Remember when torture was not a debatable issue?

Former U.S. Navy General Counsel Alberto Mora who, along with Rep. John Murtha, received the 2006 JFK Profile in Courage Award, is a man worth knowing more about. There is a great account in the New Yorker of his struggle at the Pentagon to keep to the high ground -- to do the right thing. I've said it before, it's mind-boggling to realize that this administration is arguing for the use of torture. Torture has long been the gold standard for determining "bad guy" status; for separating "us" from "them".

Mora thinks that the media has focused too narrowly on allegations of U.S.-sanctioned torture. As he sees it, the authorization of cruelty is equally pernicious. "To my mind, there'’s no moral or practical distinction,"” he told me. "“If cruelty is no longer declared unlawful, but instead is applied as a matter of policy, it alters the fundamental relationship of man to government. It destroys the whole notion of individual rights. The Constitution recognizes that man has an inherent right, not bestowed by the state or laws, to personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty. It applies to all human beings, not just in America -- —even those designated as 'unlawful enemy combatants'.’ If you make this exception, the whole Constitution crumbles. It'’s a transformative issue."