Where are we?

No physical or mental torture, nor any other form of coercion, may be inflicted on prisoners of war to secure from them information of any kind whatever. Prisoners of war who refuse to answer may not be threatened, insulted, or exposed to any unpleasant or disadvantageous treatment of any kind.

Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War

Daniel Levin. That is a name we we might actually want to remember. In 2004, as acting head of the Justice Department's Office of Legal Council, he set out to reconcile the Administration's actions with the legal standards applicable to torture (in case that link at usdoj.gov goes missing, the document is also here.) He submitted to water-boarding. His conclusions were clear. The opening sentence read "Torture is abhorrent both to American law and values and to international norms." Of course, American law and values and international norms are not really in vogue these days, are they? So he was fired from the Justice Department. Where bad things happen to good people.