If there were a such thing as the Lion Award, going to a person with courage--the first award should go to William Howard Taft IV--who, from within the Bush Justice Department argued that the U.S. did not have the right to suspend the Geneva conventions when it came to treating the Taliban captured in the Afghanistan campaign.

I do not, however, believe, that on the basis of your draft memorandum I can advise either the President or the Secretary of State that the obligations of the United States under the Geneva Conventions have lapsed with regard to Afghanistan or that the United States is not bound to carry out its obligations under the Conventions as a matter of international law.

The point of this memorandum is to not lose hope.  There are men and women out there of good faith who are doing there best to see that the cause of good is advanced.  This administration, when confronted with a choice between a morally correct but difficult course and an easy, immoral course, has always taken the easy way.