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Last Friday the California legislature adopted a resolution preventing California health professionals from participating in the torture of prisoners in Guantánamo and other U.S. military prisons. According to Senate Joint Resolution 19, the state’s licensing board must now inform California doctors, psychologists and other health professionals of their obligations under national and international law relating to torture. Additionally these boards must warn them that they could be subject to prosecution if they participate in interrogations that include torture. Although this state-wide initiative is a big victory for anti-torture advocates, it is no substitute for a strong federal position against torture. According to political commentator Ted Rall, in order to restore America’s moral parity in the international community, the next president of the United States must unequivocally renounce torture. But, according to Rall, “there are worrisome signs that Barack Obama and John McCain’s commitment to moral renewal is less than rock-solid.”

GUEST: Ted Rall, political commentator, cartoonist, author, and journalist, whose latest book is called “Silk Road to Ruin: Is Central Asia the New Middle East?”