A majority of Americans (55%) say that the Bush administration's use of harsh interrogation techniques was "justified," which according to the nattering nabobs of the net-left means that more than half of all Americans are un-American torture apologists. I was struck by a line in Paul Krugman's column last week that seemed to capture the left's total disconnect on this issue. Krugman said that "never before have our leaders so utterly betrayed everything our nation stands for" as the Bush administration had with its treatment of captured terrorists. It's a ludicrous statement, and probably offensive to many Americans who have a history of enduring far worse at the hands of the federal government (blacks, Chinese, Japanese, Mormons, Indians, etc. etc.), but it almost certainly represents the tone of any potential government inquiry into the matter -- a course supported by 51 percent of Americans according to Gallup.
Democrats don't seem to understand they're playing with fire. The White House has already lost control of the debate over this issue -- nearly the only issue where President Obama is at odds with the public. If an inquiry is launched, the victims of Bush administration cruelty, the faces of Dick Cheney's crimes against humanity, will be Khalid Sheik Mohamed and Abu Zubaydah. For some reason Democrats think that Americans will rally to defend the basic human rights of these terrorists. It's the first time in a long time that Democrats seem to be the ones in a cocoon, while Republicans seem well in touch with the American people. Like Noemie Emery says: "let the hearings begin."
