I’ve long since stopped paying attention to the various right-wing shrieks of “Why don’t liberals denounce X or Y?”, given their obvious bad faith in almost every case. But Greenwald takes on the latest round, and states what should be clear to anyone functional enough to get out of bed in the morning and tie their own shoes:
The reason that it is news that the U.S. tortures, but not news that Al Qaeda does, is because Al Qaeda is a barbaric and savage terrorist group which operates with no limits, whereas the U.S. is supposed to be something different than that. Isn’t it amazing that one even needs to point that out?
But neoconservatives and other Bush followers do not recognize that distinction and do not believe in it. They see an equivalency between the U.S. and Al Qaeda — since they do it, we are justified in doing it. And thus, based on that equivalency, they demand that the media treat stories of torture from the U.S. and Al Qaeda exactly the same, as though they are equally newsworthy.
There is more, and as always with Greenwald, it is worth reading.