Thank God He's a Mormon

If Mitt Romney didn't belong to one of the wackier religions in the world, he might have a chance of being elected. This would be a bad thing, for reasons completely separate from his religious beliefs. Andrew Sullivan explains why:

Here's a fascinating interview with Sean Hannity, a man who would love the Republican candidate to campaign on torturing detainees. Of course, Fox News skews the debate by focusing entirely on the one in a million "ticking time-bomb" scenario. What else would you expect from Brit Hume? But Romney reveals in this clip that he does not believe the president is bound by the law in this question. He says that he will not provide a definition of "what is torture and what is not torture," because a president should be able to keep terror supects guessing. So he supports "enhanced interrogation techniques" and not torture, but refuses to say what the difference is. And he says the president gets to pick. And U.S. citizens are subject to this regime. The logic of Romney's position, then, is that the president can designate any human being or citizen an "enemy combatant," detain them indefinitely without charges or recourse to the courts, and torture them using any method he wishes as long as he says it's not torture and he is under no obligation to explain what torture is. This is tyranny. Period.

It is tyranny. But Sullivan needed to go one step further, and note that this is currently the official policy of the United States: torture is what Pres. Bush says it is. The tyranny already exists, and Romney is merely affirming it. as did Rudy, although he at least had the stones to come right out and say it:

"Last night's debate was about the definition of torture, and whether you — how you define torture, and I haven't changed my position one bit."

"I said, I don't think we should embrace torture, even in that situation."

"But I do think we should go right up to the limit in a situation like that. Which means enhanced techniques, aggressive techniques."

"It was quite clear in what I said, and I think honestly what Governor Romney said, that neither one of us was talking about torture. But we were talking about going further than Senator McCain was talking about."

"The technique that was being described last night [water-boarding] would not fit into the category of torture."

(bold by me)

the problem, of course, is that water-boarding is torture, no matter what Rudy's personal opinion happens to be. it is considered torture -- and therefore illegal -- by both domestic and international law. the Khmer Rouge believed it to be torture. the U.S. has tried and convicted people in past for water-boarding. the State Dept. says that it is illegal. The U.S. Army says it's illegal So it shouldn't matter what Rudy, or Romney, or Bush happens to think. Water-boarding should never be a practice of the United States, because it is against the law.

But the law is secondary to these guys. Imagining themselves as Pres. Palmer in an episode of 24 seems like a greater concern. Sullivan is right: this is tyranny.