Mancow will be on KO tonight to address "Waterboarding Hoax" Charge

[RamboLiberal]

What's more, Gawker claims the staff at Countdown with Keith Olbermann knew of the email exchange prior to his booking on Countdown Tuesday night.

An MSNBC spokesperson tells TVNewser, "We were assured by the publicist that this was just a poor choice of words in her haste to find someone to do the waterboarding."

> Update: Mancow responds to Gawker: "We went into this thinking it was going to be a joke. But it was not a joke — it was horrible. 'Hoax' is probably not the right word, but we did think it was going to be a joke."

> Update 2: Gawker's John Cook also talked with Klay South, the marine who performed the waterboarding: "I know nothing about waterboarding. I had never done it before, I have no formal training in it, and I've never had it done to me. The only thing I knew was what I saw on the internet. I went to waterboarding.org and looked it up. I just did what I was told-poured the water on his face and that was it. I'm probably the last person they should have had do it. I didn't know what I was doing."

> Update 3: Mancow will be a guest on Countdown with Keith Olbermann tonight (Friday) to address the situation.

http://www.mediabistro.com/tvnewser/msnbc/was_mancows_waterboarding_staged_117660.asp

[SoCalDem]

1. It looked "stunt-y" to me..

But then that's what "talk/shock radio" guys DO.. It's their schtick.
Mancow just wanted some national exposure:)

[RamboLiberal]

2. Oh is was a stunt but doesn't make it less valid

The only thing I wondered was the video they show all the time on the TV before Mancow I thought the cloth covered the mouth as well.

The guy who did it to Mancow didn't cover the mouth. But I doubt that made much difference.

Hey Hannity can disprove this now - he can hire a professional to do it to him. Bet Hannity wouldn't make 6 seconds.

[Larkspur]

7. The only video I've seen on waterboarding had a cloth over the victim's nose and mouth

but the marine who did it to Mancow did hold Mancow's nose shut and pour water right into his mouth, so the effect was almost the same. By holding the nose shut, you force the person to breath out the mouth and if water is pouring down the mouth than it's hard to breathe.

[EFerrari]

3. Yep. And he's getting what he wants.

He's one of Doug's friends NISM.

[FiveGoodMen]

4. So a right-winger fakes being waterboarded in order to 'fool' people into thinking it's torture?

That doesn't add up.

[MindPilot]

10. No, I think what happened is they went into it as a PR stunt.

It really was going to be a joke, "hey look kids this is nothing, little water on your face, like being in the shower, a walk in the park on a rainy day..."

OH MOTHERFUCKING SON OF GOD THIS IS FUCKING TORTURE! STOP IT NOW!

Yeah, kind of backfired on them, but Mancow I think is not trying to hide anything. He was wrong, really wrong, and he is admitting it. Gotta give him credit where it's due.

[FiveGoodMen]

13. Yeah, but now the wingers are trying to invalidate the fact that he DID try it

and it WAS torture.

No matter how it started out, that's what it proved.

[Believing Is Art]

5. It's upsetting that the marine wasn't trained in waterboarding

But it doesn't take a genius to hold someone's nose, push his head back, and pour water in his mouth.

[MindPilot]

6. the big missing piece regardless if it's Mancow or Sean

the big missing piece regardless if it's Mancow or Sean is they have a safeword; they can quit any time. An enemy combatant being waterboarded by a CIA officer doesn't have that luxury.

If Mancow says it's torture after six voluntary seconds with an first-timer, I doubt if he would change his opinion if it were in a more "professional" setting.

[Junkdrawer]

8. Perhaps the "Batshit Crazy RW Shock Jock" category is overcrowded....

and a kinder, gentler "Slightly Crazy/Reformed RW Shock Jock" looks like a better career path. :shrug:

[bunkerbuster1]

9. That was my take as well.

But then, the last time I heard about Mancow was back when I was still listening to Howard Stern, and he'd refer to the gentleman as "ManQueer."

And I thought that was funny.

[Towlie]

11. We can only assume that if the marine had been trained, the experience would have been much worse.

After all, that the whole point, isn't it?

[Optical.Catalyst]

12. It looks like someone from the former Bush Administration had a 'talk' with Mancow

The talk probably went something like this:

Mancow: It was torture

BFEE guy: You had better change your story Mancow, you know ... , small airplanes crash sometimes and cars crash late at night with no survivors (if you know what I mean)

Mancow: I have reconsidered my remarks on the video, it wasn't torture after all.
Help me out here, what should say?

BFEE guy: You are already an idiot Mancow, just tell everybody what a idiot you are and how you were duped, tricked, taken advantage of. It was a hoax ya' know. You are stupid enough for people to believe you are stupid. Just be yourself.

[FiveGoodMen]

14. Here's my suggestion...

Everyone who claims that waterboarding isn't torture should get waterboarded.

Screw this 'he said/she said' nonsense!

[Duer 157099]

15. I could tell when I watched it that they didn't know what they were doing

I tought that perhaps they were doing it wrong so that later it could be argued that this wasn't the way it is done by the CIA et al.

Those torture memos describe very explicitly how it "should" be done, down to the detail of the exact amount of water per second.

And I don't think the nose is supposed to be held closed, because that is the route that the water takes that the victim cannot deliberately close.

I think they should do it again, the right way - the outcome will still be the same.