Ok, this has been around the news and back a long time ago, but I just now got around to reading the infamous memo Alberto Gonzales requested of the U.S. Department of Justice regarding whether we’d get in trouble for torturing prisoners during the war on terror using certain interrogation methods (which aren’t really called out). Essentially he asks, ‘if we do everything but what is considered torture under U.S. law, would we get in trouble for torture at the international level?’

Just kind of gives me a chill. I know he’s just making sure ahead of time that we don’t do something we shouldn’t, and for that I respect him for at least seeming level headed (remember, this is our next attorney general). But it just bothers me a little. ‘Are we going to get in trouble for this?’ Is not a question a superpower asks when going to war in another country, it should be more along the lines ‘Is it right/ethical to do this?’

In other words, our country should be at the forefront of ethical behavior. We shouldn’t have to ask if it’s legal, we ask if it’s ethical and the right thing to do. If we feel it’s the right thing to do, then the legal answer should always be yes as well, and if we say no, then there’s no need to see if it’s still legal or not, because we won’t do it.