can you believe torture is a political issue?

In most civilized countries, questions about torture don't come up in election campaigns for the same reason that beating small children to death for misbehaving isn't an issue - the assumption is everybody is opposed to it except for the lunatic fringe.

But in the US, it is a campaign issue. All of the Democrats and torture victim John McCain have said they would oppose the use of torture, period. Those Republican candidates who have not been tortured refuse to say so.

Breathtaking. And not in a good way. Remember, torture is brutal, dehumanizing to the victim and the perpetrator, and un-American. Oh, and it is completely ineffective - even the Israelis believe that information derived from torture is unreliable, and Israel's intelligence services are not a sentimental lot.

The Republicans - the party for torture, and against health insurance for children. The party of Lincoln? I doubt Lincoln would want to be a member of the modern GOP.