Sean Hannity, in talking with his guest Charles Grodin (one of my least favorite humans incidentally, even when he makes a statement I agree with), said he does not believe waterboarding is torture and would be willing to be waterboarded if it were for charity. (At 0:54).
So, would you be willing to donate to charity if Hannity goes through with it? And do you think he’ll ever actually go through with it?
Only if he doesn’t break down and ask for them to stop…
Which would incidentally then show that it’s an ineffective means of acquiring information. Hmm… kinda like the dilemma at the end of Minority Report. I like it!
This post by Scylla, where he waterboards himself, will probably tell you more than you want to know about waterboarding. One of the most memorable SD threads.
He’ll try it for about 10 seconds. He’ll wave wildly and gesticulate for the waterboarder to stop. He’ll take another minute or so to cough his lungs clear. He will be red faced, gasping for breath, and clearly in pain. In another minute or two he’ll be able to talk.
He will deny it’s torture, and he will absolutely refuse to do it again.
Christopher Hitchens did this and wrote about it, and I have a lot more respect for someone who wants to spout opinions about something that he has actually experienced. Most of the time, Hannity is like a priest offering marital advice. Lots of strong opinions and very very little knowledge to back them up.
I will donate to charity if he underwent it for a full two minutes, and the only way he could get them to stop early would be to admit it is torture and should be illegal.
Scylla’s post indicated that there are several different methods with differing degrees of effectiveness. I wonder if Hannity ever does go through with it, whether he’ll end up receiving a half-assed version of one of the weaker methods, or whether he’ll try for the full experience.
He is dragged out of bed at midnight and hooded & bound while hearing the terrified screams of his family.
He is held naked in a damp and dimly lit concrete cell for 60 days and given bland, low-quality food and swampy water, and lots of Metallica and Carpenters. And told daily how his wife and/or daughter are also in similar cells not far away. Giving it up to the guards, but in fairness to their chastity, unwillingly.
He is waterboarded 100 times or until he gives up his bank account PIN.