Torture

I caught this great commentary on Slate today concerning the connections between the Bush Administration's use of torture & the character of Jack Bauer on tv's "24."

Our torture policy has deeper roots in Fox television than the Constitution

This is a great read and another example of learning the wrong lessons from books & tv. It also reminded me of a post I made last year about Batman & torture.

Batman Tortures His Enemies Too

This got me thinking about the latest Batman "lesson."

There is a great scene in the new Dark Knight movie where Batman pounds the snot out of the Joker in police lock-up. Many have commented that there was a lot of symbolism throughout the movie and specifically this scene. Perhaps, but the scene itself is not new to the Batman mythos. Nor are the results. The results are tainted, mixed with half-truths and leave a scar on everyone involved. That's the one reality that we can take from this fiction. It's one of the many lessons that Batman taught me through the years: Yeah, you can use ends to justify the means, but get ready to face the consequences.

But, I guess John Yoo doesn't read/watch enough Batman.