The Polite Liberal

A rant-free discussion of liberal philosophy and policies.

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The Polite Liberal is the pseudonym of a "nontraditional" graduate student in mathematics (for nonacademics, "nontraditional," is a polite way of saying, "older than 25.") The Polite Liberal is an attempt to spur real policy debate, instead of partisan insults and conspiracy theories. Conservatives (and liberals, of course!) are welcome.

Sunday, November 13, 2005

Torture?

It's hard to find it anything other than unutterably depressing that we're having a serious national debate on whether we should torture people. Yes, yes, I know that many of them are terrorists--but c'mon. Torture?

Can any conservatives defend this? The Bush administration--perfectly willing to let the Republican congress spend us into oblivion without the faintest hint of a veto--is suddenly threatening to shoot down a defense appropriations bill in wartime unless a provision forbidding torture is removed?

Have we really slid this far? What comes next, a proposal to overturn the thirteenth amendment? (Yes, that's ludicrous--but is it that much more ludicrous than the fact that the administration is demanding the right to torture suspects?)