Some things are obvious, and others aren't

But which type is which appears to depend on the viewer, and/or what they've been drinking. Two cases in poin:

1. should be obvious, but seemingly isn't (to those at the top): torture is bad.

   What must it be like to be a human rights worker these days? Your job is to go to countries like Nepal and try to urge the government not to "disappear" people, not to torture them while in detention, and not to summarily execute them. And yet you know and they know that the richest, most powerful country in the world, a country that states as its ostensible goal the spread of democracy and liberty throughout the world, uses those very same tactics in dealing with a much lesser threat to its existence. Seems like a hard sell to me.

   Of course, Bush claims that America doesn't torture anybody. (But if we did, it would be critical for national security!) blah, blah, blah.
   
   
2. becoming obvious, but wasn't all along: Cheney is neither wise nor competent. He may have looked good in comparison to Bush, but he's been a crazy man for some decades, and continues to lead us into poorly considered actions. Some of the examples here are mind-blowing ("of course we can [insert crazy action] I just saw it done on TV last night!"), and when even the CIA thinks torture doesn't work, who is Cheney to say otherwise?

History will not deal kindly with our current leaders...