By Matt Rooney
Another day, another coordinated Democratic outrage campaign.
And once again, Save Jerseyans, the object of their sympathy isn’t a law-abiding American.
It’s a convicted mass murderer.
New Jersey Senator Andy Kim joined the chorus Friday after the Pentagon announced plans to livestream the December 3rd firing squad execution of Nidal Malik Hasan, the Islamic terrorist who murdered 13 Americans and wounded 32 others at Fort Hood in 2009.
“I can’t believe I have to say this but public executions have no place in America or any democracy,” Kim posted on X.
Right on cue!
Connecticut Democrat Chris Murphy called the proposal “medieval.” Congressman Adam Smith warned against turning justice into a spectacle. Hillary Clinton condemned the idea as barbaric.
Different Democrats. Same talking points. Same synchronized indignation.
You’d almost think somebody distributed a memo.
Here’s what gets lost in the latest Washington outrage Olympics: Hasan wasn’t some innocent dissident dragged before an Iranian firing squad.
He was an American military officer who shouted “Allahu akbar” before opening fire on his fellow soldiers.
Thirteen people never went home.
Hasan, meanwhile, received something his victims never enjoyed: due process. A trial. A jury. Years of legal proceedings. During which he expressed no remorse whatsoever for the slain.
His victims got bullets.
Now, there’s a legitimate debate about whether executions should be livestreamed. Even some Republicans oppose Hegseth’s proposal, and you don’t need to support broadcasting executions to believe Hasan deserves the punishment imposed by his military jury.
But there’s also a larger, unmistakable political pattern worth discussing.
When illegal immigrants face deportation, Democrats rush to the microphones. When the Trump administration pursues aggressive enforcement, the familiar warnings about cruelty and authoritarianism follow. Now a convicted terrorist faces a lawful death sentence, and Washington’s outrage machine is humming again.
Where’s that same urgency when ordinary Americans become victims of violent crime?
Where’s the same emotional energy for the families who buried their loved ones after Fort Hood?
To be clear, Americans deserve a government that respects everyone’s constitutional rights, including those accused of terrible crimes.
But respecting due process isn’t the same thing as making the perpetrator the emotional centerpiece of every controversy.
That’s the problem with Washington’s selective compassion. The criminal becomes the headline. The victims become a footnote.
Andy Kim is entitled to oppose public executions. He’s entitled to criticize Pete Hegseth. He’s even entitled to oppose capital punishment altogether.
But perhaps he could spare a few words for the 13 Americans Hasan murdered before delivering another lecture about American values.
Because those victims didn’t get a jury, an appeal, or seventeen years to contemplate their fate.
They got a terrorist with a gun.
And their lives mattered, too.
