"Again I ask where was the outcry when innocent Americans civilians were being killed and burned and the press was showing us Iraq's dancing in the streets."

Since when are Mercenaries innocent civilians?

And while I'm at it - this is from a blog called Absolutely Perfect - Atrios linked to this article:

Meanwhile, in the Alternate Universe ... 

I can't read all the rightwing blogs out there (Oy!) so I cruise over to Instapundit on occasion to gauge the general drift of things in Wingnut World. And let me tell you ...

Amid the demands for Teresa Heinz's tax returns (This just in: She's rich), misspellings of John Kerry's last name ("Kerrey" is a popular variation) and nostalgic posts about the UN's oil-for-food pseudo-scandal, they have actually taken some time to address that little problem in Abu Ghraib.

The verdict? The Instapundit gang is bored, frankly, by all this talk of torture and the steady drumbeat of voices calling for Rummy to go. It has become a distraction from the more entertaining debate over whether John Kerry threw his medals or his ribbons over the White House fence in 1971. They believe there's a "lynch mob" forming around Rumsfeld, part of a "partisan, crass, politically-motivated campaign" on the level of the Starr investigation (Wait -- now conservatives think Starr was a political hack? Finally!). And, as usual, there are dire predictions for the Democrats, who, in the minds of the Instapunditry, wouldn't be so bad if they would just, you know, start acting more like Republicans. (Paging Senator Leiberman!)

Kerry, they argue, is walking into a minefield, once again precipitated by his misguided decision to serve in Vietnam when he could have escaped to Europe or served in the Massachusetts National Guard. Did you know that war crimes were committed in Vietnam? By U.S. soldiers? Whoa! That, says the Instapundit crew, pretty much negates anything Kerry might say about the atrocities in Iraq, a country more than 30 years and thousands of miles removed from Vietnam. Thank goodness President Bush avoided that little conflict of interest.

At Instapundit, every move Kerry makes is a potential disaster for his campaign.

At Instapundit, every member of Bush's administration who jumps ship is a disloyal Judas in search of a book contract.

At Instapundit, every time a cabinet member is hauled before Congress to answer for the latest screwup, it's a dignified and statesmanlike performance. (If we get much more of this "statesmanship," we're really going to be f--ked.

At Instapundit, every time a former ally criticizes the U.S., it's a cold political gambit. (I'm shocked. Shocked! Did you know that some of these countries actually believe their opinions matter?)

At Instapundit, every time the U.S. botches something else in Iraq, we are reminded that Saddam killed little babies and once shared a cab with Osama bin Laden's third wife's fourth cousin.

At Instapundit, every time the media shows flag-draped coffins returning from Iraq, it could be running stories about that school Halliburton painted (for a mere $100,000).

They believe this because they must believe it. Once they concede the point -- any point -- the dam will break. They, like the president, are ardent believers in the continuum that drives the GOP strategy -- 9/11=Muslim=Patriot Act=Saddam=war=orange alert -- to the point that it is a mantra to be repeated ad nauseum, a quasi-religious statement of belief, an article of faith long past the need for any empirical evidence.

Instapundit is a veritable festival of equivocation, which is always the last line of defense. America's infantile (and toxic) obsession with firearms is rationalized by the occasional (and truly unusual) gun murder in Europe. Strom Thurmond's recalcitrant racism is negated by Robert Byrd's youthful (and long since disavowed) association with bigotry and the Klan. The daily death toll in Iraq is likened -- favorably -- to the risks incurred by drivers on California's Interstates. The Bush administration has gutted the EPA and sold out to Big Oil, but John Kerry owns an SUV.

The current crisis is no different. Iraqis are being abused, tortured and murdered in Abu Ghraib? Well, did you know that a jailer in Germany abused some inmates in his lockup? So there you go. Bad things happen everywhere, and everyone is a hypocrite. It makes one wish that Professor Reynolds would take this (inadvertantly ironic) advice offered by James Lileks, his favorite folksy-fascist blogger:

Go away for a week. Blog not. You’re not a public utility! We won't call our city councilman if the tap's dry for a while.

Yes, a nice long break. We can't help but agree.