Posted by chicagomedia.org on May 26, 2009 at 10:24:43:
Mancow's waterboarding stunt worth a tip of the cap
Eric Zorn | Change of Subject
May 26, 2009
Three words I thought I'd never write:
Kudos to Mancow.
WLS-AM 890 midmorning host Erich "Mancow" Muller was waterboarded on the air Friday to try to back up his insistence that the controversial interrogation technique isn't really so bad that it rises to the level of torture.
I don't have the guts. I've see enough videos of other media personalities, lying back with their faces covered by a damp cloth as water is poured into their mouths and noses, to realize it's an awful experience.
And I don't need the guts. I've got nothing to prove. I'm already on the side that says waterboarding is torture and therefore a war crime.
Yet Mancow, whose blowhard act I generally find tedious and offensive, is one of the few apologists who has been willing to put his dismissive attitude to the test.
A retired U.S. Marine did the honors, after first telling Mancow that the average person can withstand being waterboarded for only 14 seconds.
Mancow lasted a shade over 5 seconds before squirming free, sitting up and sputtering, "Oh, God, oh!"
He went on: "It is way worse than I thought it would be, and that's no joke. ... I heard about water being dropped on someone's face. And I never considered it torture. Even when I was laying there, I thought, 'This is going to be no big deal. I go swimming. It's going to be like being in the tub.' "
But the feelings of panic were "instantaneous and horrific," he told his listening audience. "And I don't want to say this: absolutely torture. Absolutely."
Later that day, MSNBC's arch-liberal Keith Olbermann announced on his program, "Countdown," that he would donate $10,000 in Mancow's name to Veterans of Valor, a nonprofit organization that aids combat-wounded veterans and their families.
That's roughly $2,000 a second -- twice the amount Olbermann had promised to donate to charity if Fox News host Sean Hannity (whose syndicated right-wing bloviations are also heard on WLS-AM) followed through on his April 22 offer to be waterboarded "for the troops' families."
Hannity faltered. Mancow came through.
And yes, Mancow's experience was a radio stunt and didn't add anything to the debate over whether the United States should have waterboarded detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. But it ought to settle once and for all the debate over whether waterboarding constitutes torture.
Speaking of water on faces, at nearly the same hour Friday morning down the dial at WGN-AM 720, tears were glistening on the cheeks of co-hosts Judy Markey and Kathy O'Malley.
They were presiding over the final "Kathy and Judy Show," an institution at the Tribune-owned station for the last 20 years. The legendary pair of reformed newspaper columnists planned to retire next year from their daily, 9 a.m.-noon show, but management is trying to attract a younger audience and chose to sweep them out early.
Whether or not you agree with that business decision or were a fan of Kathy and Judy (I was an admirer rather than a regular listener; they perfected the art of dishy lifestyle-oriented jibber-jabber), you've got to give credit to the station for allowing them to say a long, grateful goodbye to their listeners.
Media outlets -- including, at times, this newspaper -- too often don't allow departing personalities the chance to close out their often deep relationship with their followers. So though the end of "Kathy and Judy" was sad, at least it wasn't a disgrace.
(Chicago Tribune)