In 1992, Bill Clinton made headlines by denouncing racially charged comments made by hip-hop artist Sister Souljah.  As time has passed, Clinton's denunciation has become more myth than fact, both with regard to the amount of political courage it required and its effect on voters.  Nevertheless, a "Sister Souljah Moment" has become shorthand for criticizing someone on your side of the political aisle.  In the 2008 Democratic primary, unfortunately, the term was abused to the point that one thoughtful commentator called for its retirement.

            Not so fast.  It's time for the GOP to have its own "Sister Souljah Moment."   The Obama Administration's recent release of several Department of Justice legal memoranda written to justify the CIA's use of torture has sparked a long-overdue public debate.  This debate has tied Republican apparatchiks in knots as they have bounced between the Orwellian declaration that if the United States does it, it's not torture and the amoral rationalization that if good intelligence is produced, any means of interrogation is justified. 

            The argument against torture is simple: It's wrong.  It is against the law, against common sense, and against common decency.  There are persuasive utilitarian arguments as well, stemming from torture's proven ineffectiveness and tendency to induce false confessions, but those arguments concede too much.  Even if torture produces helpful information, it is impossible to know if that information could have been obtained by different means, and it is never the case that the end justifies the means.  Torture also makes us less safe, as it costs us allies, cooperation and standing in the world.  

            There is an opportunity for an enterprising Republican to both do the right thing and score political points by standing up against torture.  All this person must do is declare that (1) the acts identified in the DOJ memos are torture and; (2)  the U.S. should never torture again.  This hypothetical Republican could even oppose prosecution of the actual interrogators, though they would have to support, at a minimum, some sort of Truth Commission or bipartisan investigation. (Sorry, Sen. McCain, not good enough.)  Any Republican who came out against torture would become an instant media celebrity, would see their approval ratings among independents go through the roof, and could use their perch as the Republican co-chair of a Torture Truth Commission to great electoral and substantial success.

            Yes, the criticism from the Club Gitmo Caucus would be fierce.  Our fictional GOP'er would be subject to the full Limbaugh and would likely be kicked off the National Review cruise.  He or she could not be facing a closed primary in 2010 (sorry, Sen. Specter) because the dittoheads would make it their mission to run him or her out of town on a rail (which, according to them, is not torture, but merely an "enhanced personal removal method").  How about Rep. Aaron Schock, all of 27 and representing Peoria in Congress?  Or Rep. Joseph Cao, born in Vietnam and now representing New Orleans?

            Why am I begging for a conservative politician to step forward?  The future of America's character depends on it.  Humane treatment of prisoners has been a cornerstone of western civilization for centuries. We have inscribed it in the Eighth Amendment to our Constitution.  Due process of law goes back to the Magna Carta of 1215, Clause 29 of which reads:

NO Freeman shall be taken or imprisoned, or be disseised of his Freehold, or Liberties, or free Customs, or be outlawed, or exiled, or any other wise destroyed; nor will We not pass upon him, nor condemn him, but by lawful judgment of his Peers, or by the Law of the Land. We will sell to no man, we will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.

We will not deny or defer to any man either Justice or Right.  In the other corner, we have the GOP, proudly shredding eight centuries of humanity, decency and progress. 

Even though I'm a Democrat and think denouncing torture would improve Republican electoral chances, I am still hoping beyond hope that someone will do it.  Not torturing is supposed to be one of those things we agree on regardless of political predilection, regardless of who is in power at the moment, and regardless of the inhumanity of our enemies.  It is supposed to be part of what makes America America.  Yet conservatives' fear and zeal have, for now, overpowered their fidelity to the founding principles of our country.  Their shame should be obvious, but the deleterious effect on our national security is, sadly, only going to be felt over time.  Unless we acknowledge and right our wrongs, not as two parties but as one country, we will be inviting greater harm.  This Democrat would be willing to lose an election or two to maximize America's security and restore America's identity.

Tonight my son stood where my father stood 40 years ago. He doesn't know it yet- he is six weeks old -- but someday I will tell him. I will tell him that in 1968, his grandfather stood in Chicago's Grant Park, in the middle of a morass of rage and confusion. I will tell him that his grandfather was part of a movement that fought to end a war that had begun a century earlier. I will tell him that his grandfather was not standing in this park in celebration, but in grim determination to set things right. I will tell him that his grandfather smelled the tear gas, saw the billy clubs swing, and left the park that night without resolution. And, I will tell him that, per the mayor's declaration, 40 years ago, disorder was preserved.

When I get home I will call my father and tell him that his grandson stood where he once did. I will tell him that my son eagerly took it all in, that he will look at pictures of this multicolored crowd in history books in years to come and know he was there. I will tell my father that the Grant Park in which he once stood has gone from medium cool to way cool. That the great chasm ripped open by the politics of 1968 has begun to heal. That justice, which was once lost in a lakefront fog, is finally visible again.

I will tell my son that this is how America works. I will tell him that America's history is a slow march towards the light. That we have taken steps forward with proclamations and steps backwards with nooses. That we have moved ahead with choice, but that glass ceilings remain. That now, for the first time, America is marrying couples whose love is predetermined by God and who are shunned by ever fewer of us. I will tell him that we bested the tyrants of Europe and have rallied in the wake of unspeakable horror, but that we have also chosen to risk our soldiers' lives over false fears. I will tell him that for the last forty years, black men have been used in Presidential politics by those with ulterior motives - that they have been used in advertisements to scare and distract- but that tonight America beat back its prejudices and elected a black man President.

I will tell my son that his grandfather could not be here tonight because his Parkinson's disease has turned long walks and big crowds into insurmountable barriers. I will tell him that we do not know if a cure will ever be found but that now, because of what has happened today, America's scientists will get back to work. That good men and women will work weekends and miss dinner with their kids so that his grandfather may have a chance at a better life.

I will tell him that three years ago, the city where his grandfather now lives and where I grew up was almost lost forever. That a great wall of wind and water rose up and washed away whole families and neighborhoods. I will tell him that those in charge left New Orleans to rot for days before responding. I will tell him that government is not a magic wand and cannot solve all of our problems, but that his family's adopted hometown is proof that the banality of indifference, of detachment and of privilege has consequences. I will tell him this is why voting matters. I will tell him this is why, every year, we pray for those who have perished by water.

After the speeches are done and the crowd fades away, I will tell my son not to expect the impossible. I will tell him that happy as we are tonight, one election does not change the world. That the agents of division who lost tonight will not go away, will not learn and will instead again try to pull America back down into their insecure and fearful crab barrel. I will tell him about the last time, when we literally elected a man from Hope, and all that was done to lay him low. I will tell him that this election is a beginning as well as an ending.

I will tell my son that the pride and trust we feel for Barack Obama do not make him more than human. In his time in office, he is not going to undo the past forty years of division, or even the last eight years of buffoonery. He is a man with flaws working in a system with limitations. I will tell him that America contains too many multitudes for one man - even this President - to control its destiny. I will tell him that good intentions are never enough, and that it will take hard work from everyone who cares about this country to set us on the right path again.

I will tell my son that Barack Obama lost his grandmother on Monday and took his children to vote with him on Tuesday, and that victory is, for the Obamas, a family triumph. Tonight, my family's story continues with my son, barely six weeks old, held aloft in my wife's hands above a crowd of thousands, eyes wide with wonder. America's progress is reflected in us, and we are a reflection of America's progress. Tonight my son stood where my father did. He doesn't know it yet, but someday I will tell him.