What If Robert Mueller Believed In “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”?

 

It’s a matter of public and journalistic record… a nefarious, sociopathic, despotic, alleged world leader (who shall remain nameless) recently, rabidly, savagely bleated out…

“Torture works. Ok, folks? You know, I have these guys – ‘Torture doesn’t work!’ – believe me, it works. And waterboarding is your minor form. Some people say it’s not actually torture. Let’s assume it is. But they asked me the question, ‘What do you think of waterboarding?’ Absolutely fine. But we should go much stronger than waterboarding.”

NO… IT’S NOT OK, FOLKS!!! Needless to say, no civilized person would ever agree with one syllable of that above quotation’s BS. Doubtlessly, as a proponent of what has been euphemistically referred to as “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques”, he’ll gleefully, (likely someday soon) use them to abuse / torture the ever-growing list of enemies of his own making.

Let’s now accurately refute that BS. From a psychological perspective, a torture victim will say whatever his tormentor wants him to say… even fess up to crimes he did not commit. Why? In hopes such admissions might put an end to the agony.

Hmmm… might that alleged world leader feel compelled to change his alleged mind if (someday soon) he winds up facing down Robert Mueller… only to discover his interrogator is a similar proponent?

To flesh that out… just how would he feel if Mueller’s inquest site is nothing less than a fully equipped, medieval dungeon… a dark, dank torture chamber where “Enhanced Interrogation Techniques” rule… where the methods to all of the madness will be inclusive of…

“…beating, binding in contorted stress positions, hooding, subjection to deafening noise, sleep disruption, sleep deprivation to the point of hallucination, deprivation of food, drink, and withholding medical care for wounds, as well as waterboarding, walling, sexual humiliation, subjection to extreme heat or extreme cold, confinement in small coffin-like boxes, and repeated slapping.”

No intelligent, honorable, humane human being would ever be a proponent of inflicting any of those evil, medieval tactics. Most assuredly, NOT Robert Mueller… NOT yours truly…and hopefully NOT any of you… my readers.

Moreover, if the featured nefarious, sociopathic, despotic, alleged world leader in question were to ever fully, honestly and compassionately question / rethink his own barbaric stance… neither would he.

Alas… neither thinking / rethinking nor honesty nor compassion are among his strong suits.

 

 

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bad, Bad, BAD “Grooming”

 

With all of the recent, front page reportage exposing sexual predators who infest our entertainment industry and political arenas… with many of their victims now speaking openly of how they were abused… I suppose it’s only natural that an old memory of mine has resurfaced.

This incident had to have occurred when I was a 10 or 11-year-old… a public school fifth grader. This was at a stage in my life just prior to entering puberty… a time when I was still totally naive about sexual matters… or more to the point… unaware of the existence of sexual deviants.

You see, the common parental wisdom of that 1960s era, small-town America was childhood ignorance is bliss. Little did they know that kids living in cocoons is every sexual predator’s dream come true.

That certainly set the stage for something awful. In my case, it involved an affable, well respected, “happily married”, veteran schoolteacher, Mr. K… who (no big shocker) also attended the same Catholic church I did. True, I wasn’t officially one of his students. But, since he was also a playground monitor, we soon became pals.

His grooming routine consisted of his ear to ear, grinned greetings and never ending repertoire of silly jokes. His “What’s the good word” catchphrase certainly was a conversation starter, too. His pockets bulging with a never ending supply of chewing gum and candy all but ensured he’d always have tons of kiddies constantly swarming around him.

One day, Mr. K entered the boys lavatory and stood at a urinal near the one I was using. It was just the two of us. At first I didn’t think this was any big deal… but…

Within mere minutes, he turned left… aimed his sticking straight out penis right at me and spewed forth what I believed to be pee. Looking back at it now through my adult eyes, there was no way in hell that that had been urine. Even if it had been, why the need for his messy, abrupt, 90 degree pivot? Huh?

My reaction that day, fortunately, was to totally skip the hand washing routine and bolt for the door. While what Mr. K had done did seem rather odd to me, I simply could not connect the dots… realize that this pervert had just gotten off while, perhaps, even fantasizing about me?

And what if I hadn’t successfully escaped? What would he have done next? Would he have targeted me further in the future?

Well, I did act less friendly towards him afterwards. The very fact that I had run away also must’ve worried him… forced him to believe that I was totally on to him… rattled his cage to the point where he never bothered me again. Back in the here and now, I cannot help but wonder if he ever did the same thing… or worse… to any of my classmates?

