Here is what I’m seeing. People saying all torture is equally evil no matter who is being subjected to it or what the motivation for it is. People saying that those who approved the waterboarding and those who carried it out are, essentially, as bad as Hitler and Mengele. People telling those who dare to challenge this perspective (even if they agree that torture is wrong) that they are evil and immoral and that they think torture is fine and dandy as long as “our side” is doing it.

In other words, even if you agree with these people that torture is wrong, if you dare to take a thoughtful or nuanced approach toward the issue…if you dare to even think about thinking about the relative morality of, say, waterboarding a person almost certain to have knowledge of an impending massive nuclear, biological, or chemical attack on a major city, vs. not doing everything possible to prevent the attack and save thousands or millions of lives.. then you are EVIL.

As I’ve said, this attitude does not lend itself to a productive discussion of the issue, and it’s not likely to change many minds.