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We confront today new information that confirms the existence of a program of American torture. What are you going to do about it? Don’t wait to march in the street. Do something today.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it now: one of the best ways for a single individual to make a difference in America is to write a letter to the editor. Depending on the newspaper, thousands to millions of people will read that letter and think about it. That’s like standing on the stage of a March on Washington and making a speech. That’s like having your own TV show. For just a moment, you can capture the attention of some of the nation’s most active thinkers and doers.

“It does not take a majority to prevail, but rather an irate, tireless minority keen on setting brushfires of freedom in the minds of men.”

Samuel Adams said that, and it’s true. One of the best ways to change the way a nation thinks is for a group of people, each living in a separate place, to each write letters to the editor of their local newspapers. I know it sounds cheesy and hokey, like something out of a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington movie, but think about it. What if, today, 400 people write in letters to the editor explaining in heartfelt and original terms their concerns and demands regarding the issue of waterboarding? What if just 100 of those letters are published? Even if just 100 of those letters are published, then we’ll have millions, maybe even tens of millions of people reading about the issue, hearing other citizens raising their voices, hearing the call to get active, to care again, to demand that something be done. There are few ways for 100 ordinary citizens to make any bigger difference than that. Who cares if some arbiter of cool refers to that as cheesy or hokey? Cool is halfway down the road to stone cold dead. You’re alive today. Be hot.

400 people may not write letters to the editor today on the subject. I can’t control that, and you can’t control that. But I can control whether one person does. That’s me. Here’s my letter to the Columbus Dispatch, a newspaper with a daily circulation of 218,940:

Retired CIA officer John Kiriakou has specifically identified the procedure used in American waterboarding of its detainees: strapping a detainee to a plank, covering the mouth and nose with cellophane, and pouring water down the throat until the detainee is broken. Because such a procedure creates the perception of imminent death, it is illegal under federal torture law, specifically 18 USC 2340. The same law specifies that members of government who conspire to deploy such torture methods are subject to prison terms of up to 20 years.

We have a man in the know making an allegation of federal crime. We have members of the Bush administration accused of conspiracy to commit torture. And finally, we have an admission that videotapes of this torture were destroyed despite requests from the 9-11 Commission and Congress for such information. That’s obstruction of justice. Three crimes at the heart of our federal government.

Will Attorney General Michael Mukasey name a special prosecutor? Will George W. Bush share all he knows with investigators? Will Congress investigate and impeach for these high crimes if the Bush administration refuses to take action? Or is the rule of law dead?

You can control whether 1 letter becomes 2 letters. And you and I can ask others to do the same, letting 2 letters become 3, and 4, and 5, and 10, and 20, and 100, and 400, and maybe even 1000 letters to the editor today. This is one way for a nation to wake up. Amplify your voice of moral outrage. Do it today. Ask a friend. Then watch and wait for the wave.