Thursday, October 06, 2005




For torture, but against the arts and humanities: an emerging pattern?

In a bold move presumably based upon deeply held principles, nine U.S. senators voted against imposing limits upon ways of interrogating prisoners detained in Iraq and elsewhere. Here's the list of those who gave their hearty support to torture:

Allard (R-CO)
Bond (R-MO)
Coburn (R-OK)
Cochran (R-MS)
Cornyn (R-TX)
Inhofe (R-OK)
Roberts (R-KS)
Sessions (R-AL)
Stevens (R-AK)

In a related move, an advisory panel of 100 Republican members of the House of Representatives called for an end to all funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB). The same group, The Republican Study Committee, has also called for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). I could not find the full list of the legislative anti-humanists, but presenting the current proposal were:

Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.)
Rep. Jeb Hensarling (R-Texas)

[Suggested reading for both stories: Eugene Ionesco, The Rhinoceros]