The left's Sarah Palin: Why liberals secretly love WikiLeaks' Assange
Source: Washington post blog
What a difference a worldview makes.
Take the Bush tax cuts for example. The Democrats see the extensions of the cuts as, in the words of Sen. Claire McGaskill, “big tax bonuses to millionaires and billionaires.” In contrast, the Republicans recognize that taxpayer dollars aren’t the “government’s money” in the first place.
Here’s another worldview example. On the issue of building the mosque at Ground Zero, liberals are for it. If the mosque isn’t built, they worry about offending the Muslim community. In contrast, conservatives were more worried about the victims of 9/11, their families, and healing America’s psychological wounds from the worst terrorist attack in our history. These differences in worldview have also caused a change in the language of the terrorism debate itself.
The Obama Administration – in an attempt to be sensitive – has banned the phrases, “Islamic extremists” and “jihadists,” from its national security documents. Obama and Janet Napolitano have been trying to hardsell kinder, gentler phrases such as “man-caused disaster” and “overseas contingencies” instead of the word, “terrorist.” The American people haven't bought it (that pesky worldview again!) but Obama has tried.
However, the left’s worldview has succeeded in other ways since Obama was elected. The word, “Islamophobia”has now entered the terrorism debate lexicon in order to condemn those who use the "wrong words" to describe the Islamic extremists. Will Muslim extremists eventually become yet another protected class entitled to special privileges? From TSA screenings to blocking any effort to “profile” potential terrorists, the worldview of those in power impacts every single one of us.
This week, we are seeing the latest example of why worldview is important. The political left hates Sarah Palin. The political right despises her left-wing equivalent: WikiLeaks’ spy Julian Assange.
Now some of you who are reading this commentary might be outraged that I would say that America’s political Left sympathizes with WikiLeaks’ mission and its founder, Assange. You might even be standing up and yelling at your computer screen this minute.
You might be saying/yelling: Kelly, how can you call Assange – who has been arrested on sex crime charges in London and whose website, WikiLeaks, has released/stolen a quarter-million high security State Department records, including cables that give Al-Qaeda a little shot list of vital American security interests – a darling of the left?
My answer to those critics is that, again, it comes down to worldview.
Since the Assange manhunt has come to a boil,748 mirror sites (to date) have sprung up to help WikiLeaks continue to publish its leaks of sensitive U.S. documents. Among these leaks are a list of U.S. and worldwide targets that, if attacked, could undermine American national security. Included in the list are, for example, a secret list of infrastructure from pipelines to smallpox vaccine suppliers, an anti-snake venom factory, an insulin plant, and satellite communication sites and areas where trans-Atlantic cables pass through land to name a few.
Are these 748 mirror sites run by people on the political left or the right?
WikiLeaks is also working with news organizations to publish the classified information in its cables. Some of the mainstream media outlets include Le Monde, El Pais in Spain, The Guardian in Britain and Der Spiegel in Germany. The Guardian is also sharing its material with The New York Times. Together, these five news organizations have agreed to coordinate their efforts jointly release the information.
Are these media outlets run by those on the political left or the right?
And mainstream left-wing journalists have lined up to defend Assange and WikiLeaks too. The headline to Albert Hunt’s WikiLeaks piece in the New York Times reads, “Good Gossip and No Harm to U.S.” The Week calls Assange a “complicated hero.” David Samuels in The Atlantic says, “The "official intimidation and threats" against Julian Assange are a disgrace.” Samuels goes on to say Assange should be praised for exposing "a burgeoning secret world whose existence is a threat to democracy."
And let's not forget who gave Assange the documents in the first place. Americans who hate America. Now, would that be those on the political left or the right?
Under the guise of “Freedom of Speech,” the political left has happily savaged America and what it stands for. It is a strange worldview to be sure and one that most Americans don’t agree with. The Left despises America’s historical success, its capitalist system, its wealth disparity, its attempts to further democracies where none exist, its Western Christian foundations, and the predominantly conservative mindset of its people. They are traumatized by the idea of American exceptionalism and seek to level the playing field. They do not see any of this as an issue of freedom or self-determination but one of “fairness.” However, it is a system of “fairness” they alone believe they can determine. It is this profound resentment that underscores the left’s secret support of Assange’s WikiLeaks and what he is trying to do.
When America fails, it is the left who cheer. Even if that means handing a shot list to Al-Qaeda. Some worldview, huh?
Conservative satirist and commentator William J. Kelly is also a contributor to Breitbart.com and edits the Tea Party Reports for the Washington Times Communities. He is a native from Chicago's Southside.
