x-posted at http://www.tips-q.com/content/toture-tammy-bruce-unhinged

Did you ever wish that some gay people were straight?

Tammy Bruce’s Web site describes her as “an openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty progressive feminist who has voted for presidents as diverse as President Reagan, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush.” These days she claims to be an independent. She seemingly backed McCain-Palin on feminist grounds. In her glowing endorsement of Sarah, Tammy wrote:

“Palin’s candidacy brings both figurative and literal feminist change. The simple act of thinking outside the liberal box, which has insisted for generations that only liberals and Democrats can be trusted on issues of import to women, is the political equivalent of a nuclear explosion.”

Appearing on the O’Reilly Factor (Video at the bottom of the page), Tammy weighs in on torture:

“It takes a liberal to suggest or to say directly that liberating 53 million people is a war crime. It takes a liberal to say that keeping this nation safe from another horrific attack by terrorists is a war crime; That keeping this nation safe is a war crime. That in fact defending this nation is a crime in and of itself. … loud music and standing for long hours and not having enough water is what I experience in West Hollywood on occasion. The truth of the matter is, this is classic Bush Derangement Syndrome.”

Where to begin? First of all, Tammy’s arguments are based on the false premise that torture is effective. Numerous experts have concluded that torture does not yield reliable information and then makes it impossible to obtain valid intelligence from the person who was tortured. In fact, torture is credited with having been the origin of substantial recruitment by terrorist groups as well as a significant factor in motivating those cadres to maniacal levels. Therefore, it seems likely that the mistreatment of prisoners by the US has directly contributed to the deaths of US personnel on the battlefield. Furthermore, in reducing our moral standing in the world, torture makes negotiations for peaceful solutions all the more difficult.

Comparing the abuse of prisoners to what Tammy “experience(s) in West Hollywood is simply absurd if not moronic. This kind of mindless rhetoric undermines any legitimate argument that Tammy might have.

Finally, regarding “classic Bush Derangement Syndrome,” this is a form of nonsensical argument that seeks to deflect criticism back to the critic. They trotted out the same idiocy this fall to counter criticism of Palin. At the end of the day, Bush is criticized on this issue for invalidating the Geneva Conventions, engaging in a “strategy” that was counter-productive and authorizing what many people consider to be a war crime. None of that is invalidated by calling Bush’s critics crazy.