{"id":48928,"date":"2014-12-14T22:52:16","date_gmt":"2014-12-15T05:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/14\/truth-in-quoting-sometimes-hurts-but-not-tortuously.html"},"modified":"2014-12-14T22:52:16","modified_gmt":"2014-12-15T05:52:16","slug":"truth-in-quoting-sometimes-hurts-but-not-tortuously","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2014\/12\/14\/truth-in-quoting-sometimes-hurts-but-not-tortuously.html","title":{"rendered":"Truth in Quoting sometimes hurts (but not tortuously)"},"content":{"rendered":"

I had retweeted to me this little bit (https:\/\/twitter.com\/P0TUS\/status\/544252013773848577<\/a>), a quotation from George Washington to "the Northern Expeditionary Force":<\/p>\n

"Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner] … I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enomity of the cime may require. Should it extend to death itself, it will not be disproportional to its guilt as such a time and in such a cause … for by such conduct they bring shame, disgrace, and ruin to themselves and their country."<\/i><\/p>\n

The surrounding text noted that Dick Cheney's torture-happy ways were at odds with Washington's directives, and, presumably, Washington trumps Cheney as a True American, so draw your own conclusions.<\/p>\n

Alas, the source material isn't quite as conclusive (as much as I would love it to be). The full letter — interestingly, to Col. Benedict Arnold as he was preparing to take troops up into Canada — can be found at https:\/\/books.google.com\/books?id=Z5hOAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA90<\/a> , and it paints a slightly different picture. <\/p>\n

The bracketed "[prisoner]" is actually "Canadian or Indian," and the overall tone of the letter is, "Hey, those Canadians aren't the real enemy here, so fergoshsakes don't do anything that torques them off." Washington mentions nothing about what might be done with any British<\/i> soldiers who are encountered during the invasion to the north.<\/p>\n

Indeed, the quote is prematurely cut off (and without elipses): "… and their country, if they should by their conduct turn the hearts of our brethren in Canada against us; and, on the other hand, the honors and rewards, which await them, if by their prudence and good behaviour they conciliate the affections of the Canadians and Indians to the great interests of America, and convert those favorable dispositions they have shown into a lasting union and affection."<\/i><\/p>\n

I.e., it's not torture or mistreatment of prisoners he's talking about, but how to woo (and not alienate) the Canadians and Indians.<\/p>\n

(He also warns the Anglican-Protestant troops not to be obnoxious toward those awful French-Canadian Papists. _"I also give it in charge to you to avoid all disrespect of the religion of the country, and its ceremonies. Prudence, policy, and a true Christian spirit, will lead us to look with compassion upon their errors without insulting them. While we are contending for our own liberty, we should be very cautious not to violate the rights of conscience in others, ever considering that God alone is the judge of the hearts of men, and to him only in this case are they answerable.")_<\/p>\n

Not that I think George Washington was a supporter of torture, rendition, waterboarding, or mistreatment of prisoners (uniformed or "unlawful combatants"). Indeed, one could argue that Washington, though not speaking about torture per se,<\/i> was recognizing the whole concept of winning "hearts and minds" among a hostile populace, something Mr Cheney might have considered. But to use this particular quotation as a cudgel against Mr Cheney's smug assertions that he'd do all that "Enhanced Interrogation" stuff all again just the same way is, unfortunately, a misuse of Washington's words.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\n
\n
\n<\/a>
\nBarracks O’Bama on Twitter<\/a><\/span>
\n“Cheney shames our country. RT @SeanMcElwee Here’s what George Washington would say to Dick Cheney. H\/T @RoryBBellows1”\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

View on Google+<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I had retweeted to me this little bit (https:\/\/twitter.com\/P0TUS\/status\/544252013773848577), a quotation from George Washington to "the Northern Expeditionary Force": "Should any American soldier be so base and infamous as to injure any [prisoner] … I do most earnestly enjoin you to bring him to such severe and exemplary punishment as the enomity of the cime … Continue reading “Truth in Quoting sometimes hurts (but not tortuously)”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"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":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-48928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":129549,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2016\/01\/23\/christian-first-american-second.html","url_meta":{"origin":48928,"position":0},"title":""Christian first, American second"","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 23-Jan-16 9:36pm","format":false,"excerpt":"'\u201cI\u2019m a Christian first, American second, conservative third and Republican fourth,\u201d Cruz said, as quoted by Politico. \u201cI\u2019ll tell ya, there are a whole lot of people in this country that feel exactly the same way.\u201d'Sorry, Ted. That's a fine personal creed, but it's really not what I want to\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":38898,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/10\/01\/o-wad-some-powr-the-giftie-gie-us.html","url_meta":{"origin":48928,"position":1},"title":"O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 1-Oct-13 7:09am","format":false,"excerpt":"Reporting on the US as if it were a foreign nation. Delightful (and, of course, depressing). \u00a0I did enjoy the reference to \"Sen. Ted Cruz, a young fundamentalist lawmaker from the restive Texas region, known in the past as a hotbed of separatist activity.\"Reshared post from +Kee Hinckley\u275d The typical\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":12329,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/05\/28\/nooooooooooooooo.html","url_meta":{"origin":48928,"position":2},"title":"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 28-May-08 12:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Obama, Clinton, McCain Join Forces To Form Nightmare Ticket\u00a0 WASHINGTON\u2014Presidential hopefuls John McCain (R-AZ), Barack Obama (D-IL), and Hillary Clinton (D-NY) announced Monday their plans to form what many Beltway...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":134263,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/08\/17\/trumps-lawyer-forwards-email-arguing-robert-e-lee-george-washington.html","url_meta":{"origin":48928,"position":3},"title":"Trump’s lawyer forwards email arguing Robert E. 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