tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post5861493801477335276..comments2024-03-27T18:00:02.032-04:00Comments on Sardonicky: Gina Haspel's House of WafflesKaren Garciahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15612731479365562803noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-19073053624408212132018-05-13T13:12:49.601-04:002018-05-13T13:12:49.601-04:00One more thought on Gina Haspel. I think she is a...One more thought on Gina Haspel. I think she is a good example of what Hannah Ardent meant by "the banality of evil" -- that monstrous deeds are done by seemingly ordinary people in a bureaucracy. That leaves the question of whether Haspel was willing because she lacks empathy and conscience or has a conscience and did it out of conformity and self-interest. In either case we have had successive presidents willing to exploit these people as torturers, bombers, snipers, and organized other destroyers of humans. And we've had Congresses willing to do the equivalent of sticking their fingers in their ears and shouting la-la-la, I can't hear you.<br />voice-in-wildernessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-47489853490716915532018-05-12T08:54:45.382-04:002018-05-12T08:54:45.382-04:00Given the reality that three presidents have now s...Given the reality that three presidents have now supported official torture by the U.S. government, I decided to engage in a fantasy. I imagined myself a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, asking Gina Haspel if she would submit to waterboarding as a way for the Committee to be sure that she was answering truthfully and fully. The only uncertainty is just how she would say "no"!voice-in-wildernessnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-62453463518202162752018-05-12T00:36:44.551-04:002018-05-12T00:36:44.551-04:00These three worthy sites in general can all be fou...<br /><br />These three worthy sites in general can all be found on the Sardonicky Blog Roll off to the side, but here are their specific reports on this terribly depressing and totally distressing reality:<br /><br />https://theintercept.com/2018/05/08/will-democrats-unite-to-block-trumps-torturer-gina-haspel-as-cia-chief-if-not-what-do-they-resist/<br /><br />https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/10/jeremy_scahill_obama_paved_way_for<br /><br />https://www.democracynow.org/2018/5/11/if_gina_haspel_is_confirmed_at<br /><br />https://fair.org/home/wapo-positions-support-for-torturer-as-vote-for-feminism/<br /><br />"In times of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act." <br />~ George Orwell<br /><br />“Nowadays, anyone who wishes to combat lies and ignorance and to write the truth must overcome at least five difficulties. He must have the courage to write the truth when truth is everywhere opposed; the keenness to recognize it, although it is everywhere concealed; the skill to manipulate it as a weapon; the judgment to select those in whose hands it will be effective; and the running to spread the truth among such persons.”<br />~ Bertolt Brecht<br /><br /><br />Erik Rothnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-38691301288345672182018-05-11T21:10:20.495-04:002018-05-11T21:10:20.495-04:00Bernie Sanders is one of the wafflers--says all yo...Bernie Sanders is one of the wafflers--says all you need to know about the American political system. There IS no "left" anymore. If A-Bomb Harry were still around they would savage him the way they savaged the likes of Dennis Kucinich.Karl Kolchaknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-33028672209547442662018-05-11T16:14:27.903-04:002018-05-11T16:14:27.903-04:00The Senate has always been a not-so-secret safe ho...The Senate has always been a not-so-secret safe house.Rosa Klebnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-13599556216432751052018-05-11T15:14:12.451-04:002018-05-11T15:14:12.451-04:00Here's a moral standard I bet you never came a...Here's a moral standard I bet you never came across in Ethics 101: "Army Field Manual FM 2-22.3." Never mind the moral codes set down by Hammurabi, Plato, Confucius, Aristotle or Kant, or your favorite spokespersons for God-direct communications, like Moses, Aquinas or Calvin. Well, at least have them move over in the pantheon of moralists to make room for the Pentagon's field manual FM 2-22.3. That paperback, and not the writings of the above moralists, serves Gina Haspel as bedrock morality in her job at the CIA. <br />https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FM_2-2.3_Human_Intelligence_Collector_Operations<br /><br />(BTW, Wiki's summary of "Interrogation Methods" is worth a look in case you ever need to know what's up the sleeve of interrogators following your rendition.)<br /><br />And now, from yesterday's hearings, Senator Kamala Harris's (D-CA) attempt to locate the source of Haspel's morality, specifically, the limits of squeezing fellow human beings when collecting intelligence, and Haspel's response about the moral standard to which "we" should hold ourselves:<br /><br />Kamala Harris: So one question I have not heard you answer is, do you believe that the previous interrogation techniques were immoral?<br />Haspel: Senator, I believe that CIA officers to whom you refer—<br />Harris: It’s a yes or no answer. Do you believe the previous interrogation techniques were immoral? I’m not asking do you believe they were legal; I’m asking do you believe they were immoral?<br />Haspel: Senator, I believe that CIA—<br />Harris: It’s a yes or no answer.<br />Haspel: —did extraordinary work to prevent another attack on this country given the legal tools we were asked to use.<br />Harris: Please answer yes or no. Do you believe in hindsight that those techniques were immoral?<br />Haspel: Senator, what I believe sitting here today is that I support the higher moral standard we have decided to hold ourselves to.<br />Harris: Can you please answer the question?<br />Haspel: Senator, I think I’ve answered the request, the question.<br />Harris: No, you have not. Do you believe the previous techniques, now armed with hindsight, do you believe they were immoral? Yes or no?<br />Haspel: Senator, I believe that we should hold ourselves to the moral standard outlined in the Army field manual.<br />Harris: Okay, so I understand that you have not answered the question, but I’m going to move on.<br /><br />https://www.theatlantic.com/amp/article/560033/Jay–Ottawahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360356126450612113noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-62540197608893265232018-05-11T13:42:03.818-04:002018-05-11T13:42:03.818-04:00I lived in DC for 41 years. CIA? The people I kne...I lived in DC for 41 years. CIA? The people I knew who worked there lived out in Paris, Virginia (the 'HUNT' country) and were quite wealthy and were quite proud of their jobs and their 2nd homes. They were patriotic liars then and I'm sure they still are. amerika is filled with liars and idiots who elected trumpf despite his bragging that he could grab pussy. Locker room talk? Never heard that and I was actually in a locker room...Bill Spraguenoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-974773076690597683.post-86071217911292014202018-05-11T12:16:35.651-04:002018-05-11T12:16:35.651-04:00I believe Bloody Gina when she promises the CIA wo...I believe Bloody Gina when she promises the CIA won't torture prisoners any more. The torturing will be done by other countries' secret police, or by private contractors.<br /><br />May the Creative Forces of the Universe stand beside us, and guide us, through the Night with the Light from Above - and have mercy on our souls, if any.mistah charley, ph.d.https://www.blogger.com/profile/06303695341246058680noreply@blogger.com