The web site AlterNe…
The web site AlterNet.org, according to their mission statement, certainly sounds as if it’s nonpartisan. Well, I don’t know about the rest of the site, but their War on Iraq section certainly leans (nay falls) liberal. And it has recently exhibited one of the classic symptoms of that; a lack of understanding of reality.

In a December 16th posting, they reported lauded Sean Penn for “putting his body behind his anti-war rhetoric” and visiting Baghdad for a look at the people there who blood he imagines he’ll have on his hands should we go to war with Iraq. Given the miniscule percentage of casualties of the last Gulf War that were civilians, one has to think those folks are pretty safe. They have only Saddam himself to fear if he ups the ante. However, what AlterNet isn’t reporting, and what Sean Penn is shocked to discover is that Saddam used the visit to create propaganda for himself. Baghdad’s online news service invented plenty of quotes to attribute to him, claiming that he condemned threats of war from the US and Britain, and that he confirmed that Iraq has no weapons of mass destruction. Penn, nor the liberal, ironically named Institute of Public Accuracy, apparently won’t comment about the backstabbing from the fine Iraqi people he was there to comfort.

Some have suggested that the anti-war crowd is essentially a pro-Saddam crowd, and that their actions give aid and comfort to the enemy. I wouldn’t go that far in a generalization (although Saddam does…he says he’s hoping they win the day), but Penn’s actions certainly could exhibit that effect. His new moniker “Baghdad Sean” has been well earned.

Again, it’s a classic symptom of a liberal worldview. This doesn’t come as a surprise to any clear-thinking person, but those who are totally taken aback by this turn of events are all of the same political persuasion. Wonder if AlterNet will, in their quest to provide “quality journalism, dependable research, issue-focused public interest content and passionate accuracy”, will even give this turn of events a mention.

Let’s watch and find out.

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