I read the Washington Post editorial entitled, "Vice President of Torture" with a sense of dissociation. To myself I said, this can't be true. Surely this is an exaggeration or a 'what if' scenario.

No, dear friends, this is for real. The Vice President of the United States of America proposes that Congress legally authorize human rights abuses by Americans, allowing the CIA to commit cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of foreign prisoners it has "disappeared" abroad.

When Senator McCain passed a defense spending bill specifically prohibiting such treatment by any U.S. personnel, Mr. Cheney, a heart-beat away from the presidency, is trying to convince the committee not only to nullify the amendment but to formally adopt torture tactics (such as near-drowning, mock executions and infliction of pain) as legal instruments of U.S. policy. This is not who we are.

Torture may be one way to get people to speak. They will say anything you want to hear to get it to stop. That is not smart intelligence work.

And, Mr. Cheney, be careful of what you ask for. The Universe has its own way of coming full circle.