Ray McGovern, Zacharias Moussaoui, Stocks, & Dead Terrorists

It's interesting that the protester who DovBear says "spoke truth to power" [edit: to be fair, he now says he was being a little ironic] is none other than Ray McGovern. (Hat tip: "Al Gore") Here's a quote from McGovern from another occasion:

The session took an awkward turn when witness Ray McGovern, a former intelligence analyst, declared that the United States went to war in Iraq for oil, Israel and military bases craved by administration "neocons" so "the United States and Israel could dominate that part of the world." He said that Israel should not be considered an ally and that Bush was doing the bidding of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.

"Israel is not allowed to be brought up in polite conversation," McGovern said. "The last time I did this, the previous director of Central Intelligence called me anti-Semitic."

Wonderful guy. Maybe you are anti-Semitic, Ray? Meanwhile, Best of the Web made an excellent point about "speaking truth to power":

No Courage in These Convictions

The Stephen Colbert kerfuffle, intrinsically uninteresting though it is, leads Washington Post columnist Richard Cohen to an excellent insight:

Why are you wasting my time with Colbert, I hear you ask. Because he is representative of what too often passes for political courage, not to mention wit, in this country. His defenders--and they are all over the blogosphere--will tell you he spoke truth to power. This is a tired phrase, as we all know, but when it was fresh and meaningful it suggested repercussions, consequences--maybe even death in some countries. When you spoke truth to power you took the distinct chance that power would smite you, toss you into a dungeon or--if you're at work--take away your office.

But in this country, anyone can insult the president of the United States. Colbert just did it, and he will not suffer any consequence at all. He knew that going in.

This, it seems to us, explains several conceits of the Angry Left:

• The notion that criticism--whether of the Dixie Chicks or of Stephen Walt and John Mearsheimer--amounts to censorship.
• Claims by Democratic politicians that Republicans are "questioning" their "patriotism."
• Fears of incipient fascism.

What these have in common, aside from being totally fantastical, is that they all reinforce the image of the Angry Leftist as courageous dissenter. In truth, this country is so tolerant, indeed downright indulgent, of this sort of "dissent" that it affords no opportunity to be courageous.

Speak "truth to power" in America, and power will pat you on the head and say, "What an adorable little girl." Some on the Angry Left could actually have the courage to stand up if they were faced with real consequences--but they are unlikely ever to get that chance. America's almost boundless tolerance thus reduces them to the level of petulant children. No wonder they're so angry.

Chai Expectations (Hat tip: David Linn) gives a nice warm welcome to Zacharias Moussaoui in his new home of Colorado. An excerpt:

We'll keep enjoying our sunshine, bicycles, skiing, kids, and those Rocky Mountain sunsets that awe us like they have for generations.

And you? You'll be just what you always were.

Nothing.

Finally, I was mistaken a few weeks back when I said the Dow had hit its all-time high; it had come close, but fallen short. It is now just 175 points away, however, as stocks soared on the news the Fed may stop raising interest rates. In other news, Israel took out 5 more terrorists today. Their [brethren's] response:

Abu Mujahid, an official with the militant group, said at least three missiles landed on the field as members were training. "God willing, this is not going to stop our heroic battle against the Zionists, and the blood is the fuel of our resistance and our reprisal is coming soon,"

Nice people.