Because this had been an isolated incident and sans any physical contact, I’d rank my level of psychological damage to be low. Yet, since I did remember this all so vividly… more than a half century later… I cannot help but wonder if, perhaps, I’m actually underrating it?

 

Read a related article HERE.

 

 

Desperation Sits Behind the Wheel

 

Another act of mass murder. Once again the “latest rage” terrorist MO… vehicular manslaughter. This time in lower Manhattan / NYC.

My heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of the 8 victims who perished and my best wishes for speedy recoveries to the 11 injured… to fullest extent that is humanly / medically possible.

This latest incident begs many questions…

WTF would drive anyone to commit such a heinous crime against humanity? Is it simply a matter of waking up and saying…

“Hmmm… what shall I do today? Where should I go? Oh I know! I’ll hop into my vehicle, turn the key, start the engine, shift it into gear, lead foot it and mow down everyone in my path! Wheeeee!”

Long sigh. I’m sorry to say this, but…

Once again we’ll read the harrowing particulars and our hearts will grow heavy. And then… within mere days… we’ll have little choice but to get on with our busy lives. Sadly, we’ll repress the memories… we’ll have to. Self preservation will kick in. It’s either that or go nuts.

And that begs follow up questions…

Is the sheer frequency of such attacks having a detrimental effect on us? Are they desensitizing us? Will such stories in the news wind up morphing into something resembling sportscasts… the death and injury statistics akin to the “final score” in each “game”?

While I could never, actually, feel that cynical, I am only human. I need to hold onto my sanity, too.

Obviously our society in decay needs to be dealt with STAT! We must put an end to the class warfare perpetrated by those who wallow in obscene wealth… whose unconscionable, oppressive business practices relentlessly beat down, screw over and frustrate ordinary, everyday people… e.g., never, ever pay them living wages, force them to endlessly slave away in poverty… perhaps even in squalor.

Whenever a person’s efforts to get ahead get crushed every step of the way… no matter how hard they try… it can drive them to the point of desperation and outrage. Some will literally take their fight to the streets.

Hopelessness and desperation are the cancers eating away at our society. That’s what’s driving vehicles into crowds of pedestrians.

Meanwhile, back at the latest ground zero, last night, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo weighed in with some tough talk…

“Tonight we are at a Halloween parade to say, ‘You didn’t win. And you didn’t affect us. We’re out and we’re celebrating and we’re doing what New Yorkers do. And we’re living our lives because we’re not going to let the terrorists win. Period!’”

While I admire the steely resolve of Cuomo and the good people of NYC… would never rain on their parade… would never deny anyone their pursuit of happiness, we must never be unaffected. True, we must not cower. But until we right the wrongs of this ceaseless, avarice driven, class warfare which is at the root of these evil terrorist acts, terrorism will rear it’s ugly head again and again… likely someday soon.

Additionally, I cannot help but wonder if any would-be terrorist, within earshot of Cuomo’s words, would ever feel intimidated. Indeed, he would likely interpret that as the Governor throwing down the gauntlet… would counter with his own tough talk retort…

“Oh yeah? Well… we’ll see about that!”

He’d then casually hop into his vehicle, turn the key, start the engine, shift it into gear, lead foot it and mow down everyone in his path while saying, “Wheeeee!”

What then?

Another act of mass murder. Once again the latest rage terrorist MO… vehicular manslaughter. This time in ____________.

Fill in the blank… perhaps, with your hometown’s name? Perhaps with mine?

 

 

Casting Couch Rapists (One Quick Limerick #032)

 

 

Film maker predators make vile demands,
Sexploitive casting call, casting couch stands,
Their own “thinking caps”,
Are just their jock straps,
Their so-called minds overruled by male glands.

 

 

Through the Looking Glass (One Quick Limerick #014)

 

 

On and on the rash narcissist gushes,

On himself he hath fierce schoolboy crushes,

In looking glass he doth revel,

Were he to be on the level,

He’d admit he adores what he flushes?

 

 

What’s Wrong With This Picture?

 

Two days ago, I read and viewed a WordPress essay where the blogger had been unduly critical in evaluating some accompanying self-portrait photographs.

