Comments on: Lieberman Looks Back To The Future http://multi-medium.net/2008/06/30/lieberman-looks-back-to-the-future I'm full of tinier media! Thu, 04 Dec 2008 05:26:43 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.3 By: Eli http://multi-medium.net/2008/06/30/lieberman-looks-back-to-the-future#comment-112483 Eli Tue, 01 Jul 2008 12:22:10 +0000 http://multi-medium.net/?p=5277#comment-112483 Agreed. "You fools!" is just not very informative. I think we only got as far as we did because I teased it out of him. But now he thinks "You fools!" is a brilliant way to get his message across... Agreed. “You fools!” is just not very informative. I think we only got as far as we did because I teased it out of him. But now he thinks “You fools!” is a brilliant way to get his message across…

]]> By: Cujo359 http://multi-medium.net/2008/06/30/lieberman-looks-back-to-the-future#comment-112403 Cujo359 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:57:53 +0000 http://multi-medium.net/?p=5277#comment-112403 Yes, it seems to me that either term is vulnerable to the same sort of dodge - define the term to be something we're not doing, and then insist we're not doing that. "Cruel and inhuman" means we don't dip our victims in chocolate or other edible substances. We'd never do such a thing.. Anyway, I thought that was what he was insisting. If he'd been able to explain a little beyond hand-waving, he might have been more convincing. Yes, it seems to me that either term is vulnerable to the same sort of dodge - define the term to be something we’re not doing, and then insist we’re not doing that. “Cruel and inhuman” means we don’t dip our victims in chocolate or other edible substances. We’d never do such a thing..

Anyway, I thought that was what he was insisting. If he’d been able to explain a little beyond hand-waving, he might have been more convincing.

]]> By: Eli http://multi-medium.net/2008/06/30/lieberman-looks-back-to-the-future#comment-112375 Eli Tue, 01 Jul 2008 04:03:56 +0000 http://multi-medium.net/?p=5277#comment-112375 Best I could tell, he was saying that legally speaking, "torture" is a lot harder to prove than "cruel and inhuman", and that it's a lot easier for the Bushies to say "we do not torture" than "we do not perform cruel and inhuman treatment". I don't entirely buy it, especially from a messaging perspective as opposed to a legal perspective (and that's what we do, after all), but that's what he's insisting. Best I could tell, he was saying that legally speaking, “torture” is a lot harder to prove than “cruel and inhuman”, and that it’s a lot easier for the Bushies to say “we do not torture” than “we do not perform cruel and inhuman treatment”.

I don’t entirely buy it, especially from a messaging perspective as opposed to a legal perspective (and that’s what we do, after all), but that’s what he’s insisting.

]]> By: Cujo359 http://multi-medium.net/2008/06/30/lieberman-looks-back-to-the-future#comment-112367 Cujo359 Tue, 01 Jul 2008 02:59:15 +0000 http://multi-medium.net/?p=5277#comment-112367 That's what I've always thought it meant, but then I'm not always good at parsing the words of lying opportunists. On a somewhat related note, in the comments of your article at FDL last weekend, did you ever figure out why cboldt was saying what he was about saying "cruel" instead of "torture"? It was certainly a mystery, and he didn't seem to be interested in explaining himself. Normally I'd just dismiss him as a crank, but he seems to have a good understanding of how Congress works procedurally. That’s what I’ve always thought it meant, but then I’m not always good at parsing the words of lying opportunists.

On a somewhat related note, in the comments of your article at FDL last weekend, did you ever figure out why cboldt was saying what he was about saying “cruel” instead of “torture”? It was certainly a mystery, and he didn’t seem to be interested in explaining himself. Normally I’d just dismiss him as a crank, but he seems to have a good understanding of how Congress works procedurally.

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