Exploding the apologists

An article in the UK Guardian by Norm Geras looks at the various folks who have been making apologies for the actions of the terrorists. As Mr. Geras notes, this tendency toward apologies for atrocities is generally limited to those of a liberal bent, and applies only when they have sympathy for the cause that has committed or spawned the atrocity.
As further noted by the Instapundit, the press appears to be one of the bigger bunch of apologists out there. Glenn notes that the questions, in relation to today's bombings in London, seem to say that the bombings all arise because of the invasion of Iraq and so forth (yadda, yadda, yadda...). Glenn's translation of John Howard's response is well worth noting:

Translation: You're idiots, cowards, and political hacks. Yes! The preening, point-scoring irresponsibility of the press, which is if anything worse in Britain than in America, is one of the most striking things about this war, and it will be decades before it recovers. If it does.

Leaving aside the long overdue denouement of the press, it strikes me that I have heard this sort of apologist approach before, and in extremely unsavory circumstances.

It was not so long ago (perhaps twenty years, perhaps less) that if a woman was attacked and raped, one of the issues raised was what she was wearing at the time of the attack. If she was wearing clothing that could be considered in anyway provocative, then she was judged to be "asking for it" and more often than not, the rapist would be acquitted. We rightly view such a mindset as barbaric and sexist in the extreme today. Indeed, those on the left who are so quick to apologize for the terrorist acts we see would protest most loudly about such an attitude. Yet they are guilty of exactly the same sort of "blame the victim" mentality in their apologist approach. Such blind stupidity is a sad reflection of the hate they must feel toward those who are leading the global war on terror - Bush, Blair, and Howard, along with others. Further, the split thinking that is required for these apologists cannot be good for their mental health. It really must suck to be a liberal these days!