GOP debate audience cheers waterboarding

[kpete]

Source: Raw Story

The audience at Saturday night’s Republican presidential debate erupted into applause at the mention of waterboarding, an interrogation technique that is often described as torture.

The National Journal‘s Major Garrett asked Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain to respond to a Vietnam veteran who said he believed torture was wrong in all cases.

Cain agreed that torture was wrong, but said he would defer to the military as to what techniques constituted torture.



“Mr. Cain, of course you are familiar with the long-running debate we’ve had about whether waterboarding constitutes torture or is an enhanced interrogation technique,” Garrett noted. “In the last campaign, Republican nominee John McCain and Barack Obama agreed that it was torture and should not be allowed legally.”

Read more: http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/11/12/gop-debate-audience-cheers-waterboarding/

[Downtown Hound]

1. Republicans are sick, twisted, demented, sociopaths. n/t

[Zoeisright]

2. And that's it in a nutshell.

They have NO souls.

[COLGATE4]

3. That's unfair to sick, twisted, demented sociopaths. Rethuglicans

are far worse.

[EFerrari]

17. I don't know how any of you can watch them.

I'd rather be shot.

[Yon_Yonson]

31. Amen to that ....

:wtf:

[DBoon]

38. and they run a powerful political party

That has a chance of taking all 3 branches of the federal government.

Are we in the last days of the Weimar Republic?

[nobodyspecial]

4. Let's see, what else have they cheered so far...

They applauded Perry executing the most people -- innocent or not.
A man getting sick and dying because he didn't have health insurance.
And then booed a gay soldier.

I seriously fear for this country if they take over.

[Frank Cannon]

20. If these sociopaths take over, this whole country...

is going to look like Gotham City, pre-Batman. Your worst dystopian nightmare.

Not the country you or I grew up in.

[Botany]

23. You forgot

Herman Cain Serial Sexual Harasser of Women = cheers

[krispos42]

5. "...he would defer to the military as to what techniques constituted torture"

NO, you cumstain. YOU WOULD HAVE A FUCKING DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE AT YOUR FUCKING FINGERTIPS TO CONSULT WITH ABOUT ESTABLISHED LAW AND INTERNATIONAL TREATIES.

Maybe if we wateboarded Cain (it's not torture!) we'd find out just how much he groped those women.

[Politicalboi]

13. Oh I like that idea

Since he says it's not torture, then bring it on, and Bachmann too.

[No Elephants]

14. IOW, he would try to avoid taking personal responsibility by subverting the Constitution of the US.

there were very good reasons why the Framers made the POTUS CIC, thereby placing a civilian in command of the military.

And I don't think one of those reasons was so that the CIC could hide behind the skirts of the military.

Besides, wasn't it the CIA and Cheney deciding what to do about suspected terrorists whom we had captured?

[krispos42]

15. The White House shopped around for legal opinions...

...from campaign loyalists they had nominated or appointed in the first place. Ta-da! It's legal now!

[DBoon]

39. Defer to the military????

The Bill of Rights is perfectly clear on the subject

Are there any rights he would not crush in the interests of military expediency?

[freshwest]

6. They're parroting their God, Rush again. Freaking mindless rabid dogs.

[Grassy Knoll]

7. They are trying their best to show Cheney & Son....

Were not the worst dynamic duo this county has ever seen, So they attack Obama for
trying to right the wrong of that lost decade of lies and deception to feel better about themselves.
Bash My president, We can do that too mentality, rather than realize the Bush Admin. was the epitome
of neglect this country has ever exposed or seen.

[truthisfreedom]

8. Anyone who believes waterboarding is not torture should submit to it.

Just to see how they really feel. Obviously these stupid fucking fuckwads are only calling it something other than torture and saying they approve of it because their audience has been set up by hate radio to believe it's a good thing. If we had broadcasts of waterboarding on news programs where the audience could experience firsthand the reaction of the victim and watch the process, everything would change.

[BumRushDaShow]

22. They need to replay what (Erich) "Mancow" (Muller) did regarding waterboarding

and how he immediately declared it torture much to his own horror. He's one of their own and insisted on experiencing it himself - eventually being the recipient of a tame version of the method. And even that traumatized him.

I believe that there is a % of the population who are genetically defective in terms of "feeling" empathy and this is what happens when those kind are put into positions of power.

[Kablooie]

9. Someone should make a list of all the awful things the GOP audience cheers and applauds for.

[lunasun]

30. and the list just gets longer with every debate!

My only surprise = they didn't cheer Cain's sexual harrassment.... or did I miss that?

I would comment surreal but unfortunately it is reality in USA 's GOP presidential debate

[SunSeeker]

35. Yup-Q's about Cains character/accusations got boos at the last debate

At the last debate, when Maria Bartaromo asked Cain about the "character issue," she was resoundingly booed. Then when Cain responded with his usual nonresponse and disdain, he was cheered.

[DBoon]

40. His core support in the Republican Party loves it!

it has actually enhanced his popularity among his base

All those decades of Rush attacking "Femin-Nazis" has taken root

[HCE SuiGeneris]

10. Shocking.

Twisted by greed and propaganda, the pawns of the Kings and Queens, cheer their own demise...

