Note - I'm on the conservative side of the spectrum. I am appalled at the idea that we're stepping down that slippery slope towards torture.
That being said, I AM trying to find primary sources about what went on, without the histrionics and vitriol and the "Bush Wants It, It Must Be Bad". Not that I'm in any way a fan of Our Great And Glorious Shrub; would've voted Dems last time if Daschle had been the nominee.
I tend to hold that Article 2 of the Geneva Convention quite specifically states that those who violate the conventions by their actions and deeds, and those who fail to act in accordance with it, are not protected by it. I can understand the opposing view, I hold many of you in high regard. I do not expect my statement to change anyone's opinion here.
Question is, can the folks at Making Light, who generally regard tolerance as a virtue, tolerate someone who holds a contrary opinion on this matter and form an actual dialogue and discussion? Or will I be castigated as being an idiot for holding a contrarian view, as has happened here before?
That question asked, I have the following:
I'm still back-checking this source.
How To Interrogate A Terrorist
And, by way of comparison:
Abu Ghraib After America Leaves
First - I don't post often on political threads; based on the tenor of this thread, I'm farther to the right than most of you. I consider myself an "aggressive moderate"; by the standards of discourse here on Making Light, I'm probably about two steps shy of being a goose-stepping Bushite.
That being said, I'm willing to try to act as the "Loyal Opposition". I'm no fan of our Great and Glorious Shrub. I'm horrified at how we've gone from "two parties that compromise" to "two parties that villify".
This being said, your response to waterboarding and other torture techniques illustrates EXACTLY how the Democrats lost the '04 elections.
It's fundamental salesmanship.
Tell the customer (voter) how their lives are going to be tangibly improved by making this choice one way or another.
Give me a candidate who actually stands for something - and has some sense of a vision that isn't a series of gibberish promises contingent on his poll numbers - and I'll vote for him, either party.
Which means - how do you turn this issue into something where Democrats can show leadership and resolve?
I sell a tee shirt (my company prints and sells them), that makes me think of Mike.
"I've had Ups and Downs
with Top and Bottom.
Now I'm looking
for Strange and Charming"
The next time met him, I was going to challenge him to write a sestina on those mingled themes (the six flavors of quark, and the need to look for compatability over kink).
Damn. Need to write that one myself, now, and my talent for prosody is nowhere near his.
My favorite Mike Ford quote, from a place I no longer recollect - probably GEnie, in response to a posting of mine.
"We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt."
I've passed that on to many writers under my tutelage as an editor and game designer and publisher.
I have periodic recurring hepatitus, dating back to infancy. I've been told that this prevents me from donating blood - does it prevent me from signing an organ donation card?
Mike always had an ear cocked for the peals of the horns of Elfland, the wild hunt sent to take him home.
I got to meet Mike a few times over the years, talk projects with him. The timing, or his health, or my schedule never quite let them come to fruition.
An exhortation he gave to me, and which I've given to writers under my tutelage boils down to "We're all living on borrowed time. The trick is to come up with works of sufficient interest to pay off the debt."
You can probably picture Mike saying that.
I suspect his last dialogue wasn't bargaining with the ferryman. It was Mike trying to charm the Muses into letting him stay for one more story, for one more chance to sit there and smile at Elise for all the reasons in the world, none of which need be stated.
Mike was only lent to us by the Ladies of Parnassus. All of those writings and witticisms and that quiet, understated charm were the result of the Muses coming down from the mountain to take him home, and him saying, "Ah, but I have one more story to tell...", and entertaining them until dawn, where as shy creatures of myth, they had to leave without him.
We got 30 years of Mike dazzling everyone within earshot and the range of literacy, and that time was all borrowed by his own admission. Elise gave him several reasons to live, and by doing so, kept him around for a longer span of time than we'd've overwise seen...and for that, Elise, every blessed one of us is in your debt.
I'm sure, in spite of the fawning company of the Muses of Parnassus, he's looking for the one with her head tilted, trying to read the words on everyone's lips, her hair all fey and silver, her hands twisting bits of metal, wondering why he's got all these lyrical ideas to share, and no Elise to share them with.
-- Ken Burnside
Ad Astra Games
design@adastragames.com
| Year | Number of comments posted |
|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 |
| 2006 | 6 |
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