Shepard Smith's anti-torture rant

Good for Shepard Smith, said Rod Dreher in Beliefnet. Fox News’ star anchor went “ballistic” in a webcast this week, saying, “This is America! We do not f---ing torture!” And he’s not the only one on the Right who’s realizing “we have to face the ugly truth about what we did” in the name of fighting terrorism. (Watch Shepard Smith call torture un-American on Fox News Channel)

Smith said he doesn’t “give a rat’s ass” whether a harsh interrogation method works, said Noel Sheppard in Newsbusters.org. “Even if it helps save lives, Shep?” It’s amazing how the farther we get from 9/11, the more people “are forgetting that we are indeed at war with terrorists.”

People aren’t forgetting, said David Quigg in The Huffington Post, they just don’t buy into the Dick Cheney mind-set that the ends justify barbaric means. Even if waterboarding and other forms of torture extracted useful information—and that’s definitely debatable—it’s “wrong.” Cheney wraps himself in the flag, but Shepard Smith—“of the dreaded Fox News”—is the one who’s being “patriotic.”

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up