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Via the BBC: US election: ‘I like waterboarding a lot’, says Donald Trump
“We have to fight so viciously and violently because we’re dealing with violent people,” Mr Trump said.
At one point, he asked the crowd: “What do you think about waterboarding?”
They cheered as he gave his answer: “I like it a lot. I don’t think it’s tough enough.”
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Over the weekend, I watch a pretty decent movie titled “The Railway Man”. Based on a true story about a British WWII soldier captured by the Japanese in SE Asia. Scenes of waterboarding and discussion of war crimes. I just don’t know why this torture is still being denied as being a war crime. It has been a war crime for generations now.
It’s out there now – Trump is saying what about 40% of the people want to hear, and none of his cynical and often idiotic populist stuff matters at all to them. Will enough Republicans sit it out or vote libertarian? I believe that less than 80% of potential Republican voters are now happy about Trump’s impending nomination. Whether that translates to rewduced GOP turnout remains to be seen.
By the way, yesterday I saw a recent Rasmussen Poll that had Trump up by 4% points, something like 43-39, factoring some possible third party attraction.
By the way, yesterday I saw a recent Rasmussen Poll that had Trump up by 4% points, something like 43-39, factoring some possible third party attraction.
Just noise.
Nate Silver has the chances of Trump being President at like 19%
The Princeton Election Consortium has it at 15%.
That being said, I’ve been soaked to the bone by a 10% chance of rain….
@Scott:
There’s three general ways people come by their moral principles: deontological ethics (acts by their nature either right or wrong, regardless of who is doing them or why), consequentialist ethics (acts are right or wrong depending on whether they lead to results that are good or bad), or virtue ethics (people are virtuous or not; those that are do right acts; those that are not do wrong acts).
The waterboarding issue is the result of the virtue ethics position. The US is “the good guys”, good guys do not torture, therefore the things the US does cannot be torture.
@Stormy Dragon: So, in one sense, American exceptionalism has to lead to virtue ethics.
@Scott:
American exceptionalism is compatible with any of the three, all though each would have a different way of explaining why America should or should not be considered exceptional (Trump’s “Make America Great Again” slogan, for example, seems to be taking a consequentialist view on the matter).
The “God’s chosen nation” type formulation you typically see among mainstream Republicans is certainly a virtue ethics way of looking at it though.
That being said, I’ve been soaked to the bone by a 10% chance of rain….
Keep in mind, though, that according to Nate’s projections there’s a greater chance Clinton will win Mississippi, Texas, and/or Kansas than that Trump will win the election at all.
Here’s the link.
@grumpy realist: “…Trump was probably lying…”
No kidding, I hear tell that rain is wet, too.
@bill: Drowning someone qualifies as “serious pain inflicted to coerce info.”
@Steven L. Taylor: they don’t die, potato/potato…last i heard, drowning does not cause pain- just some minor discomfort.
and it’s not like they rep some sovereign nations that we have any kind of “humanly based” treaties with. these are the people who stone women, throw gays off buildings and burn others alive just for fun- so no, we owe them 0.0 when it comes to “interrogation techniques”. and spare me the “we’re better than that” bs because we still are- regardless.
@bill: Go have someone hold your head under water at the pool and get back to me about the “discomfort.”
@bill: You do realize we as a country executed people for waterboarding in and after ww2?
