USS Clueless              Voyages of a restless mind

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Stardate 20011208.1029 (On Screen): Louis Freedberg demonstrates an absolutely classic version of leftist tunnel vision: applying compassion in the microscopic at the expense of macroscopic brutality. He takes the cult of victimhood to its logical extreme, trying to excuse a traitor for his treason because he was a victim of society. At what point is anyone ever held responsible for their own actions? Is everyone an ethically-neutral automaton who never makes choices but only responds to stimuli?

Freedberg argues that John Walker, the American who was an active soldier fighting for the Taliban against American forces, should be given back to his parents and permitted to get on with his life.

We'd want nothing less for our own children, who could easily have found themselves in a similar mess.

This guy didn't "find himself in a mess"; he deliberately sought it out. He made a conscious decision to join the Taliban knowing full well that it opposed the United States. And he stayed with the Taliban and continued to fight even after the war against the US broke out. He's 20; he's an adult, and he's legally responsible for what he does. So yes, it's understandable that his parents want him to go free. I'd be surprised if that weren't true. But what about the parents of the men he fought against?

What of the parents of the Special Forces he opposed, who might have been killed by him? What of the parents of the CIA man who died in the prison riot Walker was part of? Or the parents of the US Marines who Walker might well have been fighting against and might have killed or wounded? Where is Freedberg's compassion for them?

Treason is the only crime specifically described in the Constitution itself. It is the worst crime that any citizen of the US can commit. Walker is guilty of making war against the US and of adhering to its enemies, both of which are explicitly described in the Constitution as acts which are considered treasonable. Freedberg's compassion makes a mockery of the entire concept of personal responsibility, and by so doing devalues human dignity for us all.

Walker is an adult and made a decision to commit the worst crime any citizen can commit. He must accept the consequences of his decision. (discuss)

Consider this: if none of us can be held responsible for our mistakes, then how can any of us take credit for our achievements? If no-one ever feels ashamed, how can anyone ever feel pride? Either we take responsibility for our actions and accept all the consequences of them, both good and bad, or we don't. The cult of the victim is the ultimate dehumanization.

Update: Additional comments by Charles Johnson, Matt Welch, Moira Breen and apparently also Andrew Sullivan. Hmmm... think we all been trolled?