{"id":235,"date":"2008-02-03T13:02:52","date_gmt":"2008-02-03T18:02:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/2parse.com\/?p=235"},"modified":"2008-02-03T13:02:52","modified_gmt":"2008-02-03T18:02:52","slug":"openly-opposing-torture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/2parse.com\/?p=235","title":{"rendered":"“Openly opposing torture”"},"content":{"rendered":"

At least two actors who openly oppose torture have accepted parts on the [the television show 24<\/em>].<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

From Rebecca Dana of the Wall Street Journal<\/em>‘s story<\/a> entitled “Reinventing 24<\/em>” in yesterday’s paper.<\/p>\n

The sentence jumped out at me as I read the piece. The sentence suggested a kind of furtiveness to opposition to torture – suggesting those who “openly promote the homosexual agenda<\/a>“, who “openly embrace socialist medicine”, who “openly promote apostate Catholicism<\/a>“, “openly promote keyword spamming<\/a>“, “openly promote intolerance<\/a>“, “openly promote cigarettes to minors<\/a>” “openly embrace prejudice<\/a>“, who “openly oppose a living wage<\/a>“, “openly oppose any talks with Iran that might resolve the nuclear issue<\/a>“, who “openly oppose what built this Nation<\/a>“, and those who “openly embrace the hysterical homophobia mouthed by Christian fundamentalist groups from all over the country<\/a>“.\u00a0 ((I acknowledge these are not exact quotes – I have changed the tenses and in some sentences deleted phrases in order to conform all of them to the structure I set up; but I have attempted to maintain the original meaning of each.))<\/p>\n

In almost every usage I was able to find, adding the adverb “openly” to describe a political act indicates a kind of shame associated with that act.\u00a0 The openness is supposed to shock – “Not only does this candidate seem to accept x<\/em> view, they openly promote it!”<\/p>\n

I don’t blame Ms. Dana for using the phrase – but it was shocking to find it associated with opposing torture.\u00a0 Have we really come that far as a nation that opposing torture is now somewhat embarrassing?\u00a0 I don’t think so.\u00a0 But enough mainstream conservatives have defended torture as to make it an acceptable point of view in the press.<\/p>\n

There is shame in that.<\/p>\n

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