America as God

I personally like my Global Dad analogy better (perhaps it is because I am a dad and so far away from being like God that my imagination can't even engage the concept) but Jonah Goldberg makes entertaining sense:

I think one of main drivers of anti-Americanism is the conviction that America is a stand-in for God. By that I mean people think we can do anything we want, so when we fail to fulfill their every wish, it must be because we choose not to (something psychologically similar seems to happen to some people who hate God or the idea of God because of their own personal problems). In Iraq, villagers didn't understand why they couldn't have TiVo and Kegerators the Monday after Saddam's statue fell. The European Left believes we have the wealth and technology (stolen or created via capitalist exploitation, of course) to cure diseases and make Garrison Keillor funny. So, when diseases endure, or when motionless audiences wait like cacti anticipating a fleeting spring shower for something funny to exit Keillor's mouth, they think it must be because America has willfully denied them an entitlement.

In America, we give our self-loathers a megaphone to denounce us more clearly with. Iran's dissidents get a bullet to the back of the head; America's get a slot on Charlie Rose. For the most part, I wouldn't have it any other way. Free speech, political dissent: It's not always high-minded or fair or constructive, but it's always a lot better than the alternative.

What rankles is the bravery on the cheap. When Naomi Wolf gushed over her own heroism for speaking out against the BusHitler regime, she preened as if she were really risking her personal safety. Say whatever the hell you want about America, but keep in mind that the reason you can say it is that you're in America.

Now, Assange is different. First of all, he ain't American. Second, he's not merely a global dissident, he's a criminal with an ideological axe to grind against America.

But he still represents the same dynamic. He's going after America because he can. If he tried a WikiLeaks dump on China or Russia, he'd wake up to discover he was the inspiration for the SNL song "D*ck in a Box" except the box would be across the room in some Russian dude's meaty paws. It's more bravery on the cheap.

Beyond cowardice why is he targeting America? Because he's offended by our "hypocrisy," which is another way of saying that he takes America's goodness for granted. He expects us to be better than the rest of the world, and when we act like a normal country -- as we sometimes must -- he sees it as a betrayal. Our "hypocrisy" is the tribute his vice pays to our virtue.