Cheney has Heart Attack

And, according to WaPo, he had a stress test at the hospital.

John Yoo issued a statement saying stress tests do not constitute torture.

Torture in America

This morning I heard the Morning Joe anchorette -- the blond leggy talking head who seems to grace these shows -- say something like, "the people who are opposed to torture." This caught me up short. She so casually stated that America tortured people as if that were normal, and for the way it made those who oppose torture sound out of the mainstream.

Can it be that our generation's contribution to American history is the reversal of a policy in place since George Washington that America will not torture as a matter of officially accepted policy? Will we leave that stain on the shining city on the hill?

As Lady Macbeth would say: Out damned spot! Out I say.

And yet the spot remains. Who'd have thought there'd be so much blood in it?

Can Iran Legally Waterboard Our Soldiers?

Watch this exchange between Sen. Lindsay Graham and a US Military Legal Eagle on waterboarding, then imagine you are a US soldier conducting combat missions in hostile territory. Does the military officer's comments give you comfort? It's an example of how losing the moral high ground on the torture issue will be paid for by U.S. troops on the ground.

Gay Iranian Torture Victim Tells His Tale

The U.K. deported a gay Iranian asylum-seeker back to Iran, where he was tortured, flogged and faced a likely death sentence. He escaped and tells his story.