Talk Show Host Tries Out "Torture"

Hello, I’m Charlotte Bellis and you’re watching Newsy.com

Conservative Chicago-based radio host Erich “Mancow” Muller is the latest media figure to voluntarily undergo waterboarding.

“We’re going to do it on five, ok? One, two… I lied.”
“That’s it, that’s it.”
“Oh, God, oh.”

We’re looking at perspectives on this trend of  public figures subjecting themselves to waterboarding… So let’s start with Mancow’s recent appearance on MSNBC.

“Look, I was laughing about this, this was a stupid radio thing, and I thought I could go 30 seconds – I’ll hold my breath, big deal, they sprinkle water. It is a big deal, and it’s torture.”

Columnist Eric Zorn for the Chicagotribune.com states Mancow’s experience was a stunt, but makes a point.

“[It] didn't add anything to the debate over whether the United States should have waterboarded detainees held at Guantanamo Bay. But it ought to settle once and for all the debate over whether waterboarding constitutes torture.”

Tracking shows that audiences are intrigued by this voluntary waterboarding. The most popular story on VanityFair.com continues to be that of journalist Christopher Hitchens being waterboarded last August.

“It’s annoying to me now to read every time it is discussed in the press or in Congress that it simulates the feeling of drowning. It doesn’t simulate the feeling of drowning, you are being drowned slowly.”

But a columnist for The Guardian makes the point that voluntary waterboarding can end whenever the person wants it to, while real prisoners have no choice.

“This is all wrong and despicable: it's like locking yourself and 10 friends into a loo on a commuter train, to see what it would be like on the train to Auschwitz. If you can make it stop whenever you like, you're learning nothing...”

So, what do you think: Does voluntary waterboarding of media figures add value to the debate about interrogation techniques? Or, are these simply media stunts? Please share your comments with Newsy, and be sure to check out our sources.