Some people may have discerned that I am a bit of a comics nut. One of the best Batman comics written (by Alan Moore, which will mean something to other comics nuts) was "The Killing Joke." In it, the Joker shoots Barbara Gordon point blank, permanently paralyzing her. Commissioner Gordon is captured by the Joker and is brutally tortured, both physically and with photos of his ruined daughter. Batman rescues Gordon.

Batman: "Listen, the police are following right behind me. I'll stay here with you until they arrive."



Gordon: "No! No. I'm okay! You have to go after him! I want him brought in, and I want him brought in by the book!"

Batman: "I'll do my best." He heads after the Joker.

Gordon: "By the book, you hear? We have to show him! We have to show him that our way works!"



Okay, it's just a comic book. But Gordon's integrity under unthinkable mental pressure impressed me, as did the idea behind it.

While I wouldn't let this Al-Queda bastard off just because some cop mispronounced something in the Miranda reading, if we torture him physically, other than routine prison hardships like isolation or limited diet,* I think we lose something important. How much are we willing to sacrifice "our way" of doing things to get some additional safety from terrorists?

Perceptive folks will notice that this is closely related to the question of how much individual liberty, also a critical component of "our way," we are willing to sacrifice for additional safety.

*I don't really know where coercive, but physically harmless, truth drugs would fall on this scale.