Ethics

Public Opinion on Torture

By Ed Brayton

I recently asserted, based mostly on anecdotal evidence, that the American public by and large doesn't care about torture and, if anything, a majority wants the government to engage in torture. But Glenn Greenwald cites a recent survey that pretty clearly suggests otherwise. In fact, that poll is very encouraging on a range of issues.

It is exceedingly conventional wisdom that Americans generally view the world through the prism of Jack Bauer and therefore want our government to torture, want Guantanamo kept opened, and do not want suspected Terrorists to be tried in civilian courts inside the U.S. It is even more commonly asserted that Americans do not want, and even further, would never tolerate, criminal investigations into the various crimes of Bush officials.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on January 28, 2009 (boomark / email).