1. Geez Cenk,

The Bleeding Heart crap doesn't cut it.

There are times and occurances where Waterboarding is absolutely necessary.

I'm not Right Wing or Left Wing.

I don't choose sides.

It's unfortunate to say, but torture is necessary sometimes. And Waterboarding is extremely effective.

Many people have information that is needed to get out to save lives. You have to do what you have to do.

This corrupt administration has been an embarassment and the scare tactics used on the citizens has been laughable.

But don't let that blind you.

Botts at 2:57PM on Feb 15th 2008

2. Congress in inaction-Not to be influenced by lower popularity rating than Bush, Congress continues to shoot themselves in the foot.

FISA-an important anti terrorism Bill, passed the Senate, getting 60% of the Senate Votes.

The House disleadership, is holding the Bill from coming to a vote even though a head count shows it has the votes to pass. Pelosi, and other House Democrat leaders is keeping FISA from coming to a vote just like they keep other things from coming to a vote, like the Impeach Cheney Resolution.

The House, namely the House Leadership, is more concerned with the Steroid use of a few Major League Baseall Players then it is for the security of our country. The Majority in both Houses of Congress support the present FISA Bill,an important tool in fighting terrorism, but the Democrats refuse to let it be voted on

The do nothing Congress is still living up to its name and its present popularity

robert okane at 3:10PM on Feb 15th 2008

3. McCain was a Maverick. I admired him for telling it like it is. He told the truth even when people would rather believe in myth. When McCain came to Michigan he was honest, he said the jobs are gone and they are not coming back. That a new economy would be necessary. Romney came in and told everyone he could get the jobs back, but that is impossible. Romany won. To me this is not about water boarding, this is about a man who refused to compromise what he thought was right by playing to the masses. That is exactly what he is doing now. I am so disappointed. I really liked him for his Maverick quality. It was not about rep or dem, it was about saying the truth. Not selling any lies just to win votes.

Gwen at 3:42PM on Feb 15th 2008

4. mccain is bush's man. if you want four more years of the same shit vote for him.

Clif Kuplen at 3:50PM on Feb 15th 2008

5. so if it was your wife/husband/child who's life was in danger and you had the person responsible but they refused to tell anything then what would you do? damn right you beat the shit out of them until they told something resulted in the safe return of your oved one. time to stop making victims out of offenders.

btw i'm sure the waterboarding will be voted against by lots of people but what about teddyboarding? maybe we cant strap ppl down and dump water on thier face, but at least we can put them in a car an dump them in a river right?

chris at 4:03PM on Feb 15th 2008

6. Water boarding works. We used it to gain much of the information we now have about al Queda. Those who would rather be nice to committed radical Islamists display remarkable faith that these dedicated killers will suddenly see the error of their ways and decide not to murder more innocent people. That faith seems sadly misplaced.

Stempy Hoyer and the rest of the Democrats would rather jeopardize American lives than make things slightly uncomfortable for the kind of brutal, ruthless killers that vaporized, pulverized and incinerated 3000 Americans on 911. That is despicable.

Dave at 4:07PM on Feb 15th 2008

7. We all vote for torture when it's not being used against us! That's what sad about these so called "Patriots." In comfort and convenience, they have morals. In times of trouble, they lose their moral compass and their souls. Makes you think twice about "In God We Trust!"

Cecil Jones at 4:23PM on Feb 15th 2008

8. I am disappointed in McCain. The problem with waterboarding is the same problem with all forms of torture - people will say anything, even lie, to make it stop. This is no way to get information. People who are desperate will make up information, even if they know nothing, and what they make up can risk lives and confuse accurate intelligence. This confusion is a frustration in the war effort, not progress. In addition, we are damaging the lives of our own sons and daughters who are being asked to torture other human beings. It is one thing to fight with an enemy who has the ability to fight back, but there is nothing noble or excusable about torturing someone who is currently helpless. When those who were forced to torture others come back into our own society, who will they be? How can we hurt our own people like that? I am a conservative, but I DO NOT beleive that terror will ever be a reliable pathway to truth. This is something that I thought McCain, from personal experience, understood.

