GoDaddy.com CEO Bob Parsons has graced the world with a little screed explaining why we should not only keep our detention center at Guantanamo Bay open, but that what we really need is more torture. My problem with his position is not only that it’s offensive, but that it’s completely dishonest. Parsons repeatedly says that our interrogation techniques are mild, but it just so happens that today the papers are reporting on a lawsuit filed by a US soldier who was severely beaten at Guantanamo during the course of an exercise in which he pretended to be an uncooperative prisoner. Even though he was able to stop the beating by letting them know that he was a US soldier, he had to be discharged from the military and is disabled, probably for life. Contrast that with the Guantanamo that exists in Parsons’ imagination. Needless to say, GoDaddy.com will not be getting any of my business.

Parsons imagines a Guantanamo where all of the people imprisoned are actually hardcore terrorists. He argues that everyone at Guantanamo is a sworn enemy of the United States, and probably has been since the beginning, even though many detainees have been released. He bookends his arguments by referencing the horror of 9/11. I would like to point out to him that it’s possible to remain outraged by 9/11 and to want to make sure those responsible are held to account and at the same time hope that our country could live up to higher ideals.