I’ve never thought too highly of Wisconsin blogger and frequent Boots & Sabers commenter Scott Feldstein, but now he’s hit a new low. On December 19 he wrote an irate post about how morally inferior those of us who support torture of terrorists in certain circumstances are. The (censored) highlights:
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When the f*** did we start condoning state sanctioned torture? Raise your hand right now if you’re for torture. I’ll make a list of people whom I would not let walk my dog, let alone have any position of responsibility or judgement. A list of moral retards…Anyone who wants to trade their souls for some perceived security is a chickens*** motherf***er who should be kept far away from small children and sharp objects.
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Of course, we know waterboarding has worked, and a lot of innocent American civilians could very well be dead today if Feldstein had his way. Oh, and this guy’s concern about human rights, compassion, and the US’s moral credibility is wholly selective—predictably, he supports killing innocent babies. Phony.
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When the f*** did we start condoning state sanctioned torture? Raise your hand right now if you’re for torture. I’ll make a list of people whom I would not let walk my dog, let alone have any position of responsibility or judgement. A list of moral retards…Anyone who wants to trade their souls for some perceived security is a chickens*** motherf***er who should be kept far away from small children and sharp objects.
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Of course, we know waterboarding has worked, and a lot of innocent American civilians could very well be dead today if Feldstein had his way. Oh, and this guy’s concern about human rights, compassion, and the US’s moral credibility is wholly selective—predictably, he supports killing innocent babies. Phony.
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As pathetic as all this is, it isn’t what spurred me to write this post. In the comments section, we see the following exchange:
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MIKE: being a fomer us marine if it saves only one of my brothers im all for it,fight fire with fire. it is clear to me none of you have ever been to a combat zone or have ever served this great nation! its called war for a reason.suck it up butter cups!
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SCOTT: It’s clear to me, Mike, that you don’t really understand what makes our nation great in the first place.
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MIKE: Your telling a us marine he doesnt understand what makes his nation great ! its people like me that went to somolia ,the gulf .i earned my f***ing stay, what the f*** have you done? just keep running your sewer we all need a breeze
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SCOTT: I stand by what I said, Mike. One of the things that makes our nation great is the fact that we have respect for individual liberty and human rights. One of the chief manifestations of this value is the fact that we don’t torture people. I won’t give up my values for safety (real or perceived). How about you? Thanks for your service, by the way. As for what I’ve done, I earn the money that pays your salary.
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Where does this twerp get off thinking he can tell an American serviceman he doesn’t understand his country’s greatness? The arrogance, the sense of innate superiority, is stunning. What a pathetic, disgusting hypocrite.
As pathetic as all this is, it isn’t what spurred me to write this post. In the comments section, we see the following exchange:
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MIKE: being a fomer us marine if it saves only one of my brothers im all for it,fight fire with fire. it is clear to me none of you have ever been to a combat zone or have ever served this great nation! its called war for a reason.suck it up butter cups!
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SCOTT: It’s clear to me, Mike, that you don’t really understand what makes our nation great in the first place.
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MIKE: Your telling a us marine he doesnt understand what makes his nation great ! its people like me that went to somolia ,the gulf .i earned my f***ing stay, what the f*** have you done? just keep running your sewer we all need a breeze
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SCOTT: I stand by what I said, Mike. One of the things that makes our nation great is the fact that we have respect for individual liberty and human rights. One of the chief manifestations of this value is the fact that we don’t torture people. I won’t give up my values for safety (real or perceived). How about you? Thanks for your service, by the way. As for what I’ve done, I earn the money that pays your salary.
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Where does this twerp get off thinking he can tell an American serviceman he doesn’t understand his country’s greatness? The arrogance, the sense of innate superiority, is stunning. What a pathetic, disgusting hypocrite.
Conservative Standards 
Calvin, you and Mike can both kiss my liberal American butt. Yes, I wrote a post about the moral inferiority of people who support torture. And I’ll continue to write them just as long as people such as yourself are supporting it. Furthermore, I don’t think you have the balls to say any of this stuff to my face.
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Oh no? The same could be said of your trademark obnoxiousness & self-righteous preening that permeate every debate of yours.I support waterboarding because it has saved American lives. So I’m starting out less-than impressed when liberals like you propose policy changes that we know would mean dead innocents. But then to hold yourself up as a better person because of your dangerous view? That’s strike two.And the icing on the cake? Treating imprisoned terrorists with restraint is of the utmost concern, yet innocent preborn babies should be killable in your demented world.Strike three, fella. You’re out.
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I feel an impulse, Calvin, toward some degree of reconciliation; to find some common ground onto which we can both take a step back from our polar opposite positions. But you know what? I keep coming back to one thing: I very firmly <>do<> believe that people who advocate state-sanctioned torture are morally inferior (your words) to people who oppose it. That being the case, my desire to ratchet down the rhetoric must remain unfulfilled. Your position is very well stated. I understand it completely. At my age, however, I have a little more moral clarity than I did 20 years ago. Sometimes one side really is right, and the other wrong. I believe absolutely that a government which tortures people is wrong, wrong, wrong–in the same way I know that institutionalized racism is wrong. There’s is no gray area here for me to wear as a mantle of reasonableness, no matter how reasonable I may wish to appear on it.
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It’s just as well; to be honest, I have no interest whatsoever in “reconciliation” with you…after all, we are known by the company we keep.If you wanna maintain your certainty that we’re monsters because we’re not willing to doom innocent Americans to death, go right ahead. I’ll mantain my certainty that your a self-rigteous hypocrite.
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*Raising hand* I support water boarding. I don’t believe water boarding is torture…no matter what the left says. How many lives should be sacrificed to satisfy the ideals of the left?
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Yeah, I’d like to hear a liberal admit that not doing this sort of thing will make successful terrorist attacks more likely, and THEN tell us they still want waterboarding stopped.
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