Outraged

Ticked off at Sean Hannity lately. Might be annoyed with other Talk Radio guys, too, but my schedule is such at the moment I can only hear part of Hannity and part of Glenn Beck--which is not necc. the best use of my time, I'll admit.

Yesterday he starts the show with "Well, I guess we really know what an atrocity is now..." or something close to that. This comes after a week or so of him harping on those in D.C. who are trying to turn the Iraqi Prisoner Scandal into political gain. He always throws in, "of course it's horrible and despicable" kind of disclaimer before he goes on into: Well, look what they did--X, Y, Z--and yes, what these few soldiers did was horrible, but it wasn't as bad as it was just a year ago. And I'm hearing/reading that kind of thing all over the place.

Flummery. Utter flummery. Or as Colonel Sherman Potter used to say, "Bull Pucky."

Why this obsession with comparing the levels of depravity in Iraq? It's not hard to get away without doing it.

Saddam & Co. were despicable leaders who did unspeakable things to the people they were supposedly governing.

Those who dragged those dead bodies through the streets and hung them off the bridge? Repugnant.

Those butchers who decapitated Berg? Not deserving of breath.

Those soldiers/contractors/whoever in the prisons who humiliated, raped, tortured, etc.? Despicably repugnant.

See? Did it without comparing relative morality. All the above should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law--which in each case probably doesn't go far enough. It's not that hard.

But if you insist on comparing moralities, the US guys have more dirt on them. I know, I know, to many I've just made myself out to be a traitor. Whatever. I just happen to think that those who came into a nation to liberate it, to free it from tyranny and oppression, should be held to a higher standard. Sure, it was Tyranny and Oppression Lite (less carbs, too), but we can't grade this stuff on a curve.

Our credibility there has been shot to H-E-Double Hockey Sticks. The work, sacrifices, and victories of the Coalition troops weighed against this? Weighed and found wanting. Which just means more boxes wrapped in flags. And more of the people we're "liberating" will be dead, too.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying we need to pull out--if we do, it'll be worse for everyone. I'm not saying it's our fault that the Bad Guys did evil things. The fault rests solely on those who did the deeds, those who knew about it and didn't stop it, and those who ordered them done. But please, call evil what it is: evil. Don't settle for "not as bad as it was..." settle for "good." Nothing more, nothing less.