Sunday, January 13, 2008

Could Torture be... Torture?

Like a wind moving through the palms,
Russling the leaves of complacency,
The Director of a funny thing called, "National Intelligence"
Shows symptoms of... what could it be?
When was the last time we actually saw this--this--
Is there a word for it?
Perhaps only a quote could suffice for this utterly mysterious quality:
"If I had water draining into my nose, oh God, I just can't imagine how painful! Whether it's torture by anybody else's definition, for me it would be torture."

What's that?
A faint echo of something learned once?
Something about a golden rule or some such...
Let's check Thesaurus.com...

Ah, there's a candidate.
Empathy.
The director of national intelligence shows a sign of
Empathy.

Alert the presses!
Call for a Congressional Hearing!
When was empathy ever a part of our national intelligence?
Whatever could our national intelligence become
If it shows signs of empathy?

Surely the powers that be
Will take notice
That this dangerous new quality must be sequestered
A virus--like gangs!
And we should take heed
That it never arises again...
for the sake of national intelligence.
See: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20080113/terrorist-interrogation/

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