Funniest line I've heard in some time:

[PCIntern]

On NPR's "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" one of the panelists commented in reference to the Torture Defense which states that we gained important information through torture so it's OK. The gentleman stated that that was like a persistent shoplifter getting caught and accused and his response is, "Call it what you will, look at all the great stuff I have!"

I thought that that was pretty apt.

[Liberal_in_LA]

1. good one! n/t

[tekisui]

2. !

:spray:

[TomorrowNeverKnows]

3. HAHAHAH,

Good one! :rofl:

[jgraz]

4. Nothing points out the moral putrescence of the Repugs more than the "it worked" defense

Aside from the fact that it's a lie, it's a purely sociopathic justification for criminal behavior.


Someone bothering you at work? Contract murder is a really effective solution.

Need some money? I hear a $50-billion ponzi scheme is a great way to generate some extra scratch.

Don't want to lose an election? Electronic vote theft is the way to go!


And if you get caught, just tell the court that they need to look forward, not back -- and that they should try to avoid the appearance of being vindictive.

[Mz Pip]

5. I doubt many courts

look too kindly on the "Yes but it worked!" defense.

The neighbor's dog may be barking at night but you can't just shoot the critter to shut him up. Yeah, it would work but it's illegal. Would probably really piss off the neighbor, too.

Crime does work from the point of view of the criminal.

[frogcycle]

6. Woman shoots husband

Defense: Well, it worked. He's dead, isn't he?

[11 Bravo]

12. Then asks for leniency because she's a widow.

[nichomachus]

7. It's called "pragmatism" and it's a terrible moral theory

Basically, it says that anything that works out is good.

We invaded Iraq illegally, killed upwards of a million innocent people, destabilized the country, ruined the infrastructure -- but we toppled Saddam Hussein, so everything was okay.

It's worse than other utilitarian theories because it doesn't weigh the effects of the bad things you do and balance them against the good -- the "greater good" type theories.

Pragmatism singles out one result and uses that as the justifying reason.

People who use it are pretty much morally bankrupt.

[southerncrone]

9. Not just morally bankrupt, but psychopaths.

[glitch]

10. ends justify the means.

Not just morally bankrupt but illogical since in a continuum there are no ends.

[alterfurz]

11. "whenever the ends are used to justify the means...

...you never get where you think you're going, instead the route you take becomes your destination."

[glitch]

13. Exactly! Life is a process, the means ARE the ends

and the ends ARE the means. Justifying torture for some mythical future simply means you've added torture to your present. Period.

Thats the kind of path followed by fools like George Bush and Dick Cheney and Eric Prince.
Now who wants to be like them? Really now.

[malaise]

8. Don't think it's funny

but it's a great analogy

[rufus dog]

14. Rustydog stated the following;

If it works, where the hell is Bin Laden?