school? Where was all the handwringing when it was just used on our men?
DrMagnolias on July 2, 2008 at 6:05 PM
Do we detect a little self pity there AP?
Seriously though. Not at all. To the contrary, that’s the first time I’ve felt really quite sorry for Christopher Hitchens. And I admire his bravery. Very disturbing vid, very shudder inducing, and we knew it was just an exercise.
As long as you brought it up though, :) I will say this. Never having been an atheist, all I could think of during that terrible vid was: How awful for atheists looking death in the face, to have to deal emotionally with the fact that they think their existence is about to cease forever. I think more about the intellectual things atheists say about the end of their lives, but have less chance to think about their visceral emotional reactions - which none of us can predict unless we’ve been through it - when death is right there in front of them.
inviolet on July 2, 2008 at 6:07 PM
He made Mark Twain and gifted him with the wit to ridicule his creator.
::shrugs::
Fatal on July 2, 2008 at 6:12 PM
so what i took from the video is that it works and works real fast with very little water .
Well that just wont do how dare we use something that works and is quick .
Time to going back to saying please pretty please pretty please with a cherry on top .
Mojack420 on July 2, 2008 at 6:16 PM
Am a Catholic and I LOVE that quote by Mark Twain; have used it myself quoting to others.
The Christian Church (and in particular the Catholic Church) has been ridiculed for over 2000 years yet it is still around. God Himself is ridiculed every day, yet He’s not going anywhere. Will see your Mark Twain though and raise you a Martin Luther and a St. Thomas More:
inviolet on July 2, 2008 at 6:16 PM
I admit, despite my disagreement with Hitchens on principle, I think there are a lot of pathetic internet tough guys here. Why don’t you all try it first, big men?
MadisonConservative on July 2, 2008 at 6:17 PM
FTR MB4, just so there’s no misunderstanding, am calling neither you nor the venerable Mr. Twain a devil. Just pointin’ out that the ones you’d think would leave when ridiculed - sometimes surprise you by sticking around forevah, and vice versa.
inviolet on July 2, 2008 at 6:27 PM
If making one not be afraid of death is now a virtue, I’ll take that awesome syringe with heroine. Thank you.
freevillage on July 2, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Choosing to undergo something voluntarily voids the procedure, because it can only be judged for real world effectiveness against an unwilling participant.
Against terrorists like KSM, do what will prevent mass-murder.
Even if it means temporarily scaring the sucker and hurting his poor widdle nostrils.
profitsbeard on July 2, 2008 at 6:30 PM
Hitchens is an idiot. The fact that this anti-religious nutjob would dare not harm a hair on the enemy’s head speaks volumes. And, of course, his hate of religion puts him on Allahpundit’s A-list. Kettle meet pot.
Try what? Its torture. I agree. But well deserved for the enemy THAT’S CUTS OFF THE HEADS OF INFIDELS.
Why don’t you try that. Schmuck.
Andy in Agoura Hills on July 2, 2008 at 6:32 PM
Been there, done that, got the patch to prove it. Happy? Didn’t consider it “torture” then, don’t consider it “torture” now.
The big difference is that, just like Hitchens, I KNEW that, despite what my body was telling me, my “captors” were not going to really kill me.
Those it is most effective on, don’t really know that. Despite what they may have been told by the media, or have been trained to expect (or even watched on the internet)- the people conducting the operation must be able to convince the subject that he just might die. That these guys pouring water over his face just might be off the grid enough to actually drown him - a psychological position that is becoming impossible to obtain because of the publicity given to waterboarding. Therefore, giving it up as a useable technique probably isn’t costing us that much.
Besides, the sleep deprivation was worse - wonder when that will be accepted as “torture”?
Fatal on July 2, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Sorry, that comment was unclear, partly because of your spelling of “heroine” (purposeful? we’re talking about facing death bravely after all). Can’t be sure but…that looked like *gasp* …ridicule! :) Sorry if that’s not what you meant. But if so…thanks for helping me illustrate my point to MB4. ;)
inviolet on July 2, 2008 at 6:35 PM
Waterboard him with Jack Daniels and he could go for hours.
RobCon on July 2, 2008 at 6:38 PM
Which would Hitchens consider worse:
(a) being waterboarded;
(b) going an entire morning without a drink.
jaime on July 2, 2008 at 6:47 PM
Ooooooh!!!! Oooooooooooh!!!! I know!!!!
Andy in Agoura Hills on July 2, 2008 at 7:02 PM
Did Hitchens also agree to demonstrate what having a car battery hooked up to his testicles was like?
Or did he decide that, all else being equal, he’d prefer to not experience REAL torture?
logis on July 2, 2008 at 7:05 PM
Sounds good to me. I’d like to see him try it too.
wise_man on July 2, 2008 at 7:20 PM
Like you said, it’s torture. In other words, calling him a pansy because he was genuinely freaked out about it makes people, and especially eunuchs like you and wise_man, the weakest links. Again, if you haven’t tried it, and it’s clear someone like you wouldn’t have the balls to, you’re quite the joke calling him out on it.
I agree. Hence why I made my first post. I’m not challenging people’s views of whether it is torture or not. I’m challenging anyone who spews bravado over someone doing something they haven’t, especially if they wouldn’t given the chance.
MadisonConservative on July 2, 2008 at 7:31 PM
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