Meanwhile, the Torture Party learns

all the wrong lessons from Massachusetts.

Torture is now as much a fixture of GOP doctrine and as much a hallowed core value among Righties as abortion is on the Left. “Prolife” my ass.

Till that changes, they’ve lost me completely.

Meanwhile, sane Catholics who actually listen to the Church and not to talk radio and GOP shills like Thiessen will continue to shout into the wind.

The more significant point to make is that Thiessen completely misreads the April 2009 Pew Poll. He thinks the fact that 71% of American think “torture,” and not merely “enhanced interrogation,” should be safe, legal, and rare is a good sign about what Americans think about what he sees as a position that is part and parcel of political conservatism.

In fact, it is a sign that a great majority of Americans are gravely immoral.

That the population is morally depraved in a direction that helps your candidates win elections is not something to celebrate. – Tom Kreitzberg

Catholics are called to be leaven *against* this kind of evil in the public square. Instead, those who claim the mantle of “Faithful Conservative Catholic” and vaunt their fidelity over the dread liberal dissenters are cheerleaders for it. Shameful.

PS. My reader sums up the Thing that Used to be Conservatism:

Did you see the NR editorial?

It praised the GOP for not being held “hostage to extremists who would rather lose than support a pro-choice candidate.” Then it praised Brown for supporting “tough interrogations of terrorists” (wink, wink). Bottom line: The Thing That Used To Be Conservatism now seems at peace with electing pro-aborts — as long as they’re also pro-torture. Ugh.

This is what comes of being a stooge for power. You become a stooge.