Torture

We already knew our country was torturing people. But basically no one cared, because it was just a bunch of nonhuman brown Muslims. Well, now it's happened to a white Christian American. Who was arrested by accident and smuggled out notes on his torture by writing them in his Bible. That makes it real.

The first step to getting people to care about torture is to get them to see the victims as human beings. If that means using racism against itself--white Americans' identification only with white people, for example--then that's what you do. Of course it would be better if we could all see the humanity of those brown people with the funny names, but I'll settle for closing the torture rooms.

Mr. Vance is what we call a "poster boy," kids. If he's willing, he should be the first person called to testify before Congress.