Man, posting videos is so much easier than actually blogging. Here's Matt Lauer, of all people, grilling President Bush in the Oval Office on Monday about the blatantly illegal methods he's authorized against suspected terrorists.



Remember all the talk about how Bush was the candidate most Americans would rather have a beer with, how Kerry was stiff and people couldn't relate to him?

Well, if I was having a beer with the guy in this video, I'd be hard-pressed to keep from punching him in his smirking face grill. He's smug, rude, constantly repeats himself, shifts randomly between defensiveness and aggression, and every time he points his finger at Lauer I'm amazed Matt doesn't tell him to knock it the fuck off. This man is our president?

Also notice how cavalier Bush is about the interrogation technique called waterboarding, which he claims he won't discuss even while engaging in a little wink wink, nudge nudge about how it's all legal like. Here's a little primer on waterboarding:

The prisoner is bound to an inclined board, feet raised and head slightly below the feet. Cellophane is wrapped over the prisoner's face and water is poured over him. Unavoidably, the gag reflex kicks in and a terrifying fear of drowning leads to almost instant pleas to bring the treatment to a halt.

According to the sources, CIA officers who subjected themselves to the water boarding technique lasted an average of 14 seconds before caving in. They said al Qaeda's toughest prisoner, Khalid Sheik Mohammed, won the admiration of interrogators when he was able to last between two and two-and-a-half minutes before begging to confess.

"The person believes they are being killed, and as such, it really amounts to a mock execution, which is illegal under international law," said John Sifton of Human Rights Watch.

Ugh. I can't even watch the video all the way through. It makes me sad and ashamed.