True, I could’ve used the blog comment section to express how this wonderfully talented writer’s excessively harsh critique had profoundly saddened me… BUT…

1. My reaction could’ve easily been dismissed (e.g., “Oh, he’s just being nice”).
2. Within this massive social network, comments do tend to get buried even faster than the blogs, themselves.
3. I felt that such commentary, in my own blog venue, might be better received.
4. Because nearly everyone (inclusive of yours truly), at some point in our lives, has been hypercritical re our own physical appearance, I deemed this matter worthy of presentation to the entire WordPress blogging community… i.e., in hopes that we might get a long overdue discussion going?

Working towards that goal…

While there’s nothing inherently wrong with us trying to look our best, we must never succumb to embracing the entertainment industry’s narrow parameters of beauty. We must never accept how their odious, meat market mindset negatively impacts humankind… targets and objectifies females far more frequently than males.

Merriam-Webster defines “meat market” thusly…

A depersonalizing environment in which people are treated as sexual or economic resources.

Oh, btw, the first known use of this expression dates back to 1896, which just goes to show us how warped and deeply entrenched this devaluation of human beings is. And to be sure, here, this dates back to the dawn of humankind!

I’d love to believe that we could blame this sorry state of affairs on our genes… i.e., the forces of nature have programmed us into being beauty biased just to ensure that only “attractive”, “desirable” traits will breed true… BUT…

How could such mindlessness ever take into account how pretty faces do not automatically ensure pretty minds lurk directly behind them? To be sure, here, possessing / being possessed by “Hollywood good looks” is rarely, if ever, a prerequisite for thinking attractive, desirable thoughts.

Furthermore, do not ugly thoughts also breed true?

Hell… for that answer, we need look no further than the entertainment industry’s corporate big shots who’ve been needlessly instilling inferiority complexes amongst the masses.

AND THAT’S NOT ENTERTAINMENT!!!

I welcome your comments.

A Clear Conscience and Clarity of Thought

 

Granted, humans cannot be expected to remember everything. If we ever attempted to take on such a daunting task, each day would soon become so chaotic we’d likely drive ourselves nuts.

To help maintain our psychological equilibrium, we assess the degree of importance of events, faces, facts and figures, etc.… compartmentalizing this data as either short or long-term memories. We do tend to dismiss low ranked items… in other words… eventually forget the inconsequential stuff. But, that does beg the following Qs…

Would not folks who… oh… say… hire on as high ranking presidential campaign workers OR staff high profile, presidential cabinet positions all become so impressed with… maybe even geeked about… their assignments that they’d automatically categorize more things as important? Ergo, transform more of what they’ve been experiencing and whom they’ve been meeting into long-term memories?

Should not such individuals… oh… say… when questioned during congressional inquests into suspected wrongdoing, become fountains of knowledge? In other words… are they not uniquely qualified / intrinsically better prepared to supply answers to nearly all of the tough questions? And more to the point… is it not their patriotic duty to come clean?

Yet, more often than not, we hear such individuals hemming and hawing… practically mincing words down to their atomic structure… qualifying and prefacing nearly every last damned statement they utter with, “To the best of my recollection…” And then, there’s always that inquest thwarting, stonewalling, robotically deadpanned, “I don’t remember.”

True such amnesia can be legitimate… but what if it’s not? We then wind up witnessing selective amnesia… a.k.a. the convenient feigning of forgetfulness…the ploys to cover up the guilty party’s incompetence, malfeasance and/or corruption.

Let’s not fall victim to, yet, another form of amnesia. We must NEVER forget that the duties many of these federal employees / appointees are responsible for carrying out oft involve national security issues.

Inquisitors must never let slide anyone’s claims of amnesia. Why not? The following two scenarios will elaborate…

Scenario 1: If the forgetfulness is legitimate (and not an isolated occurrence), that means someone might be seriously ill and in need of prompt medical evaluation. Towards them, we can remain compassionate BUT we must also remain vigilant… understand that unless and until meds/therapy can expeditiously “lift the fog” as it were, we cannot allow anyone to remain in a position where being anything less than fully alert could jeopardize our national security.

Scenario 2: If the forgetfulness is feigned (and a chronic behavior), such individuals are in need of prompt legal attention. Their transgressions need to be evaluated in a court of law. Prison sentences should await all who are convicted. If not? Well, then we are allowing such individuals to remain in positions where their corruption could jeopardize our national security.

In our post 9/11 world, national security is what it’s all about. From each of our elected and appointed government entities we cannot and must not settle for anything less than a clear conscience and clarity of thought. Those qualities go hand in hand with transparency in government, too. For anyone unable to meet or exceed (what should be) our high expectations, they should either resign or be fired.