From the Back of the Room

The National Review gang at the Corner is discussing the needlessly contentious confirmation hearings for Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales and the matters wrongly conflated with the man's work as White House Counsel. Says John Derbyshire:

Why is the thought of U.S. troops misbehaving so obsessively exciting to some Americans, rousing them to such furious indignation? I don't get it.


That's because you care for, admire and believe in the people of this country, able as you are to recognize their faults from part to whole. On the other side, we all know cynics. They set low standards because it's the most purely practical way to live, and they delight in the inevitable — if brief and soon overcome — stumbles of those who aspire to virtue. "See, you're not such a saint after all," cynics sneer, and further excuse themselves from responsibility.

If someone has invested their identity in the idea that America stands for nothing good, they will be forced by overwhelming evidence to choose between discarding most of their world view or keeping it by segregating perception between evidence they do and do not want to accept. As, in the war on terror, evidence of American grace, honor and mercy has accumulated rapidly, phobics have sacrificed more and more declared values — civil and political rights, concern for the world's downtrodden — to remain firm in their opposition while waiting for something, anything, that might publicly justify their contempt. American benevolence is strong because we take ourselves very seriously. When some of us falter, detractors — doubtful of both virtue and redemption — take that for an Achilles' heel.

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