“What do you do… what DO you do?”
Posted on July 31, 2007
by: Dr. Jerome Pestlebottom
This is from a little more than a week ago on Slate.com… Click…
Remember when Brit Hume asked the Republican’s about the “mall and bomb” scenario in order to see how willing the candidates would be to torture?
“Here is the premise: Three shopping centers near major U.S. cities have been hit by suicide bombers. Hundreds are dead, thousands injured. A fourth attack has been averted when the attackers were captured off the Florida coast and taken to Guantanamo Bay, where they are being questioned. U.S. intelligence believes that another larger attack is planned and could come at any time. First question to you, Senator McCain. How aggressively would you interrogate those being held at Guantanamo Bay for information about where the next attack might be?”
That scenario has been pointed to as being “24″-like, and in honor of that, this fantastic piece on Slate raises some of the questions that should have been asked, based on other famous incidents… Among them:
“A tornado has transported you to a magical land, where a jubilant throng of midgets greets you as liberator. They direct you toward a road paved with yellow bricks. We’ll start with you, Mayor Giuliani. Would you consider capturing one of these exotic creatures and subjecting him or her to enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding and electric shock, if it means extracting vital information that will determine whether the yellow route leads home—or into a trap?”
…
“Listen carefully: A computer from the future has sent a shape-shifting cyborg, made of prototype liquid metal, to kill you. At the last moment, the governor of California appears, saying, “Come with me, if you want to live!” We’ll start with Governor Huckabee. Would you agree to run with this bizarre, Republican hybrid, if it requires you to soften your stances on gay rights and climate change?”
…
“For unexplained reasons, you find yourself reliving a Groundhog’s Day festival throughout eternity. Let’s start with you, Senator McCain. After, say, 10,000 of these repetitive days, would you consider capturing one of the locals and subjecting him or her to enhanced interrogation techniques, such as waterboarding, to gain answers about your predicament, or—for that matter—as a means of breaking up the endless monotony?”
That last one rang true with me… I believe every candidate should be required to discuss what, exactly, they would do if “Groundhog’s Day” happened to them… I can tell you as President, once I knew the day always reset, I would launch our nuclear arsenal at least once or twice, just to see what happens…
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