Letter: The tortured presidency

Donald Trump still believes torture is a really good idea, in spite of our own Gen. Jim Mattis saying beer and a pack of cigarettes work better.

One reason Mattis is right and Trump wrong is that most of us humans will say anything if we think it will end the blows, bruises and blasts. Either name five friends who are terrorists or spend day and night listening to punk rockers at 105 decibels. OK you win. Let’s see if I can remember my own name after that eardrum assault.

So some, or in Trump’s terms “all,” the Guantanamo captives were falsely accused by friends faced with confessing or listening to It’s a small world after all for a week straight.

Donald could easily prove me wrong. All he would need to do is submit to torture unless he released his tax returns. A little waterboarding and worse, and let’s see if the tax returns appear.

If they do, torture clearly works. If not, stick with beer and cigarettes.

This story was originally published February 21, 2017 at 4:15 AM with the headline "Letter: The tortured presidency."