[moondust]

11. Sadistic savages.

Submitting more proof.

[Major Hogwash]

12. Major Garrett, former Faux Snooze douchbag, asks idiot GOP candidate question, he flubs.

Better headline.

:rofl:

[dballance]

16. Now they're Hitler

We hanged Hitler's minions for torture like waterboarding. Now we're no better than him. What race will we choose to obliterate?

[DBoon]

41. I believe Japanese were convicted of war crimes for waterboarding

past wars we fought to liberate torture camps

this war we created them

[dorksied]

18. Wikipedia says this about waterboarding...

"Waterboarding is a form of torture in which water is poured over the face of an immobilized captive, thus causing the individual to experience the sensation of drowning. Although a variety of specific techniques are used in waterboarding, the captive's face is usually covered with cloth or some other thin material, and the subject is immobilized on his/her back. Water is then poured onto the face over the breathing passages, causing an almost immediate gag reflex and creating the sensation that the captive is drowning.

Waterboarding can cause extreme pain, dry drowning, damage to lungs, brain damage from oxygen deprivation, other physical injuries including broken bones due to struggling against restraints, lasting psychological damage and death.<4> Adverse physical consequences can manifest themselves months after the event, while psychological effects can last for years."

Sounds like something that every Republican that claims that waterboarding isn't torture should be subjected to.

[seacaves]

19. We can not allow the RepupTeaParty to take over the country.

[pam4water]

21. Wounder if next debate we can get them to cheer jumper cables to the genitals! XD

[Harmony Blue]

24. I though the other times were anomalies

but sadly not so.

[DWinNJ]

25. It should be noted

There were people who applauded Paul and Huntsman who were against torture and included waterboarding.

[The Wizard]

26. These sick, lacking a chromosome, sociopathic

fuckers would cheer a burning orphanage, as long as the burning orphans were minorities. They're Jerry Sandusky's fan club.

[Warren Stupidity]

27. "an interrogation technique that is often described as torture"

wtf. We executed people for the war crime of waterboarding prisoners. There is nothing ambiguous about this. It is torture. It is a war crime.

[sulphurdunn]

28. Here is part of the problem.

"waterboarding, an interrogation technique that is often described as torture."

This kind of weasel phraseology debases language and the ability to communicate factually. It also breeds the false equivalency for which American media has become justly infamous.

[Historic NY]

29. The GOP debates are torture.....14 more or less to go.

[certainot]

32. i don't understand the surprise, and in a sense, the outrage

most of the audience are RW radio dittoheads, and those stations sell club gitmo coffee cups from stations that broadcast university sports on weekends.

and the students and faculty and communities around those stations never complain while those stations excuse torture - 1000 stations reaching 50 mil a week for years with the same lies the got us into iraq in the first place, with no organized challenge from the left. it shouldn't be surprising.

[DBoon]

42. yes - our own version of Der Stürmer

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Streicher

The Holocaust would not have been possible without decades of this

[firehorse]

33. They'd probably waterboard their own kids if they could get away with it.

*thinking* of that video from last week where the Texas judge was secretly filmed beating the crap out of his child.

[tanyev]

34. Um...pretty sure the military did not waterboard until Cheney's office started pushing it.

[DreamSmoker]

36. The Ends Justify the Means

Since Iran Contra..
The Repukes have had this attitude...
Its their way of saying and doing things Illegal and justifying it 100% of the time..
Laws and the rules just get in their way...

And thats exactly how the U.S. got where it is today Folks..

Why do you think they bitch and dig in against regulation of anything????

Then they stack the deck and try regulations to keep the Poor and Liberal Americans from voting...

[SemperEadem]

37. great--let's strap their 5 yr old daughters to a board and go at it

let's see how "pro-waterboarding" they will be after Susie's crying and blubbering about a little water in her face.

[CTyankee]

43. It's gotten to the point that each debate has to have at least one vile action

that the audience eagerly applauds. This is really "entertainment" for the masses who enjoy thinking about all the despicable things they could do to people they "hate."

[davidthegnome]

44. Truly disgusting

Let's not forget though, that while the Republicans may have cheered it, elected democrats have typically turned a blind eye. Let's not forget that it has been allowed to continue (if you think it hasn't, I've got a bridge to sell you).

Yes, Mr. President, it is torture and should not be allowed legally. Are you telling us you have no problem then, with it being done illegally? Given the actions of this administration, the words simply do not match. That's often the case... nonetheless.. we have some cleaning up to do in our party. Hold their feet to the fire? I think we've tried that and they've responded by refusing to change, or outright ignoring public demand.

Yes, the people who cheered this are sickening. Let us not forget though, that many of our own (if they can be called that) have enabled these actions to continue.

[cstanleytech]

45. Allow me to translate what Cain really meant to say for you all where the article said

"Cain agreed that torture was wrong, but said he would defer to the military as to what techniques constituted torture."

What he really meant is "I really dont object to torture at all but I dont have the balls to say so out loud."

[0rganism]

46. i wonder what else Mr. Cain would "defer to the military" about

Clearly, in his opinion, they're the best-suited to handle matters of international law and treaties. Perhaps he'd like their views on other legal matters as well?