Hockey fights bad...torture, OK

Smerconish likes torture, hates hockey fights

by Will Bunch | Columnist

Published May 22, 2008, 10:26 a.m. ET

I may "a snob," but I've never had a big problem with fights in hockey. Interestingly, Michael Smerconish does:

On this night, they got what the billboard and the highlight reel promised. What a shame to see and hear such a thirst for blood. Maybe the Flyers would attract a different type of fan if they didn't cultivate that image. Maybe they'd still fill those seats if only they relied on the basics of the game.

It occurs to me that in a society where concerns are often raised about video games and rap lyrics, no one seems to care that professional hockey features - even promotes - a patented brand of violence.

What's bizarre is that Smerconish has been one of the most vocal advocates for a different "patented brand of violence" -- torture.

I say do whatever is necessary to get her to talk. Waterboard her. Strap her to a pig. Do whatever it takes.

I know what some of you will say, ticking time bomb -- except so far we've only seen that scenario on Smerconish's favorite TV show, "24." In the real world, we've used "enhanced interrogation" on people later released with no charges, and screwed up the cases against real terrorists, while making America pay the price for looking horrible in the eyes of the world -- like a country that's all about that Flyers' billboard that Smerconish saw on the way to the game, the one that says "Vengeance."

But maybe this column shows the path to how we eliminate torture. The next time that Bush and Cheney get a hankering to waterboard somebody, let's do it at center ice at the Wachovia Center and make people bring their middle-school age kids to watch. The practice of "enhanced interrogation" would end faster than a five-minute major-misconduct penalty.