{"id":14792,"date":"2009-05-14T10:16:52","date_gmt":"2009-05-14T16:16:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/?p=14792"},"modified":"2009-05-14T10:15:04","modified_gmt":"2009-05-14T16:15:04","slug":"slavery-seems-to-have-a-pretty-good-track-record-too-senator-graham","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2009\/05\/14\/slavery-seems-to-have-a-pretty-good-track-record-too-senator-graham.html","title":{"rendered":"Slavery seems to have a pretty good track record, too, Senator Graham"},"content":{"rendered":"

As does child labor, stoning heretics, and snake-handling. Not to mention bleeding by leeches.<\/p>\n

The reference here is to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) suggesting at a Senate hearing yesterday on detainee interrogations that torture is actually proven effective based on its venerability<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

The Vice President is suggesting that there was good information obtained, and I\u2019d like the committee to get that information. Let\u2019s have both sides of the story here. I mean, one of the reasons these techniques have survived for about 500 years is apparently they work.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Wow. Isn’t that special? <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Yes, apparently <\/em>they work. Someone who is tortured will certainly appear to give information. They’ll turn in friends (and enemies). They’ll talk a lot (and may include some truth). They’ll give up (and make up) secrets in order to get the torture to stop.<\/p>\n

You can also get your wife to do the housework by smacking her around a bit. You can ensure religious purity through executing heretics. You can get workers to produce goods by running them on fourteen hour shifts in locked rooms. You can save costs by using child labor (just as WalMart). You can make money by selling patent medicine quack cures, or by prostituting yourself (or your kid) on a street corner. <\/p>\n

All of these things work<\/em>. They don’t work well<\/em>, of course, but they work. And they’ve all been traditions and practices for hundreds and thousands of years. That means they work, and that should be the end of it, I guess. <\/p>\n

 Never mind that the moral <\/em>cost of doing them far exceed the material gains. Or that they’re illegal to do. They’ve been around for a long time, and “appear to work,” so let’s move on!<\/p>\n

Republicans like Graham used to be appalled and outraged at Soviet torture, at Chinese torture — heck, at Cuban torture. I guess if all those folks had simply explained that “torture worked,” and that they’d been doing it for a long time, that would make it all be okay.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As does child labor, stoning heretics, and snake-handling. Not to mention bleeding by leeches. The reference here is to Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) suggesting at a Senate hearing yesterday on detainee interrogations that torture is actually proven effective based on its venerability: The Vice President is suggesting that there was good information obtained, and I\u2019d … Continue reading “Slavery seems to have a pretty good track record, too, Senator Graham”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":14791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14792","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homeland-security"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/05\/imagestorture.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":135419,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/11\/26\/apparently-christians-think-humanity-can-define-god.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":0},"title":"Apparently some Christians think Humanity can define God","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 26-Nov-17 11:28pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The state established Lutheran Church in Sweden has asserted that church language in the future should not use terminology that identifies God as being a particular gender. Conservative Christians go nuts over the news. To which I say, which is the greater blasphemy? A. Taking the language of Scripture, written\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/unnamed.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":135545,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/05\/apparently-referring-white-privilege-can-get-suspended-job.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":1},"title":"Apparently, referring to “white privilege” can get you suspended from your job","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 5-Dec-17 1:51pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Because suggesting that white people have intrinsic advantages in our society, and so also have blinders to problems that non-white (non-male, non-cis, non-straight) people have, is apparently, a racist and sexist thing to say in the eyes of certain, as they say, \"snowflakes.\" Heroic Cop Suspended When Officers Complain After\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/unnamed-6.png?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46173,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/10\/30\/lindsey-graham-speaks-the-truth-for-once.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":2},"title":"Lindsey Graham speaks the truth for once","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 30-Oct-14 11:48am","format":false,"excerpt":"Yup. \"If I get to be president, white men in male-only clubs are going to do great in my presidency.\" Of that I have no doubt.(Oh, don't worry, it's just a \"joke.\") Lindsey Graham: \u2018White Men In Male-Only Clubs Are Going To Do Great In My Presidency\u2019 (Audio) South Carolina\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26611,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/02\/21\/and-theyll-know-we-are-christians-by-our-endorsement-by-franklin-graham.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":3},"title":"And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Endorsement By Franklin Graham","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 21-Feb-12 8:13pm","format":false,"excerpt":"And They'll Know We Are Christians By Our Endorsement By Franklin GrahamSantorum's definitely a Christian, and Newt is because he said so. But Romney, well, there's that whole Mormon thing, y'know. And Obama seems to love Muslims so much, and his father's line is all Muslims, so maybe he's a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9014,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/06\/if_i_should_die.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":4},"title":"If I should die before I read …","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 6-Mar-06 10:47am","format":false,"excerpt":"The official librarians' list of Books Every Adult Should Read Before They Die. Actually, it's British librarians, to be precise, but the poll doesn't seem to have limited itself to...","rel":"","context":"In "Books"","block_context":{"text":"Books","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/media\/media-books"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":49813,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2015\/03\/12\/lindsey-graham-is-sounding-a-little-coup-coup.html","url_meta":{"origin":14792,"position":5},"title":"Lindsey Graham is sounding a little coup-coup","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 12-Mar-15 6:00am","format":false,"excerpt":"Surely he was joking, right? Obviously, of course.One has to wonder what Sen. Graham's reaction would be if, oh, President Obama \"joked\" about calling up the military to force Congress to reverse budget cuts on his favorite programs.I would say there are some jokes a high government official shouldn't make.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14792","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14792"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14792\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14792"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14792"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14792"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}