"I do not think [that word] means what you think it means."

Last night, some of the Republican hopefuls for presidential candidate were questioned whether they would torture suspects to get information (not in those words, of course). Here's McCain's and Giuliani's responses:

McCAIN: It's not about the terrorists. It's about us. It's about what kind of country we are. And a fact, the more physical pain you inflict on someone, the more they're going to tell you what they think you want to know. It's about us as a nation.

[...]

GIULIANI: Well, I'd say every method they could think of. And I would support them in doing that, because I've seen what --

Commendable thoughts from McCain, certainly.

But when MSNBC replayed these quotes, John Harwood had this to say:

McCain's core message is tough -- toughness, and that "I'm tough enough that I can go against my party on this issue. Why? Because I've been in combat. I've been tortured myself, as you mentioned."

Rudy Giuliani also has a bit of a claim to combat in a different way, because he was on the ground in 9-11.

Um. I think this whole "Giuliani is the hero of 9-11" may be going a bit far.