What a difference a worldview makes.
Take the Bush tax cuts for example. The Democrats see the extensions of the cuts as, in the words of Sen. Claire McGaskill, “big tax bonuses to millionaires and billionaires.” In contrast, the Republicans recognize that taxpayer dollars aren’t the “government’s money” in the first place.
Here’s another worldview example. On the issue of building the mosque at Ground Zero, liberals are for it. If the mosque isn’t built, they worry about offending the Muslim community. In contrast, conservatives were more worried about the victims of 9/11, their families, and healing America’s psychological wounds from the worst terrorist attack in our history. These differences in worldview have also caused a change in the language of the terrorism debate itself.
The Obama Administration – in an attempt to be sensitive – has banned the phrases, “Islamic extremists” and “jihadists,” from its national security documents. Obama and Janet Napolitano have been trying to hardsell kinder, gentler phrases such as “man-caused disaster” and “overseas contingencies” instead of the word, “terrorist.” The American people haven't bought it (that pesky worldview again!) but Obama has tried.
However, the left’s worldview has succeeded in other ways since Obama was elected. The word, “Islamophobia”has now entered the terrorism debate lexicon in order to condemn those who use the "wrong words" to describe the Islamic extremists. Will Muslim extremists eventually become yet another protected class entitled to special privileges? From TSA screenings to blocking any effort to “profile” potential terrorists, the worldview of those in power impacts every single one of us.
This week, we are seeing the latest example of why worldview is important. The political left hates Sarah Palin. The political right despises her left-wing equivalent: WikiLeaks’ spy Julian Assange.
Now some of you who are reading this commentary might be outraged that I would say that America’s political Left sympathizes with WikiLeaks’ mission and its founder, Assange. You might even be standing up and yelling at your computer screen this minute.
You might be saying/yelling: Kelly, how can you call Assange – who has been arrested on sex crime charges in London and whose website, WikiLeaks, has released/stolen a quarter-million high security State Department records, including cables that give Al-Qaeda a little shot list of vital American security interests – a darling of the left?
My answer to those critics is that, again, it comes down to worldview.
Since the Assange manhunt has come to a boil,748 mirror sites (to date) have sprung up to help WikiLeaks continue to publish its leaks of sensitive U.S. documents. Among these leaks are a list of U.S. and worldwide targets that, if attacked, could undermine American national security. Included in the list are, for example, a secret list of infrastructure from pipelines to smallpox vaccine suppliers, an anti-snake venom factory, an insulin plant, and satellite communication sites and areas where trans-Atlantic cables pass through land to name a few.
Are these 748 mirror sites run by people on the political left or the right?
WikiLeaks is also working with news organizations to publish the classified information in its cables. Some of the mainstream media outlets include Le Monde, El Pais in Spain, The Guardian in Britain and Der Spiegel in Germany. The Guardian is also sharing its material with The New York Times. Together, these five news organizations have agreed to coordinate their efforts jointly release the information.
Are these media outlets run by those on the political left or the right?
And mainstream left-wing journalists have lined up to defend Assange and WikiLeaks too. The headline to Albert Hunt’s WikiLeaks piece in the New York Times reads, “Good Gossip and No Harm to U.S.” The Week calls Assange a “complicated hero.” David Samuels in The Atlantic says, “The "official intimidation and threats" against Julian Assange are a disgrace.” Samuels goes on to say Assange should be praised for exposing "a burgeoning secret world whose existence is a threat to democracy."
And let's not forget who gave Assange the documents in the first place. Americans who hate America. Now, would that be those on the political left or the right?
Under the guise of “Freedom of Speech,” the political left has happily savaged America and what it stands for. It is a strange worldview to be sure and one that most Americans don’t agree with. The Left despises America’s historical success, its capitalist system, its wealth disparity, its attempts to further democracies where none exist, its Western Christian foundations, and the predominantly conservative mindset of its people. They are traumatized by the idea of American exceptionalism and seek to level the playing field. They do not see any of this as an issue of freedom or self-determination but one of “fairness.” However, it is a system of “fairness” they alone believe they can determine. It is this profound resentment that underscores the left’s secret support of Assange’s WikiLeaks and what he is trying to do.
When America fails, it is the left who cheer. Even if that means handing a shot list to Al-Qaeda. Some worldview, huh?
Conservative satirist and commentator William J. Kelly is also a contributor to Breitbart.com and edits the Tea Party Reports for the Washington Times Communities. He is a native from Chicago's Southside.
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