For the record, I’m sure that Dr. Tiller’s clients were in gut-wrenching situations much of the time. But the man did perform 60,000 abortions, are we arguing that none of them were morally questionable even by the most “libertarian” standard? Did Tiller ever say, “Actually, I don’t think it is proper to terminate a pregnancy in the 3rd trimester simply because you now have cold feet.” I’ve never heard anything of the sort. Surely even you are squeamish about the killing of a healthy third trimester fetus. And in all probability Tiller undertook such procedures as a matter of at least some routine. Where is the outrage over that? I mean, have you seen a third trimester fetus? The only difference between that and a newborn is an umbilical cord. Tiller was a monster, this is objectively true. His murder is nonetheless monstrous, both for the intrinsic evil of killing a fellow human being and for its possible impact on the now solid but tenuous majority of Americans who describe themselves as pro-life.

And if you think it is a good thing to bury coverage of the Islam-inspired murder of a US soldier, I assume you also want to suppress any and all photos relating to US mistreatment of detainees in Iraq and Guatanamo Bay because “historically, the reaction to a crime like that would be somewhere between a lynching and a riot resulting in multiple murders” of our soldiers?

Your comment reminds me of Sarte’s reasoning behind not publicizing Stalin’s crimes: The cause is more important than the crime. I knew you were far-left, Steve, but I had no idea you were Sartre-esque.