My favorite family value: Torture

You wouldn't think something as gruesome and repugnant as torture would be a family value. Sure, my mother used to torture me when I was little, forcing me to watch "Little House on the Prairie" with her instead of playing Nintendo. But, there's a big difference between that and forcing people to simulate sex while wearing a hoodie.

Despite the almost universal agreement that torture is a bad thing, our family values President and his crew in Congress have held up an anti-torture measure drafted by REPUBLICAN Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham. Why? Because Bush and his trainwreck think the measure will infringe on their capacity to govern during wartime.

There's so much hypocrisy here, you'd need a machete to cut through it. These same people who fire religion from their gunholders anytime someone questions their decisions can't see the connection between torture and social justice. This President offered religion as a justification for the nomination of Harriet Miers, but doesn't have the spiritual depth to offer religion as a reason to condemn torture. Instead he balks at a measure (literally a piece of paper) that says the U.S. "would prohibit 'cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment' of prisoners in the custody of the U.S. military," all because he thinks the measure infringes on his turf - war policy. Perhaps Bush and the nine Christian senators who voted against this forgot that the Jesus they worship died of, what else, torture.

If Bush vetoes this measure (which was added onto a larger defense bill) it will be the first thing he's vetoed since taking office in January 2001. What a great message that will send to the rest of the world, and really, to all of humanity that this President will lend his signature to support bills to construct bridges to nowhere in Alaska, but won't get behind a measure condemning torture.

I disagree with Sen. McCain on many fronts, but on torture, this man speaks from authentic experience, having been tortured for years during the Vietnam War. Here's his justification for the measure, both as an American and as a person of faith:

"We are Americans, and we hold ourselves to human standards of treatment of people - no matter how evil or terrible they may be...this isn't about who they are. This is about who we are."

Here's a great editorial on the torture issue from the Dallas Morning News. Here's one from the San Antonio Express. And if newspaper editorials aren't adequate, check out the Torture Abolitionists and Survivors Support Coalition (TASSC) International. These folks may have the most legit point of view, given that their coalition is made up of people who have survived torture, and know the damning effects of it - from being denied food, denied sleep, to be beaten, and to suffer the nightly dreams and visions of captivity for the rest of their lives. Authentic politicians and people of faith could learn a lot by just listening to the folks who have suffered most from this sad, sad issue.