Working too hard? Running low on holiday spirit? Well, if these folks in Mississippi can find some holiday cheer, anyone can. If you'd like to make the holidays even more cheerful on the Gulf Coast, a donation to Habitat for Humanity might be a good place to start.

Score one for the good guys. The House followed the Senate's lead in endorsing Senator McCain's anti-torture amendment by a veto-proof majority, forcing the White House to agree to the measure. The amendment prohibits "cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment" of anyone in U.S. government custody, regardless of where they are held.

What I want to know is why this measure was necessary in the first place, and why there was any debate about it. It seems pretty obvious to me that you can't hold yourself up as a shining beacon of liberty while aligning yourself with the world's worst totalitarian regimes. Being a "nation of laws" means the law applies to everyone, including the executive branch, and protects everyone, including people the executive branch doesn't like.