Wednesday, June 22, 2005

On Fetal Positions



Media Matters for America reports that Bill O'Reilly doesn't think being chained to the fetal position is all that bad:

REILLY: Well, I mean, you're telling the world, senator, that we're a repressive country because you don't like coerced interrogation. Now, the FBI report, for those of you whom missed it, centered around a detainee who was chained to the floor in the fetal position. You know what the fetal position is -- that's not an uncomfortable position. Most of us sleep in a fetal position. OK? So picture the fetal position, most of us sleep that way. But the guy's chained. Now he can't move, he's down there.

Then they either make the room unbearably hot or unbearably cold. And they keep the guy there for 24 to 36 hours in that position, so they can't go to the bathroom. OK? So that's what the FBI guy reported. That's what's got Durbin conjuring up images of Pol Pot, Hitler, and Stalin. So you make the call, you make the call. It's up to you. I'm not gonna tell you what to think.

Most of us like to each lunch, too. But it would be slightly different if we were chained to the plate and forced to go on having lunch for a few weeks. Without any bathroom breaks.

I'm annoyed at all the wingnut furor about Durbin's comments. It's the wingnuts who have monopolized the nazi terminology for the last ten years. Just google "Hitlery", for example. In fact, most of these types of comparisons have been made by right-wing commentators. I have a post about it somewhere in the archives which contains actual numbers and stuff. I should dig it up.