The Conservative Cat

I got the idea for this one while listening to a radio news broadcast about Donald Rumsfeld. There has been anti-Rumsfeld sentiment around for a long time, but it has stepped up in intensity in the past few weeks, to the point that now even Trent Lott is calling for Rumsfeld's resignation.

All of this started with a question about up-armoring Humvees that we now know to have been planted by an embedded reporter. For that reason, it is very easy to assume there's a coordinated effort to target the Secretary of Defense. There are, however, very few voices on the right claiming that a conspiracy exists. Instead, the prevailing view is that journalists are only doing what comes naturally. I'm sure everybody on the left would agree, though they'd use different language.

So why, then, is it automatically suspicious that a trio of pro-American Iraqi bloggers is getting the red-carpet treatment from the Bush Administration. Does the Bush Administration not have an interest in promoting pro-American sentiment in Iraq? And why are we to assume that the Swift Boat Vets were tools of the Republican party? Is it so hard to imagine that the Vietnam Vets Kerry smeared in his Winter Soldier testimony would hold a grudge?

I used these two particular examples because they represent liberal outrage at political statements made by private individuals. I think that ordinary people should have the same rights to speak out as journalists. And if those ordinary people happen to agree with the Bush Administration, the simplest explanation is that they're among the 51% of the voters that agree with him.

Respectfully submitted,

Ferdinand T. Cat