As If On Cue...

...a right-wing nutjob says what no one else on the right has said in public. Illinois Republican, 27-year-old Aaron Schock (apt name, that), tells Chris Matthews, "I don't believe that we should limit waterboarding - or, quite frankly, any other alternative torture technique - if it means saving Americans' lives."

I nearly wrote that he had balls for saying this, but since the right's position on torture is about as cowardly as can be, it doesn't take balls to admit it. It just confirms the stupidity of the right, and those who elect these fools.

Since ending torture and promising to close Gitmo, not to mention the reaching out to the Muslim world with his Cairo speech and refocusing our war efforts in Afghanistan, Obama has done more to protect American lives than the Bush/Cheney war crimes regime ever did. Gone are "wanted, dead or alive" and "bring it on." Gone are extraordinary rendition and the ongoing horrors of Guantanamo. Gone are the lawyers providing legal cover for the commission of felonious acts by the president, vice president, defense secretary, and military chiefs of staff. In its place is quiet determination, actions taken within the framework of our Constitution, and with the full cooperation and inclusion of Congress. We are no longer on the "dark side." And we are safer.

None of this means that there aren't people out there who want to kill us because of what Obama's been doing. That threat, unfortunately, will never end. What Obama is doing however, is making such acts less acceptable in the Muslim world. And if it takes getting a little tougher with Israel on settlements, so be it.