The Torture Tsar

Although it is all but certain that Alberto Gonzales will be confirmed as the next attorney general after Harry Reid stated that Democrats would not use the fillibuster, it is heartening to note that approximately 30-35 Democratic senators would oppose his confirmation. However, this is not enough. Firstly, it would be a nice sign if some Republican senators could show some testicular fortitude (along the lines of Barbara Boxer when she opposed the certification of the Ohio electoral votes) and stand for their conscience and the values and laws of the U.S. that say torture is wrong in every case and not only in cases that result in death, organ failure or the loss of use of bodily functions. It is a sign of the moral bankruptcy of the neo-conservatives who have convinced the entire Republican party to serve as a rubber stamp for the Adminstratiion position. Secondly, it should be accepted that any Democrat who votes for Gonzales' confirmation is no longer worthy of being called a Democrat for they have abandoned the compassionate, caring values that the Democrats cling onto as the moral basis for thier policies. They should, at the next election they face, be taken out of office and replaced with a more consciencious liberal Democrat. Gonzales' demonstrated in his torture memos (pdf) that he is unfit to be in a position of the responsibility of the attorney general. It should be a high priority for the Democrats on principle that his confirmation fails. Anything less is a betrayal of Democratic ideals.