Of course, your unstinting efforts to make torture an internationally accepted aspect of human life have surpassed everything we could have ever hoped for. I don’t think there is a single member of the league who could have imagined, six short years ago, that our activities in tormenting our fellow creatures would once again be recognised as acceptable, civilised behaviour, as it once was in the middle ages.

There was a time, maybe not even all that long ago, when this would have read like satire to me, if not outright hyperbole. Lately, though…

As Garrison Keillor notes, “Any young persons who have been inspired by Mr. Bush to take up public service should be watched very closely.”