Dick Cheney is throwing former Pres. George W. Bush under the bus on the torture program, but to be fair, he’s not deliberately being a jerk about this. He really believes the crazy stuff he’s saying. In the same interview that we reported this morning, he claimed that the now infamous rectal feeding (aka rectal dehydration) that was done on prisoners was done “for medical reasons.”
Intelligence officials maintain that this is a way to provide nutrition to prisoners. Shut up!!! Idiots.
The fact is, those of us who don’t mind reading and researching know this: the practice of “rectal feeding” is a medieval torture technique whereby?the intestines are?filled? with fluid in order to cause discomfort and pain.?One physician?described it as “sexual assault masquerading as medical treatment.” Other doctors insist that it is NOT a medical procedure.
From IBTimes:
?This is a variation on a medieval form of torture in which the intestines were swollen up with fluid in order to cause pain,” said Dr. Steven Miles, a professor of medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School and board member of the Center for Victims of Torture, both of which are in Minneapolis. “You can’t feed somebody this way. And so, for the U.S. government to claim that this is some sort of feeding technique, that’s just totally bizarre,? he said. ?Because there is no physiological way for any nutrients to be absorbed in the colon, any medical participation in this rectal feeding procedure is medical participation in torture.?
But who cares what doctors think, right? We have Dick’s opinion.?He thinks that it’s all good because it totally worked.
?It worked. It absolutely worked,? he said on Sunday about the program which US officials euphemistically have referred to as employing ?enhanced interrogation techniques.?’
There is really no reasoning with Dick Cheney. It’s a waste of time. He’s justified every bit of this in his mind. He says over and over that his definition of torture is the 9/11 attacks on U.S. citizens. The question is, will the right wing follow his lead? Will they somehow make all of this OK? And if they do, what does that say about us as a nation and a people?
Watch the video below.
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Tiffany Willis is a fifth-generation Texan and the founder and editor-in-chief of Liberal America. An unapologetic member of the Christian Left, she has spent most of her career actively working with ?the least of these? and disadvantaged and oppressed populations. She’s passionate about their struggles. To stay on top of topics she discusses,?like her?Facebook page,?follow her on Twitter, or?connect with her via LinkedIn. She also has?a?grossly neglected personal blog?and a?literary quotes blog that is a labor of love. Find her somewhere and join the discussion.
