liberty and justice for all, and torture

Bubble Boy on Monday: "We do not torture."

Since I read those words, I have been trying to ignore them as meaningless rhetoric. Also, I knew the more I thought about it, the more angry I would get.

Unfortunately, I have thought about it and sure enough, I am angry.

It is such a simple, declarative sentence. It should be reassuring to us Americans, because I think it is only a small, sadistic minority who approve of torture and maltreatment of detainees.

Simple, declarative and completely false. A lie.

Abu Ghraib. The deaths of detainees. The "black" detention sites. The practice of rendition, delivering detainees to countries where torture is not prohibited.

Bubble Boy is telling us something false, something that we want to hear, something that we want to be true.

We do torture. Every American needs to know that and to think long and hard about whether they can believe in "liberty and justice for all," and the practice of torture.

It can't be both.