re: #8 b.d.

Some people would gladly vote for Ming the Merciless if he promised them safety.

Mostly I think it’s because they share in Ming’s Cheney’s fantasies, and despite hearing from experts and those with actual experience in interrogations that torture elicits a lot of useless intel, they simply want to inflict pain on their enemies. The possibility that it might reveal important intel is simply the justification for the sadism.