("Leaked Military" waterboarding instructions, may be inappropriate for work)

To highlight just how depraved some conservatives have become, consider the latest piece from Deroy Murdock, a contributing editor to the National Review. While some on the right have defended waterboarding as a necessary evil in a ticking-time-bomb scenario, Murdock went much further, arguing, “Waterboarding is something of which every American should be proud.”

Though clearly uncomfortable, waterboarding loosens lips without causing permanent physical injuries (and unlikely even temporary ones). If terrorists suffer long-term nightmares about waterboarding, better that than more Americans crying themselves to sleep after their loved ones have been shredded by bombs or baked in skyscrapers. In short, there is nothing “repugnant” about waterboarding.

Remember, this isn’t some random crazy person ranting on a street corner; this is a published column in one of the nation’s biggest conservative political magazines.

For what it’s worth, Media Matters did some fact-checking, and found that Murdock — surprise, surprise — doesn’t know what he’s talking about.

But stepping back and considering the big picture, one question emerges: what is wrong with these people?