GOP TORTURE DEBATE: Who We Are

From the New York Times' Bob Herbert courtesy of the Daily Kos:

But the three Republican senators are giving the White House fits with their attempt to get legislation approved that would expressly prohibit cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment of detainees in U.S. custody.

There was a dramatic encounter during the floor debate last week when Senator Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, spoke out against the legislation, saying there was no need for it because, as he put it, the detainees are not prisoners of war, "they are terrorists."

Senator McCain, of Arizona, argued that the debate "is not about who they are. It's about who we are." Americans, said Mr. McCain, "hold ourselves" to a higher standard.

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Because the Republicans hold all three branches of government, this is really the first relevant and public debate about the White House's gleeful use of torture--until now, most critics of Bush's torture policies were Democrats and consequently have been dismissed as partisan hacks. The fact that this debate is about actual legislation is all the more stunning: it's pretty clear that the mounting casualties in Iraq, the London terror bombings, and the Rove scandal have worked in tandem to greatly weaken the White House's political influence even among party loyalists. McCain smells blood and is moving in for the kill. Good show. And it's all the more wonderful that his chosen weapon is an issue that is central to American identity. He's quite right when he shreds the standard Republican rhetoric on torture by reminding his fellow Senators that it's "not about who they are. It's about who we are." Real Americans aren't barbaric sadists; I think most of us can agree on that.

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