If you have to choose one aspect of the liberal worldview to hate the most, it should be that impulse to blame bad, negative reactions to sound policy on the sound policy, rather than the bad actor.
To put it in fewer words, we can't change what we do out of fear of reprisal. Well, we shouldn't anyway.
It's funny that this concept is not entirely lost on our friends on the left or our betters in the press. After a terror attack, much lip service is given to the continuation of daily life—to not change who we are or what we do in order to placate evil. But it only seems to apply, for them, to mundane things like attending concerts or trips to the ballpark.
If it's sound foreign policy or acting in our own national interest that angers a terrorist or terror-supporting regime, however, then suddenly, "blame the victim" becomes all the rage. That's where Chris Cuomo's question on Friday morning comes in.
Watch:
"It's unbelievable that some would try to blame the United States for Iran's actions," State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert says when asked about the purported Iranian strikes on Golan Heights cnn.it/2rzhzM6
"Is there any concern that pulling the United States, or threatening to pull it out of the Iran deal precipitated or helped provoke the actions that Israel is pointing out now, in terms of missiles that were launched from Syria into the Golan Heights?" Cuomo asked State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert.
A reporter defends this type of question by saying that it gives the person being interviewed the opportunity to debunk or contradict something, and that merely asking is not the same as agreeing. There is an extent to which this is true, but you can also tell the bias in a question by word choice, inflection, and by knowing the person asking. In Cuomo's case, this leaned more "don't you think we're to blame" than it was "do you think we're to blame."
Regardless, the response was masterful. Nauert was ready for nonsense, given the venue, and it showed.
It's unbelievable that some would try to blame the United States for Iran's actions. It’s unbelievable that others would try to blame Israel for this. Iran is responsible for many bad acts around the world. We’ve seen as Iran has provided weapons, money, and all of that to Hezbollah, operating in Syria. We’ve seen as Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps operate outside of Syria, as, by the way, they continue to back the regime of Bashar al-Assad. And let me just remind you, it wasn’t that long ago that that regime gassed and killed many innocent civilians, not just once, but many, many times. So, let’s take a look at where these bad actions are coming from; they’re from Iran and not other countries.
Perfect in every way. So much so that Cuomo's response was essentially agreement. "Totally understood," he said.
Still, give it to CNN that the quote in the tweet was her response rather than his question. Baby steps.
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