There is something innately disturbing about a lot of what I see on the Daily Show...but rarely does it make me actually sick to my stomach. Recently, documents have been released describing torture techniques used by the United States in the pursuit of information and occasionally just because we don't like someone...
Jon Stewart raises some interesting questions. For example - why do you need to waterboard someone 183 times. By the 90th time they realize you aren't going to actually drown them.... Humor aside however, what I find really, really, extraordinarily sickening is not that there is an outcry of people who are disturbed, confounded and appalled by what we've been sanctioning. Party affiliations aside, our complete lack of respect for human life should be unexcusable. But no. What we are concerned with is why on earth we now need to know that we torture. Why did Obama release these documents?
Patty Noonan said that sometimes its just better to keep walking. Jon Stewart made fun by saying that while you're walking past slavery and genocide, you should put your fingers in your ears because the screams of the tortured will get really loud.
Its a lot less funny when its in writing. "Killing yourself and innocent people to make a point is sick, twisted, brutal, dumbass murder," said Josiah Bartlett on the West Wing. Its harrowing to note that the actions committed by members of our government in the name of security aren't really all that different from the people that he's describing. I don't know how many different ways I can try to say this. I hope this one works.
We have to know. We have to know so we can fight. This is the battle that we're fighting. Its not just against war mongers and terrorists elsewhere. Its not just about fighting enemies across oceans and deserts. Its about getting rid of this within ourselves as well. I'm not naive. I know that there will always be evil. There will always be ignorance which breeds evil accidentally. But that's the battle. Because if we're not fighting, they are. And then they are winning. The prize is our humanity. The cost is watching the world burn.
Good news is, apparently we won the war on terror! Woohoo!
I'm not really this depressing. I promise. Uhh...how to prove this...how to prove this...I KNOW! Wanna hear a few jokes?
Did you hear what happened to the pretzel walking down the street?
He was a-salted!
So there were two muffins in an oven. One turns to the other and says "Man! It's getting really hot in here!" the other muffin screams "AHHHHHH A TALKING MUFFIN!"
What's black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white and black and white?
A penguin rolling down a hill.
What's black and white and laughing?
The penguin that pushed him.
Okay... I can't claim credit. But if thinking about torture gets you down... please enjoy
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsrZIB8QHic
Courtesy of the delightful Megadamian Nut and Hank and John Green, Nerdfighters!
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