June 23, 2009

“Torture”: The Song

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Nearly two decades ago, lyricist Ellen Fitzhugh and composer Jan Hammer wrote a ditty called “Torture” for a Star Wars musical that never came to light. The tune was supposed to be crooned by a robot controlled by Darth Vader. Instead, it’s being released to lament the robotic torture policies controlled by Vader’s doppelganger, Dick Cheney, for Friday’s U.N. International Day in Support of Torture Victims and Survivors.

Today, the words ring eerily true. Sample lyric: “For you it’s just a pain/For us it’s justified/But you’re too self-absorbed/To see it from our side.”

Watch the song’s YouTube treatment—set to creepy old cartoons—here:

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In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

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