tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post6567766486784081763..comments2023-12-16T16:50:25.810-08:00Comments on The Heart of the Matter: The Report: A Necessary Antidote to Torture PropagandaBarry Eislerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-28628578411289852552019-12-15T08:48:01.736-08:002019-12-15T08:48:01.736-08:00Thanks Wes. Societies don't turn to torture in...Thanks Wes. Societies don't turn to torture in pursuit of actionable intelligence. They turn to it for emotional reasons. But as with so much of human nature, we tell ourselves appealing fictions about our motivations because the truth would be too ugly to acknowledge. As Reinhold Niebuhr said in "Moral Man and Immoral Society," the baser self has to deceive the better self to get the better self’s buy-in for behavior it would never otherwise agree to.Barry Eislerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-37128316507362077482019-12-15T06:16:59.103-08:002019-12-15T06:16:59.103-08:00I have had a complete change of mind over the tort...I have had a complete change of mind over the torture or intense interrogation methods employed by the US. The tortured person will eventually confess to whatever his holders want.<br />Peter Boyles on KNUS 710 AM Denver, has talked about this for a while now. I would like to hear you on his morning radio show. https://710knus.com/content/all/peterWes V.https://www.blogger.com/profile/02690054055418012032noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-53157637694585575572019-12-14T10:03:42.113-08:002019-12-14T10:03:42.113-08:00Thanks for adding that, Geri--agreed with all. I r...Thanks for adding that, Geri--agreed with all. I read the linked Intercept article at the time and should have thought to mention it myself.Barry Eislerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17785333622697500192noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22165230.post-44721851257682407542019-12-14T09:40:04.708-08:002019-12-14T09:40:04.708-08:00Great review. I'm glad you made that point ab...Great review. I'm glad you made that point about Senator Feinstein, who never saw a surveillance program she didn't love until she found out it was used against her. And I often say that while Bush committed torture, Obama effectively decriminalized it, which is arguably worse.<br /><br />However, I'm concerned that The Report uses one of the few examples where investigating government malfeasance through official channels actually worked instead of leading to it being buried and reprisals against whoever brought it up, leading to an attitude that whistleblowing is the wrong way to go. That's discussed in this review.<br /><br />https://theintercept.com/2019/11/10/the-report-movie-torture-journalists/<br />Geri Dantonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18008349068285702012noreply@blogger.com