Speaking in general, the "big deal" of criminal/immoral behavior is in the extent of it, and in the borders it crosses, specifically referring to acts that everyone does.
Everyone does (at least) minor law breakages during life, but that doesn't mean that if somebody, say, evades taxes for millions of dollars is not a big deal just because everybody does that for a few hundred bucks.
Some activies, for example torture and mass surveillance, are definitely crossing moral borders - at the very least, the way have been applied (and this is quite a generous statement).
I think his point is when YOU are waterboarding people, why would you even bother breaking ties with other countries that also waterboard people? Aside from as part of an elaborate ploy to pretend you don't?
Oh I get his point quite clearly, and was responding with what I thought were appropriate levels of irony. Apparently HN is running in literal mode today.
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I don't see what the big deal is, everyone's doing it.
Speaking in general, the "big deal" of criminal/immoral behavior is in the extent of it, and in the borders it crosses, specifically referring to acts that everyone does.
Everyone does (at least) minor law breakages during life, but that doesn't mean that if somebody, say, evades taxes for millions of dollars is not a big deal just because everybody does that for a few hundred bucks.
Some activies, for example torture and mass surveillance, are definitely crossing moral borders - at the very least, the way have been applied (and this is quite a generous statement).
I think his point is when YOU are waterboarding people, why would you even bother breaking ties with other countries that also waterboard people? Aside from as part of an elaborate ploy to pretend you don't?
Oh I get his point quite clearly, and was responding with what I thought were appropriate levels of irony. Apparently HN is running in literal mode today.