In the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing, we are suffering through the inevitable period of liberal hand-wringing. Liberals can’t help themselves: while normal people are reviling the bombers, celebrating their capture or death, and debating measures that can be taken to prevent future atrocities, liberals’ thinking (if you can call it that) goes in a different direction. Liberals call for understanding; tell the rest of us we don’t realize how complex mass murder is; recommend introspection (But why? I didn’t do it.); and warn against various forms of overreaction to the latest terrorist outrage. The reality of evil, a constant in human affairs for millennia, renders liberals not speechless–that would be too much to hope for–but incoherent.
These days there are more such outpourings of liberal feelings than one can count, but let’s note just two, for now. First, Governor Deval Patrick, who appeared on Face the Nation this morning:
The governor of Massachusetts said Sunday that he has no idea what motivated the brothers accused of exploding two bombs near the finish line of the Boston Marathon.
Really? Hmm. Check out the Boston Globe, Governor. They think Islam might have played a secondary role.
Speaking on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” Gov. Deval Patrick said it’s hard to imagine why someone would deliberately harm “innocent men, women and children in the way that these two fellows did.”
It is, indeed, hard to imagine if you aren’t evil. But this is a banal and singularly unhelpful observation. Experience tells us that some people do indeed want to harm innocent men, women and children in this fashion. Muslims alone carry out, on the average, several terrorist attacks a day for the purpose of harming innocent men, women and children, and they are by no means the only source of evil in the world. So our public officials should stop expressing amazement at the existence of evil and start figuring out how to protect the rest of us from it.
This piece in The Atlantic is a good exemplar of the mushy liberal commentary that has proliferated in recent days. Authored by one Megan Garber, it is titled: “The Boston Bombers Were Muslim: So?” Before taking a close look at Ms. Garber’s article, let’s advise The Atlantic not to put away that headline. It could come in handy so often. “The Cole Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Embassy Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The First World Trade Center Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The September 11 Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Madrid Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The London Bombers Were Muslim: So?” “The Shoebomber Was Muslim: So?” The Underwear Bomber Was Muslim: So?” “The Fort Hood Shooter Was Muslim: So?” “The Beslan Child-Murderers Were Muslim: So?” “The Times Square Bomber Was Muslim: So?”
Read the rest at Powerline
John Hinderaker asks: Why Does Evil Make Liberals Stupid?
I think liberals are more ignorant than stupid.
From John H’s article:
John H is hinting at a knowledge most Americans don’t have but rather sense.
The difference between the two obligations in Islam: Fard Ayn (like all Commandments in the Bible that all followers should obey) and the Fard Kifaya (the distinctly Islamic command on whole populations of Muslims that a jihadi be produced from among them all).
One of the pillars of Islam is to donate to the religion.
1/6th of that donation MUST go to assist the jihadi’s.
But, under a call from an imam of a Fard Kifaya, the congregation must also (occasionally) produce a jihadist.
Thus 99 out of 100 Muslims seems so passive and mild.
But THEY know what they do collectively.
They occasionally serve up a young man to be trained for battle against the Jew, the Christian and/or the Infidel.
Liberals, OTOH, seem to want to stay in ignorance of how Islam works.
@Nan G: Nan, I would say that if a man knows he is ignorant and fails to do anything about it, he is stupid!
Liberals ARE stupid!!
Liberals hate to admit that their black messiah is a Muslim sympathizer and just can’t come to grips with the fact that this attack as well as the dude in Texas are acts of extreme Muslim Terrorists. They would rather act totally stupid than admit the truth!!
Maybe someone would like to extract the acts of terror by Christians and those by Muslims from this article, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terrorism_in_the_United_States , and compare them.
@Liberal1 (Objectivity):
You brought it up, why don’t you cull your own data. Let us know how it turns out. But before you do, let’s make one distinction. Separate the acts of terror, not by Christian or Muslim, but by those done in the name of Christianity and those done in the name of Islam. See if that gives you any clarification……..genius.