Mancow Addresses Accusation That His Waterboarding Was A Hoax (VIDEO)

Erich 'Mancow' Muller appeared on "Countdown with Keith Olbermann" Friday to address rumors that the waterboarding he underwent a few weeks ago to see whether the technique was constituted torture was in fact a hoax. Olbermann mentioned a report on Gawker which reported that Mancow's waterboarding was 'completely fake' and simply a publicity stunt. As evidence they mentioned an email from Mancow's publicist that said "It will be a hoax but have to look real."

While Mancow admitted to Olbermann that it was fair to call the incident a "stupid radio stunt," he noted that "waterboarding, all it is is water in your nose and mouth with your head back. I'm not David Copperfield. We had 50 news cameras there." He suggested that while the event was meant as a stunt, as his publicist suggested, the events that took place were completely real.

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Comments

[SARGE1]

No Hoax

-Sarge

[Tonyrich300]

Can these right wing nuts actually listen to what Mancow has to say? I agree his waterboarding was not as good as that of Christopher Hitchens and it was not as brutal as those done to our detainees, but the fact is that he lasted only 6 seconds and was screaming torture. If it was a hoax, won't he say it was just like taking a shower? It seems people are just attacking him because he is a rightwinger who was converted by personal experience. Whats worse is that Mancow predicted that this would be the reaction from the right.
If they still believe this is fake, why don't they urge Sean Hannity to fulfill his promise and get waterboarded for charity. Its no big deal, is it? Or is Sean Hannity scared to death?

[johnnygoodwud]

mancow is the hoax,,,,,,,,,,going from shock jock to what is he now, conservative right wing radio announcer. reminds me of dennis miller, has been comedian to radio show host,,,,,,,,,he is still on isn't he? mancow is on number 14 of his 15 minutes, and he knows he's tanking.

[mick7191]

The difference between Miller and Mancow was that Mancow was funny. Dennis Miller was NEVER funny. Ever.

[Pyfagorus]

Dennis Miller was funny once.... that time Dana Carvey did the impression of him.

[Kareltje]

So maybe Sean Hannity isn't unnecessary afterall

[Rashomon]

It seems to me this was set up as a stunt to prove waterboarding is not torture. But the stunt turned out to actually be effective and so that is why he is going into enemy territory to say he came to this conclusion. I don't entirely see how a right wing guy goes onto a left wing show to get more fans. If anything he would lose the few who already listen to him.
I mean think about it. If he was faking it then the better publicity [if you are right wing] is to do the stunt for a solid minute and walk away laughing. Then go around and tell the world, "waterboarding is not torture and I know cause I did it...."
So I'm saying it was not faked. It was a stunt that made him a believer. Unless, of course, his publicity handlers have some bigger plan - which at this point seems note to be the case.

[Sepulchre]

It's called pulling a stunt and having it bite you in the @ss.

[Tonyrich300]

I totally agree with you

[A-VotR]

IMO, he did want to do it, so he could prove it wasn't torture, and it scared him to death when he found out otherwise.

Unfortunately, people who have been, have also been restrained and they don't know how long the water will be coming.

He was lucky enough to call it quits when he started to panic.

[ConfuciusSay-]

When there is evidence mounted against a conservative case, they attempt to impeach the witness. Actually learning from reality is a foreign concept.

[Stonybrooke2]

The witness is the publicist who wrote the email which KO read on the air and she didn't deny anything that was in the email.

[Sepulchre]

It was suposed to be a hoax. They were planning on using a much lesser version of waterboarding, using less water pressure etc. to prove that it was infact not torture. However that lesser version proved to be to much for Madcow and he got bit in the @ss by his own stunt, and admitted it was torture.

[Doug Holmes]

The witness is the publicist that wrote the e-mail and not the person waterboarded?

[libertyreturns]

A long time ago, my face was burned when the radiator cap popped off the car radiator and I was standing right over it. When I went to the hospital, they poured water in my eyes to clean out any debris and to slow the burning or whatever else that may have helped. They made sure my mouth and nose were clear. When they started pouring the water, I immediately was unable to breathe because I had the sensation of being underwater­/drowning. I started throwing my body around and they had to hold me down to continue. I remember the feeling vividly. It was a horrible sensation. I was drowning! Had they been interrogating me then, I would have told them ANYTHING to stop. I can only imagine what it would have been like if they were actually pouring water down my mouth and nose. Torture! Plain and simple. Has been since the Spanish Inquisitions.

[Stonybrooke2]

The soldier who conducted the "WB":

"I know nothing about waterboarding. I had never done it before, I have no formal training in it, and I've never had it done to me. The only thing I knew was what I saw on the internet.

I went to waterboarding.org and looked it up. I just did what I was told—poured the water on his face and that was it. I'm probably the last person they should have had do it. I didn't know what I was doing."

[LittleSanityLeft]

It's not splitting the atom. Water boarding is just pouring water down the nose and throat. You don't need to be a military expert to do it, you just need water, a victim and opposable thumbs, that's it.

[pinkoursula]

The thumbs may be optional.

[ConfuciusSay-]

So?

[marco01]

Link please.

[marco01]

BTW, he wasn't a soldier, he was a Marine.

[Stonybrooke2]

What a joke you are!

[JustMe133]

Anyone on the right knows when they start speaking the truth and outing their side for the liars they are their side will fabricate anything. This is what people do who live each day in denial!! The repub party are dropping like flies! LOL

[Stonybrooke2]

Another "Bad choice of words.""

haha.

You don't pour the water into the mouth.

You put a towel over the head, tilt the head down and pour the water down the nose.

[toochie]

Mancow. The name is fitting.

[JScott]

'Mancow' whatta silly radio personality name like 'Family Guy's' the Butt.

[Okieborn]

Bush , Cheney Rumsfeld, Rice and who knows how many more, were guilty of letting the water boarding be placed into action !!
They all will get a free pass and to me that is not what this great nation is about !!!

[timothe]

How many more? That would be about 30 Senators and at least 100 members in Congress who were briefed multiple times about the interrogation tactics used by the military at that time.

Our legislative branch of government didn't become outraged about waterboarding until it was politically expedient to do so.

Remember that. YOUR elected representatives supported this form of interrogation when Bush's approval numbers were in the 70s. Next time, maybe you should be honest and list some of those people as well. But then again, you can't really call Bush a criminal if he had permission from Congress, can you?

[roald]

Yes, I can call Bush a criminal if ordered the torture. Any member of Congress, truly aware of what was happening and not bound by oath or similar to not act, is an accomplice.

[JShankel]

If waterboarding isn't torture, then why does anyone believe it will be effective in a "ticking time bomb scenario?"

Why do we imagine that hardened terrorists will crack in less than a few hours of NOT being tortured?

You can't have it both ways. Either waterboarding is deeply physically intolerable, enough so to make a hard-core al Qaida operative betray a major mission, in which case it's torture, or it's just an annoying fraternity-prank style bit of lockup bullying, in which case any well-trained terrorist will certainly be able to hold out long enough to let the ticking clock run down.

[roald]

A well trained terrorist could also have or make up an alternative truth (aka lie) to let the clock run down.

[Doug Holmes]

Yeah, especially since death during the mission is an 8 lane expressway to heaven. They are beyond willing to give their lives, they can't wait to.

[greendream]

How can waterboarding be 'hoaxed'?

[toadicux]

It was vodka!!!!