Waterboard me, baby

Tonight I sniffed my very wet swimsuit to see if it was still chlorine-y from the disgusting pool at my gym. I got a nosefull of water (duh) and a moment of panic, and then I realized how terrifying waterboarding must be.

I'm not going to describe it but you can find plenty of stuff online.

I was an Amnesty International USA member and group leader for years.

I wrote hundreds of letters to try and get political prisoners released or granted their basic human rights. The success of my group was remarkable. Thanks to the help of our then-congressman, Leon Panetta, five of the cases we worked on were released from prison in short order. It helps to have the Chairman of the House Budget Committee working on your behalf.

I also wrote bales of letters to beg dictators to stop torturing people. I was always SO PROUD that I lived in the U.S., a country that did not believe in torture.

Therefore, I find it an especially bitter irony that my own government is torturing. Not coercively interrogating, as the Associated Press has been calling it lately. Torturing.

Torturing. For what? To stay safe? From who? Dictators and evil people...people who do evil things...like torture?