CZ at 4:32PM on Feb 15th 2008

9. Torture "works" like a biological weapon "works." Somebody had the guts generations ago to forbid both. They knew, as you should know, both weapons return to bite the hands that use them.

When you torture someone for answers, we may presume you do NOT know the answer already. If you believe the answers extracted in torture, you are subject to information poison, same as any other information warrior (spies, etc.). If they are sincere, those who say waterboarding "works" have never fought an information war. Their advice floats on ignorance.

But we have the other kind of voices in this debate, too, and they have been with humanity for thousands of years. They fight on both sides of any war, and they may be seen as the cause of all wars. They are the evil ones, the cruel and oppressive ones. They hate freedom and they hate their fellow man. They call for torture because they love torture, cruelty, pain, and death. They call for torture not to serve good as they pretend in public, but to serve the evil that is their private nature.

We have no method for identifying and excluding those people from our society. They seek positions of power and authority where they can act out their evil tendencies. In times of war, they lead us into atrocities and an endless spiral of hostilities because that is their nature. They are the unidentified psychotics among us.

When someone calls for bombing civilians, torturing prisoners, using chemical or biological weapons, or any other act we now classify as an atrocity, we may know we are hearing from a psychotic, a sick soul. As a society, we can follow that leader into Hell, taking the world with us, or we can put him aside and assert our better nature.

If you do not believe such people exist, turn on your television and listen to the reports of the latest rape case, the child beating, or the bombing. Listen to radio talk show hosts salivate and drool over the punishments they would inflict on others if they were given the chance. Read about the famous monsters in history who exceeded all others in cruelty and monstrosity -- you know their names.

There is never a reason for torture. It does not produce reliable information, and it degrades everyone on both sides of the battle lines, including the civilians who support it and those who fail to stop it.

Jim McMichael at 5:07PM on Feb 15th 2008

10. 6. Water boarding works. We used it to gain much of the information we now have about al Queda.
---------------------------------------------------

How do you know? All of the experts say waterboarding and torture in general only gets the victim to say what the interrogators want to hear.

You are arguing that the politicians know better.

Michael at 5:12PM on Feb 15th 2008

11.

Your all pretty stupid ,appeasement does not work , Mc cain will stand up to terrorists , Obama will try to kiss their ass .

Michael at 5:13PM on Feb 15th 2008

12. I would suggest you read about the information obtained from the whopping three times we used the waterboarding technique on three al qaeda leaders. Waterboarding these three operatives clearly and inarguably saved American lives.
To repeat the well worn scenario: Would Cenk be ok with waterboarding if his Mother was being held by one of these vicious, brutal groups? Me thinks, yes.

Michael at 5:14PM on Feb 15th 2008

13. The experts say that torture produces whatever the torturers want to hear. But some of you guys think that you and the politicians know better.

Captain Negative at 5:15PM on Feb 15th 2008

14. Waterboarding does not cause permanent damage, so how can you classify it as torture? Torture is starving somebody or cutting off their thumb. The U.S. has only used the waterboarding technique on 3 terrorist operatives, including the man who literally planned 9/11. Are left-wingers totally incapable of harboring anything but sympathy for these evil bastards? It's disgusting!

By the way, our elite soldiers go through training that involves waterboarding - are they being "tortured"?

Amanda at 5:18PM on Feb 15th 2008

15. We're suppossed to be the good guys. Good guys don't act like the bad guys. It's about the rule of Law (being Right and Just) and nobody is above it. Torture, Spying on fellow Americans, Trashing Habeous Corpus...This isn't the America the Founding Fathers envisioned. They knew a thing or two about State sponsered terrorism and fighting against tyranny. I fear they'd be horrified by America today. My vote WILL count this next election...will yours?

kevin at 5:23PM on Feb 15th 2008