What kind of America-hating lefty would seize on an isolated incident like this
Three weeks ago in Highland Park, Texas, Mrs Dolly Kelton was arrested and handcuffed for failing to pay a traffic ticket after her car was stopped for having an expired registration. I doubt that Mrs Kelton was a threat to the safety of the arresting officer. She is 97 years old.
then follow up with this
We handcuff her… because some Western societies, and America in particular, use these procedures as a way of softening up the accused by humiliation and to underline the power of the authorities.
What kind of slippery-slope argument do you think is going to follow?
The answer is not what (I hope) you thought.
The quotes are from Barbara Amiel in the Telegraph and the lesson she draws that since it’s acceptable to terrify and humiliate old ladies accused of minor traffic offences[1], it must be even more acceptable to inflict any kind of torture on Iraqis accused of being “murderous guerillas”, (or perhaps of knowing, or being related to, or being inhabitants of the same country as, such guerillas).
Faced with this kind of viewpoint being put forward in a major newspaper, it’s hard to see how Godwin’s Law can stay in place for long. Certainly I can’t think of any analysis of Amiel’s argument that would not lead rapidly to a violation.
fn1. Note the implicit assumption that, if it’s done by American law authorities, it must be acceptable.
John Quiggin 
John, that column was surely about as bad as apologia can possibly get … you need to institute a rating system to protect sensitive hearts and minds from innocently accessing this kind of mental violence.
One thing that has not happened (to my knowledge) is a well developed modern democracy devolving into petty dictatorship. I wonder what it will look like, not like Germany 1930 I would think.
Barbara has been a rightwing bigot for a long time now. Ignore her is best.
Give Barbara a break. He hubby, Conrad Black, is going through a hard time right now. It must be so very hard on Barbara, and if she is not a model of, shall we say, clear thinking, at present, that is perfectly understandable.
Thanks Dave. I’d forgotten she was married to that aristocratic embezzler. Helps put things in context.
Dave, you’re a poisonous toad but a funny one:)