A compendium of torture and its defense

How shameful, America. And now Condileeza Rice is dispatched to say that torture is bad, but, hey, it's good for Europe. After all, it's your war on terror, too. How shameful, Condi.

President Bush, at least, has always maintained an honest, open, position on torture and prisoner abuse that was derived directly from his born-again religious devotion, and he is a true man of conscience. It's obvious in his every statement.

The Attorney General of the United States cloaked many of his answers about torture and prisoner abuse in cloudy, non-committal language, carefully avoiding saying anything that might strip the Commander-in-Chief of his inalienable right to violate existing international treaties and international law. For shame, Mr. Gonzales.

Administration lawyers have slaved over their law books to come up with a justification for the position that the president is exempt from laws prohibiting torture. It's reassuring to know that our executive branch chooses to find ways of skirting the law. That's what makes us so happy to have the Patriot Act extended.

Finally -- or not, for I'm sure this will go on until we put a stop to it -- Vice President Cheney has made us proud and elevated us in the eyes of the world by pleading with the U.S. Senate not to tie our hands in the battle against terror. We are all ashamed. Mr. Vice President.

Late update. Porter Goss on Good Morning America weases around waterboarding. CIA doesn't torture but won't specify what that means. What does the world make of that?