Blame the victim? Heck yes.

This editorial in the LA Times tries to slip another liberal technique by us, one that Ann Coulter (albeit crassly and with overblown rhetoric) has exposed using her most recent media spotlight. The liberals' argument goes that because someone is a victim, we can't a) respond to their actions/criticisms, or b) hold them responsible for their actions due to their "victim status." Coulter's example was the Jersey Girls--the women who used their platform as grieving widows to denounce Bush and actively campaign for Kerry in the 2004 election; these ladies were vigorously defended by the media and leftwing pundits (ah, but I repeat myself) from virtually any criticism because of their victim status. The same happened with Cindy Sheehan, who the media proclaimed had "absolute moral authority": How can you criticize this poor woman? She lost her son in Iraq, for goodness sake! As ridiculous as this sounds, it happens all to often.

The latest occurrence of the lefties defending the unequivocally wrong actions of "victims" is the Katrina FEMA emergency funds abuse scandal. Turns out at least 16% ($9.6 million) of the cash cards handed out by FEMA to recipients of the hurricane were used for bogus purposes--everything from buying trashy videos and expensive liquor to funding vacations in the Bahamas. The Times editorializes:

Some misuse of the FEMA-issued debit cards, however, is hardly shocking. The aim of the $2,000 cards was to give individuals immediate aid to be spent according to his or her judgment, rather than earmarking items that the government guessed would be of greatest assistance. For every "Girls Gone Wild" video purchased, thousands of families used their cards for clothing, food and temporary shelter without having to deal with federal red tape. Bad spending decisions are an unfortunate side effect of a clever and responsive policy.

So because lots of recipients used their money wisely, it excuses the thievery of the others? Keep in mind the low estimate is 9.6 million bucks. But wait, it gets better:

It's easy, and necessary, to criticize FEMA's across-the-board incompetence in responding to the largest displacement of Americans since the Civil War. But obsessing about the spending habits of refugees comes perilously close to blaming the victim.

Let me get this straight: FEMA did the virtuous thing poorly, while scores of Katrina victims did the immoral thing excellently, and we can criticize FEMA but not the thieves?

The notion of "blaming the victim" has potential merit only if one is blaming a victim for the actual event that made him or her the victim--which is why we don't blame New Orleanders for getting hit by a hurricane. What we can--and most definitely should--blame anyone for (Katrina victim or not) is thievery and deception. Suffering through a hurricane does not entitle anyone to take money given in good faith and use it for smut, booze and massages in the tropics.

Tags: Katrina, victims, fraud, deception, thievery, FEMA, LA Times, liberals, moral authority, Cindy Sheehan, Ann Coulter