EclecticLip

That’s my vote for the epitaph to George W. Bush’s Presidency.

For all his violations against law and land — which were legion — I rank his authorization of torture as the very worst; the summum malum, the apex of evil.

Setting up the Guantanamo Bay gulag, revoking habeas corpus, and implementing extraordinary rendition make for a formidable axis of malice of their own.  But torture… torture is sui generis, a class of horror of its own.  And as the title points out, torture is what the Romans did to Jesus.
As per the United Nations Convention Against Torture, Part I, Article 1, torture is defined as:

“…any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as
obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession,
punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed,
or intimidating or coercing him or a third person,
or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind,

when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.”

(emphasis mine)

So: did crucifixion involve:

severe pain and suffering?  (check)
which was intentionally inflicted?  (check)
as a punishment / deterrent?  (check)

Much of the potency of the mainstream Christian message to its apologists (the “value proposition” so to speak) rests in the belief that Yeshua ben Miriam suffered abhorrently and even died on their behalf – indeed on behalf of the world entire. To deny that crucifixion is torture, would in fact diminish the Christian message.  Not that that’ll stop Bush’s conservative apologists from trying…

So again, that’s my vote for epitaph for the Bush 43 Presidency:

“did unto others as the Romans did unto Jesus”