One of the reasons I drifted so far left was because of a constant sense of outrage. It was like a steady drumbeat in my head: Capitalism? Patently unfair! Unequal pay for women? Outrageous!
Of course, out here in Berkeley, I was in good company, surrounded by the multitudes up in arms most hours of the day. There's even a popular bumper sticker around town that captures the general vibe: If You're Not Outraged, You're Not Paying Attention.
However, once I snapped out of my leftist trance, I realized something startling: I was outraged about all of the wrong things. In fact, leftist outrage is derived not from our Higher Selves, but from another place entirely: the lowly self.
This explains why the left can be so apoplectic one minute, and then strangely silent the next. Take, for example, the mass slaughter of our soldiers at Fort Hood. Obama didn't even interrupt his Native American shout-out to denounce the killings.
We hardly hear a peep these days about Ft. Hood, the infiltration of our military (!) by a Jihadist. I recently referred to the atrocity when speaking to a progressive friend; she could barely recall what I was talking about. Yet, when a lone, apparently psychotic young man, created a bloodbath in Tucson, the left was all over this one.
The outrage about Tucson was fast and furious, with fingers pointed directly rightward. The Tea Parties and Sarah Palin were vilified by the MSM and progressive bloggers.
And, yet, when Palin defended herself by labeling the blame game a "blood libel," we all witnessed what happened. People went ballistic; they were outraged!
And now comes the latest abomination, a maniacal mob repeatedly sexually assaulting and beating CBS correspondent, Lara Logan. Logan's ordeal, her abject horror, appears to have fallen on deaf ears. Most of our leaders have barely uttered a peep.
This is no surprise. As I've written many times before, the left considers the abuse of women collateral damage in their revolutionary battles. Another reason for the silence? The savagery threatens to spoil the pristine image of the Egyptian hoodlums as "freedom fighters."
Lara Logan is a well-known journalist; but every day, anonymous Muslim women are stoned, genitally mutilated, and murdered. The madness has infiltrated our country with the beheading of a Muslim woman, allegedly by her husband. And yet is CNN or Court TV running 24 hour coverage of the trial? Of course not; these events fail to outrage.
The left's outrage is not completely real; it is manufactured; contrived. The faux outrage is as fabricated as those feel-good slogans about Hope and Change.
The left's legendary compassion is politically expedient, though elaborately disguised. Brutalization of journalists, a Jihad against our soldiers...and yet, so little outrage. There is no currency in these events; in fact, they must be swept under the rug to hide the truth about the "Religion of Peace."
But notice how Don't Ask, Don't Tell inflames the masses. Watch sparks fly in the battle for gay marriage. Wisconsin is exploding because unionized teachers want collective bargaining. The left's outrage is self-righteous because it is laser focused on the self.
Not only is the left's outrage ego-based, but it is rooted in greed. Take the left's centerpiece issue, social and economic justice. What do those flowery phrases actually mean, anyway? Aren't they just doublespeak for envy, coveting one's neighbor, and a gimme-gimme mentality?
When an injustice serves progressive ideology, we see the outrage in full-color display. However, at other times, the silence is deafening -- or there is disingenuous posturing.
As Lara Logan recovers from her wounds, President Carter assures us that we have nothing to fear from the Muslim Brotherhood. But why shouldn't we be fearful? Haven't we just seen what this assembly of brothers is capable of doing?
As of this writing, Obama has not yet issued a public statement condemning the violence in Egypt against Lara Logan and other journalists. However, Obama did deliver a fiery speech, where he accused the Republicans in Wisconsin of an "assault on unions."
He sounded outraged.
A frequent American Thinker contributor, Robin is a psychotherapist and a recovering liberal in Berkeley. Robin's articles are meant to inform and entertain, not to offer psychotherapeutic advice or diagnoses. You can post a comment to this article here.
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