The program
Bush threatens halt to torture
September 15, 2006 3 comments
George W. Bush muddled the name of some legislation again at his press conference today, referring to the “Detainee Detention Act”. So evil they detained them twice. But the President had a clear message to deliver:
If our professionals don’t have clear standards in the law, the program is not going to go forward.
In case you were wondering what the “program” was that the “professionals” needed to execute, Bush went on to clarify thus: “This program won’t go forward”, “It’s just not gonna go forward”, “The program is not going forward”, “The point is that the program is not going to go forward if our professionals do not have clarity in law” – and, once more for luck, “The program’s not going forward.” What is The Program? Why, the program to have secret prisoners questioned by experts – the torture program. A program that goes forward is expanded upon. Can it be that there are some who actually do not want to see this happen? Get with the program, people.
Yes, ‘the program’, but I fear for the word ‘professional’. I thought of myself as a professional for many years, and now I think I’d prefer some other word.
Well, “professional” has undergone a consistent semantic expansion from the days when it applied only to lawyers & doctors, etc. It’s only natural that it should now cover torturers as well.
Oh, don’t be mean. You know what this chap’s like. He can never keep it all straight in his head for five minutes after he’s been told it by Cheney. He doesn’t mean the program: he means the project. You know, the New American Century one.