Tonight I saw “Safe House” starring Denzel Washington. Early in the movie there’s a scene in which Washington is “waterboarded” by CIA agents. I was ready to walk out. I find that kind of thing hard to watch.
On the way out, as I am wont to do, I made conversation with this obese guy who was sitting about three rows behind me. I said, “There are three candidates for President who think waterboarding isn’t torture. They ought to watch this movie.”
The guy, also making conversation, says to me, “They should f...ing torture them. You picked the wrong f...ing guy.”
I replied, “I thought America was better than that.”
Fat guy: “We should do f...ing worse. Otherwise we lose.”
Me: “If we torture people, I think we have already lost.”
By this time we were at the door, and the conversation ended. I must say, however, that I was not satisfied with my reply. On the other hand, there’s probably nothing I could say to someone like that. In every country and every society there are the brutes and thugs who become the Brown Shirts, the camp guards, and the waterboarders. They are waiting for their opportunity.
You can lead a horse to water but you can't make him drink. People like that haven't heard of the Geneva convention. Our government has signed this accord with most other nations. In case fat guy hasn't heard that waterboarding is torture, maybe he should try it. As I said, you can but you can't. Maybe he feels that our troops should be waterboared if caught.
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