A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Torture

  • Go, NPR!

    One of the annoying things about the recent debate over waterboarding has been the media’s tendency to refer to it as “simulated drowning.” This is inaccurate and gives a distorted view of what the process involves. Having water poured into your lungs is not a simulation. So, I was gratified to hear Nina Totenberg on Read more

  • Worse than Gonzales?

    Via Gaius, John Nichols says that Mukasey is just that. And it’s not just the waterboarding issue, bad as that is, but his general perspective on executive power and privilege: “Mukasey Is (Much) Worse Than Gonzales.” Makes one long for the halcyon days of John Ashcroft. Read more

  • When waterboarding was a crime

    Excellent piece in today’s Washington Post by a former JAG in the Nevada National Guard: “Waterboarding Used to Be a Crime.” Read more

  • NAE vs. torture

    The National Association of Evangelicals, recently in the news due to a dust-up over their position on global warming, has endorsed a good statement on the use of torture. I think it’s salutary that the NAE is defining itself independently of certain old-guard evangelical leaders who identify the Christian agenda with the politically conservative one. Read more