If Cheney prevails and "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment" becomes legally acceptable in certain cases, then he will have condemned all American prisoners captured by our enemies to the most awful tortures imaginable.

Our enemies (and our friends) will not read the finely worded quibble exuded from the pen/lips of our vice president and his cronies, restricting such punishment to certain hard core terrorists. All they will understand is that we have abrogated the Geneva Convention and declared open season on Muslims.

They will respond in kind.

Our enemies (and our friends) will not understand or accept that it is a Republican cabal that wanted this in the face of massive public opposition. What they will see is that America now condones torture.

I'm ashamed of my country that we don't impeach Bush and throw the bastards out.