Who are we???

Human kindness has never weakened the stamina or softened the fiber of a free people. A nation does not have to be cruel to be tough. -Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945)

This quote is so timely, as the Senate (specially John McCain) fights with the Bush Administration over language in the defense budget bill which would prohibit torture of any kind anywhere (Cheney is fighting hard to give the CIA exemption on foreign soil). It's so repulsive, it's hard to even write those words. How can decency be considered the opposite of strength? In his statement accompanying his amendment proposal, McCain concluded with these words: " . . . this isn’t about who they are. This is about who we are. These are the values that distinguish us from our enemies." Why are we even discussing this???