http://www.nationalreview.com/node/422350/print Outsourcing ‘Dirty Hands’ Work: Why the Planned Parenthood Videos Sting
By Brandon McGinley — August 11, 2015
When the Senate Intelligence Committee released its torture report last December, among the negative reactions to it was a note of exasperated indignation from the intelligence community. This was more than frustration over the release of sensitive information; it was a particular and particularly raw feeling of betrayal.
In the aftermath of September 11, 2001, most Americans, whether or not we admitted it to others or to ourselves, were willing to sanction just about any action that might thwart another terrorist attack. Whether through official channels or through the cultural apotheosis of characters like 24’s Jack Bauer, that message was heard by the people we charge with foiling terrorists. National-security blogger John Schindler called the post-9/11 period “a blur . . . when all of Uncle Sam’s spooks thought our personal contributions, each day, might make the difference between a ‘nuclear 9/11’ happening or not.” The voice of the people was clear: No holds barred.
We signaled that we assented to the torture-for-security trade. For some of our leaders and many ordinary citizens to turn around more than a decade later and express moral outrage was, for many in the intelligence community, rather like Captain Renault’s shutting down Rick’s casino in Casablanca while collecting his winnings.
They had taken on enormous personal and moral burdens. Now many of those who benefited from their service were directing withering judgments against it. Even the most committed opponents of abortion should be able to detect something similar in the reaction of Planned Parenthood, and of the wider abortion industry, to the ongoing release of undercover videos revealing the darkest aspects of the practice of abortion.
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