"Torturing people is 'OK', if you think you're getting valuable information out of them." - Republican Jesus, the Republicans, Dick Cheney, Liz Cheney, John McCain, Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, FOX "news", and rightwing pundits
This is a defining moment for America.(bd: Republicans and rightwing pundits in the "liberal media" are using the same old cliches as the Iraq War, not to hold anyone accountable for torture: "Now that we've done it, let's move forward", "It's a matter of national security, if we tell Americans what we did", "Banana Republic" - the new GOP talking point, Mr. McCain: "Banana Republics" torture people, and so do "Banana Republicans"!, "they were following orders - that's what the Nazi's said at the Nuremburg trials, and they wonder why we compare the Bush administration to the Nazi's! Why do they call America "evil"? Because we use medieval torture on them without charges and our courts rule that they are not "persons".. Can you believe that? Our courts ruled that detainees are not "persons"! Do you wonder why they hate us?)
The way we respond -- or fail to respond -- to the revelations about the Bush administration's use of torture will delineate -- for ourselves and for the world -- the kind of country we are.
It is a test of our courage and our convictions. A test of whether we are indeed a nation of laws -- or a nation that pays lip service to the notion of being a nation of laws.
And everyone engaged in our public conversation has a role to play.
So far, the media are not getting high marks. They can't seem to shake their addiction to looking at every issue -- even one that pivots on questions of morality, not politics -- through the archaic prism of right vs. left.
HuffPo: The Torture Moment
We Already Went Through Our 'Banana Republic' Phase
I'm the Torturer (Bush)
Torturing detainee may have produced false terror alerts
Pentagon may have up to 2,000 photographs of prisoner abuse
U.K. Guardian: US to release pictures of prisoner abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan. Official says up to 2,000 pictures taken between 2001 and 2006 are not as bad as Abu Ghraib but 'not good' either
WaPo: Pentagon to Release Prisoner Abuse Photos
ABC: Obama Administration to Release Detainee Abuse Photos; Former CIA Official Says Former Colleagues 'Don't Believe They Have Cover Anymore'
