Left not true to values it embraces

I recently decided to check out “The Daily Show” with Jon Stewart, given that it is a popular left-of-center offering totally devoted to Barack Obama and virulently contemptuous of the American Right.

Sure enough one segment featured a stream of clips and stills of various Right wing luminaries, including Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Bill O’Reilly and Dennis Miller.

At the clip with O’Reilly, Stewart stopped and embarked on a fairly lengthy lecture about values. This is because O’Reilly was depicted saying that yes, now and then, our security requires the sacrifice of our values.

This sentiment is naturally quite controversial and its refutation is nicely suggested in that famous quote from Benjamin Franklin, to wit, “They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security.”

Jon Stewart’s little lecture focused on a similar theme: If something is a bona fide value, there is no excuse for breaching it. And I pretty much agree.

The whole point of ethical and political principles is they must be the guide to conduct under all circumstances. It’s like principles of good health or nutrition — these aren’t to be tossed aside for any reason but ought to be loyally followed.

The curious thing about Jon Stewart’s lecture on values is