{"id":23778,"date":"2014-12-15T17:29:38","date_gmt":"2014-12-16T01:29:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=23778"},"modified":"2014-12-15T18:03:11","modified_gmt":"2014-12-16T02:03:11","slug":"fox-nation-vs-reality-searching-for-liberal-hypocrisy-soul-searching-on-drones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newscorpse.com\/ncWP\/?p=23778","title":{"rendered":"Fox Nation vs. Reality: Searching For Liberal Soul-Searching Hypocrisy On Drones"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week the Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on the CIA torture program that was used to extract information from alleged terrorists. The report revealed a disturbing pattern of unlawful activities that failed to produce much, if any, useful intelligence.<\/p>\n

The resulting controversy ignited a much-needed debate on the questions of law and humanity. Most conservatives and Republicans were outraged that the report was made public. In fact, they were more upset with the publishing of information derived from taxpayer-funded investigations than they were with the revelations that our national security apparatus was flagrantly violating the standards of decency as well as international and domestic law. And lacking any reasonable argument to defend the actual practice of torture, they attempted to divert the discussion to the public exposure of it.<\/p>\n

Another diversionary tactic taken up by the right was to seek an equivalency between the torture program that was mainly advanced by the Bush administration and other programs with similarly questionable methods that could be attributed to President Obama. To that end, Fox Nation posted an article sourced to the Washington Examiner that asked “Liberal Hypocrisy: Why No Soul-Searching On Drones?”<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Fox<\/p>\n

That would be an excellent question except for the fact that its premise is so far removed from reality you have to wonder where these quibblers have been for the past six years. The article complained that…<\/p>\n

“President Obama and his allies are quick to denounce harsh interrogation techniques as torture, framing the renewed scrutiny of Central Intelligence Agency methods as crucial to restoring U.S. moral authority on the global stage.<\/p>\n

“They are less eager, however, to apply the same standard to the administration\u2019s reliance on remote-controlled, targeted killings, a drone campaign that critics say invites natural comparisons to extreme interrogations employed during George W. Bush\u2019s presidency.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

How they surmised a lack of eagerness on the part of liberals to renounce drones is a complete mystery. Liberals were the first, and most vociferous, critics of Obama’s drone policy. There is ample evidence that goes back to the very first days and weeks of his presidency. These early critics came from the most staunchly progressive media outlets and were expressing their consistent opposition to practices that demonstrated a lack of respect for human life and suffering. For example:<\/p>\n