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Coerce Congress to tell the truth

MODEST PROPOSAL

August 27, 2006|James Bovard, JAMES BOVARD is the author, most recently, of "Attention Deficit Democracy" (2006).

Exposure to extreme cold and heat is another method routinely used by U.S. interrogators. Sen. Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) has been the biggest Democratic apologist for Abu Ghraib in the Senate, so perhaps he could be strapped to a block of ice until he explains how using "coercion" helps the United States win hearts and minds in the Muslim world.

Public interrogations of elected representatives should use the same rules Bush favors for tribunals -- anyone could make an anonymous accusation against a congressman, and congressmen would be prohibited from seeing or cross-examining their accusers. Secret evidence could be allowed, even if it (or the "secret" being protected) failed the laugh test. We cannot let old-fashioned due-process rigamarole impede our pursuit of the truth.


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Some people may object, contending that waterboarding congressmen will tarnish the dignity of democracy. But this is rather quaint, considering everything Congress has already rubber-stamped.

Besides, politicians are not being coerced to approve the use of coerced confessions, so they still have time to avoid reaping what they sow.

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