We are so fucked
Somewhere, swirling about in the widening gyre of our political madness, between the furious debate about whether or not we can continue to proudly proclaim ourselves the good guys while engaging in the kind of behavior that is usually considered bad guy shtick and the typhoon of questions about whether upity liberals who shoot their mouths off are traitors or just pussies; we found this article.
While the rest of us are caught up trying to decide if Guantánamo is a gulage in the sun or a four star Hilton who's guest are treated round the clock with the finest in spa quality "stress position" therapy and frequent bare knuckle deep-tissue massage; the Times decided to muddy the water a bit by pointing out that Military doctors at Guantánamo have
No one seems to know for certain but, according to the article at least, some people are a little worried that having military doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists advise on the best way to "increase stress levels and exploit fears" in detainees might just violate some professional ethics codes.
Wow! Possible professional ethics code violations. That serious folks! Somebody might get fined!
What a shame it would be if some poor military doctor go in trouble with the medical ethics board just because was trying to help out and said something like :
Military doctors don't get paid that much so having to take it right in the pocket book just because you violated something as quaint as the Hippocratic oath when all you were doing was following orders would kinda suck....
Honestly! We can only maintain this shield of sardonic disdain for so long before it buckles and we have to start drinking heavily. Unfortunately we didn't top off the flask before we left the house this morning. So we were tempted to just quote ominously from Yeats and be done with this post. But after a closer reading of "The Second Coming" a disturbing possibility occurred to us: What if there is no rough beast slouching our way? What if he slipped into town some time ago and cable news just didn't cover it? What if all our innocents were whisk away quietly in the night and we are, right now, hip deep in the end of days.
There is a real possibility that we are trapped, unknowing, in a stupid Sartre play where hell is arguing endlessly about the difference between a stress position and torture while a hooded, naked man lays bound and sobbing in the corner.
What the fuck has happened to my country?
While the rest of us are caught up trying to decide if Guantánamo is a gulage in the sun or a four star Hilton who's guest are treated round the clock with the finest in spa quality "stress position" therapy and frequent bare knuckle deep-tissue massage; the Times decided to muddy the water a bit by pointing out that Military doctors at Guantánamo have
...aided interrogators in conducting and refining coercive interrogations of detainees, including providing advice on how to increase stress levels and exploit fears, according to new, detailed accounts given by former interrogators.
No one seems to know for certain but, according to the article at least, some people are a little worried that having military doctors, psychiatrists, and psychologists advise on the best way to "increase stress levels and exploit fears" in detainees might just violate some professional ethics codes.
Wow! Possible professional ethics code violations. That serious folks! Somebody might get fined!
What a shame it would be if some poor military doctor go in trouble with the medical ethics board just because was trying to help out and said something like :
"Corporal, you could probably create more stress if you attached the red wire directly to our guests testicles."
Military doctors don't get paid that much so having to take it right in the pocket book just because you violated something as quaint as the Hippocratic oath when all you were doing was following orders would kinda suck....
Honestly! We can only maintain this shield of sardonic disdain for so long before it buckles and we have to start drinking heavily. Unfortunately we didn't top off the flask before we left the house this morning. So we were tempted to just quote ominously from Yeats and be done with this post. But after a closer reading of "The Second Coming" a disturbing possibility occurred to us: What if there is no rough beast slouching our way? What if he slipped into town some time ago and cable news just didn't cover it? What if all our innocents were whisk away quietly in the night and we are, right now, hip deep in the end of days.
There is a real possibility that we are trapped, unknowing, in a stupid Sartre play where hell is arguing endlessly about the difference between a stress position and torture while a hooded, naked man lays bound and sobbing in the corner.
What the fuck has happened to my country?
posted by mad science at 5:00 PM
2 Comments:
Oh come now. Every time this country (and notably any other) has faced challenges and crises like those we face now (which are not imaginary; however much they may be exaggerated for political convenience), we resort to tactics and measures we subsequently decry (correctly) as inconsistent with our core values. Does this make it right? Of course, not. Does this mean we are "hip deep in the end of days"? I suspect not.
Tarsius
1) "Hip deep in the end of days" sounds way better than "exaggerated for political convenience".
2) We have a lot of shotgun and canned food futures and run on them would really boost our portfolio.
3) Fighting fire with fire == tired. Fighting fire with gasoline == wired!
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