Our new liberal foil blog, the LAist, demonstrates one of the left's more annoying habits: sanctimonious preaching that is not just wrong, but wrong because of something they did. To wit, this complaint about the sentence for Iraqi civilian abuser Cpl. Jerry E. Shumate Jr:

First of all, any liberal who uses the phrase "we support our troops, BUT" has obviously not talked to anyone to the right of Chris Hitchens in at least a year. That is what we refer to as a "self-caricaturing phrase" - because merely using it makes you a caricature of yourself, you see .Second: that last part would be true, but for the fact that when Iraqis ruthlessly and knowingly murdered American contractors and hung their desecrated bodies from a bridge, the heart, conscience, and trendsetter of the left declared "screw them".

The acts Shumate has been convicted of are reprehensible. But the side that has the moral authority to pass judgment on him is the military fighting for justice from its soldiers and for the Iraqis. Not the American left, which seems to reserve its humanitarian outrage only for acts committed by Americans.

Previously: Dialogue On the Left - Yes, We're Being Sarcastic, The Ugly Left - Sarcastically Praying For the Vice President's Health Edition, Juan Cole Is So Incoherent That We Have To Believe He's Doing It On Purpose - Global Wave Of Moderate Islam Edition