First of all .. making some goon think that they're drowning is not torture. I'm not even sure that drowning someone is torture. That's murder. Go ahead ... Google the words "drowning" and "pleasant." Doesn't sound like torture to me. Also .. firing a gun near someone's head or depriving them of sleep isn't torture either. If it was there would be thousands of Marine Corps drill instructors and college professors who should be awaiting charges right now.

All of this moralistic grandstanding is starting to get on my last nerve ... and there's not all that many left. What a bunch of hogwash. Let's try a little scenario here. No fudging. No "buts." This is your scenario ... if you don't want to accept it as-is, then walk away.

Scenario: Your spouse and child have been kidnapped. They've been buried alive in a box. They have enough air and water to last a day or so. You have someone in your custody whom you know with absolute certainty can tell you where your family members are buried. Now .. what are you going to do to get the information you need to save your spouse and child. Don't' give me this "call the police and let them deal with it" scenario. You know that the police are bound by the rules ... but are you? Will you put a washcloth over this person's face and pour water on it? No? Will you point a gun at his head and tell him that he has seconds to live if he doesn't give up the information? No? Would you start breaking this thugs fingers - one-by-one - until he gives you the information you need? No? Are you kidding me? Well ... tell you what. Why don't you call your spouse and children into the room right now and read this to them. Tell them that if was they who were buried in that box waiting to die that you wouldn't torture someone to save their life. Tell them that this guy would walk away with every body part in tact .. no scratches .. no broken bones. You would do nothing to frighten this man into thinking that his life is in danger. Why you wouldn't even poor water on his head. Tell your family members would just have to die before you would do anything closely related to torture to the man who had the information that could save their lives. Tell them that --- and then live with the look in their eyes. Tell them that --- and then live with the knowledge that they know what a wuss you are.

Me? I'm just not the nice reason you are. I can't think of a single thing I would not do to this man if it would give me the information I need to save my wife and daughter. Get out the glass rods and the bamboo shoots. I'll need some pliers and a blow torch as well. When it's all over, and my family is save, I'll let the jury decide.

Another goodie from the White House. Let's see how you feel about this one.

Barack Obama has decided that the task of interrogating terrorists and terrorist suspects should be left up to the White House, rather than the CIA. Obama has created an "elite team" of interrogators that will question suspects in accordance with the Army Field Manual. The name of the unit will be the High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group, or HIG. The unit will be overseen by the National Security Council, which gives the White House direct oversight. The rules are that all interrogation of terrorist suspects must be interrogated in compliance with the terms of the Army Field Manuel. Does that tell you enough? Well ... here's more. This means that if you catch some Muslim goon who you absolutely know is involved in a plot to kill a few thousand innocent Americans; and if you are dead-on certain that this individual has information on the details of this plot, but he refuses to talk ---- we cannot deprive him of any sleep or play loud music to encourage him. Loud music and sleep deprivation are, I suppose, defined by Team Obama as "torture."

Is anyone keeping a scorecard here? First we learn that the White House is going to seize control of the 2010 Census. We know that this is so the census can be politicized and the numbers of people prone to vote Democrat can be inflated. Now we learn that the Obama White House is going to have its own Presidential Unit for Safe Suspect Interrogation.

Interesting acronym there.

Sean Hannity agrees to be waterboarded for charity?

The issue of the Bush memos being released isn't going to die anytime soon, especially with Barack Obama opening up the possibility of prosecution of Bush officials who approved such interrogation techniques. We are talking about this asinine assertion that waterboarding is torture.

I'll say this again - and you'll groan again - but if someone has information that could save thousands of lives, wouldn't you do anything you could to get that information? Pull out the bamboo shoots. Dump water over the guy's head. Poke 'em in the eye. You do everything you can until he talks. That's why this whole "torture" debate is such nonsense. You can sit on your high horse and bemoan torture all you want, but if it is the life of someone you cherish on the line my guess is that you are suddenly in the mood to make exceptions.

In the case of Khalid Sheik Mohammed, the September 11th mastermind ... that's exactly what the CIA did. And guess what? It worked. Because the CIA waterboarded this Islamic goon, he revealed information that led the US government to thwart a planned attack on Los Angeles.

If that attack had gone through, or if other attacks since had culminated in the death of just one American at the hands of these Muslim goons ... I wonder what the virtuous Barack Obama would have to say.

Now we are getting all of these reports about the fact that CIA interrogators used ... brace yourself .. waterboarding on Khalid Sheik Mohammed - the Islamic goon who admitted to planning the attacks of September 11th. And not only did they use waterboarding, but they used it 183 times! The horror!

The question all along has been: why has the Obama administration decided to release these memos now. Why? What purpose does it serve?

Dick Cheney brought up a good point. He points out that the Obama administration didn't bother to release the memos showing the success of these CIA efforts. He doesn't bother to release any information that show how many American lives were saved or the realities of any consequences of planned attacks. Of course he wouldn't, because that would legitimize the use of these techniques to save American lives. Obama is interested in building himself up in international eyes as some paragon of virtue .. the man that will bring the United States out of the dark ages of dungeons and torture to join the rest of civilized society.

OK .. bottom line time again. Let's talk torture. If someone has the information that could save thousands of lives -- OK .. just one life -- and if you had a reasonable expectation that you could get that information from this guy by pulling out his fingernails or (gasp!) pouring water on his face ... and if you didn't do it ... then you are every bit as worthless as he is.