Political speech
... is largely the defence of the indefensible... Villages are bombarded from the air, the inhabitants drive out into the countryside, the cattle machine-gunned, the huts set on fire with incendiary bullets: this is called pacification... Such phraseology is needed if one wants to name things without calling up mental pictures of them."
- George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"
I just finished reading an article in TIME about Dana Perino (the latest White House press secretary) that mentioned "harsh interrogation techniques." Why don't they call it for what it is -- TORTURE? It's not "coercive" or "enhanced" or "aggressive" questioning. It's torture. It is illegal. The U.S. denounced waterboarding when the Gestapo used it. But the mainstream media, leading politicians and all the talking heads have embraced this fucking doublespeak. Last month, Deroy Murdock of the National Review said, "Waterboarding is something of which every American should be proud." Republican rhetoric is deranged. But no one will come out and say so.
- George Orwell, "Politics and the English Language"
I just finished reading an article in TIME about Dana Perino (the latest White House press secretary) that mentioned "harsh interrogation techniques." Why don't they call it for what it is -- TORTURE? It's not "coercive" or "enhanced" or "aggressive" questioning. It's torture. It is illegal. The U.S. denounced waterboarding when the Gestapo used it. But the mainstream media, leading politicians and all the talking heads have embraced this fucking doublespeak. Last month, Deroy Murdock of the National Review said, "Waterboarding is something of which every American should be proud." Republican rhetoric is deranged. But no one will come out and say so.