As long as I'm dirty from wallowing in the sewers anyway, I thought I'd see what PowerLine was up to. Oh, the usual thing: making excuses for torture.

But wait, this is amazing. Not only does Hindrocket make excuses for torture, but he claims that our actions are testimonials to American greatness and high principles. You can almost hear the brassy, triumphant theme song swelling in the background as you read it.

By the way, there is a serious point to be made here. No one thinks that playing Christina Aguilera music, shaving a guy's beard off, and putting him in the same room with a woman are the most effective ways to extract information from a detainee. The reason why these unorthodox methods were used, obviously, is that the more effective, but less humane, techniques that have been used since time immemorial were banned by our civilian authorities, and the American military took seriously the restrictions under which they were operating. The mildness with which terrorist detainees have been treated stands as an imperishable monument to the greatness of the American spirit and the moderation of the Bush administration.

It's accompanied by a cartoon from the odious Chris Muir, showing a couple of prosperous Americans "standing for hours, listening to loud music, in the company of beautiful females." Oh. Guantanomo Bay is like an upper-class party now. At which you may end up dead or maimed, and men with guns don't let you leave, and you didn't want to go anyway but you were dragged there in chains. And Paris Hilton never shows up.

Here's the greatness of the American spirit, as defined by John Hinderaker.

Makes a fella proud to be an American, don't it? It's so inspiring. And notice the sneaky implication in his comment…why, we're using less effective techniques, no doubt because of those pansy liberals. If only we could use the traditional, conservative techniques that have been used since time immemorial, think how the American spirit could soar!

I thought that the Book of Hinderaker was a parody, but it looks like it was a case of understatement, instead.