Posted on 09/15/2010 11:05:14 AM PDT by lowbridge
Torture sanctioned by President George W. Bush to fight terrorists was illegal and wrong and America has yet to confront the topic to avoid future abuses, the U.S. Solicitor General for President Ronald Reagan argues in a new book.
"Because it is Wrong: Torture, Privacy and Presidential Power in the Age of Terror" by Harvard Law scholar Charles Fried, a Republican, and his son Gregory Fried -- a Suffolk University philosophy professor who votes Democrat -- asks if it is permissible to torture in order to safeguard Americans.
Despite the differing politics of the father-son authors, they agreed it was never morally right to torture and therefore never permissible to do so.
"I think that (the Bush administration) broke the law and what they did was disgusting and terrible and degrading," Charles Fried told Reuters in an interview.
Gregory Fried added, "What is so terrible about torture is it is a fundamental assault on human dignity."
The book paints Vice President Dick Cheney as the principle villain, albeit one whose motive -- trying to protect Americans from terrorism -- was right.
On the issue of privacy and surveillance, they agreed that a president can break the law in an emergency but must be upfront that he is doing so to give Congress the chance to change the law to support or refute his action.
"We do not think there is an absolute right to privacy," said the son.
The pair found that in researching and writing the book, which draws on sources as diverse as the Bible to the Constitution, they changed their views on the death penalty. The elder Fried had felt it was permissible and the younger said he was "agnostic" on the issue. But they now both believe the death penalty, like torture, is fundamentally wrong.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
BULL
This is what happens when you eat lunch every day with leftist co-workers. I mean, he voted for Obambi ? Who’s surprised ?
I find it rather amazing that Fried couldn’t vote for McCain. McCain wanted Gitmo closed and thought water-boarding was torture. McCain could have written just what these two did. As for the Palin quotient, she would not have had any influence whatsoever on McCain’s policies.
She would have been ostracized under McCain, like Johnson was under Kennedy.
Fried knew this. He voted for Obama anyway.
His excuse (Palin) was nonsensical.
Hopefully, Charles and Gregory Fried will have the opportunity to discuss torture with the Taliban or some Somali Pirates in the near future.
America should use the same rules to win today as it used against Germany and Japan. Other than mass internments.
Although the day after a WMD attack on the US all bets on the last sentence are off.
Meh
Don't need to read any further than that.
Is this someone whose guidance I ought to seek or just another senile old coot.
Let's say I were torturing the father or the son, would either, as appropriate, feel they had a moral right to try to stop me?
Well there we have it ~ a paradox.
Another pair of lefty academics toss down a note from the ivory tower. Big frigging deal.
And on top of that, Reuters felt that it was newsworthy. There’s a shock. :-)
You’ll remember that CIA’s interrogation methods were discussed and approved by congressional leaders.
We don’t torture, so the point is moot.
A couple of fried Frieds.
They both need testosterone therapy. Wimps.
VP Cheney stated we did not have a policy of torture. Until confronted with a smoking gun, which has never been presented, I believe him.
Me too. And, real torture would be to have to sit in front of a TV 24 hours a day and watch Pelosi statements and Obama state of the union addresses - now that’s real torture. The rest - fluff.
Where do these A-holes pop up from?
Obviously, Fried is nut’s.
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