Reply #43: I have no way of answering that.

[cali]

First off, I'm not tuned in to the MSM, so I don't really know what influences emanate from them, or how powerful those influences are. And I don't know whether the majority of Americans do believe that torture is legitimate. The majority certainly didn't condone Abu Gharib.

I suppose like most things it's a confluence of elements that enable them to condone torture, but how much influence each element has, is somthing I can only speculate on. Fear certainly plays into it and mass culture via movies and tv, plus the demonization of the "other".