Have you ever heard of Ted Haggard? If you ever read blogs you have. He’s a recurring joke online, an underline to a meme. He’s a favorite bogeyman, a name trotted out to point at religious conservatives … J’accuse! Haggard cleans up in internet searches. His name is in lights on every left blog ever conceived by man or beast. There’s a documentary coming. His name pops up in TV Shows. Haggard, you see, proves all Christians are hypocrite jerks. That’s why left wing bloggers can’t wait to say his name every chance they get. They love it. They thrill to it. Are you a conservative christian with democrat or left-wing friends? Try talking to them about gay marriage. They’ll dump Haggard on your lap like he’s your personal spiritual mentor in under 10 seconds. You getting the picture here? We could also go with Jimmy Swaggart, if you’re older.

These men are guilty of the worst crime of all, if you’re a lefty. No, not adultery, although that was what they were committing. No, not lying, though they did lie quite a bit. You may guess hypocrisy, and you’d be partly right. But no, they are guilty of the worst possible thing. They are conservative Christians who are hypocrites. Talk about compounding your crime!

You think I exaggerate? Tell adulterer Jesse Jackson. No good? Need I mention the escapades of Reverend Wright? What, conspiracy-theorism and America-damning aren’t scandalous? Fine. So, how about murder? Does murder count? Is murder good enough for you?

Not just any murder, mind you. How about a religious figure who commits murder in a really hypocritical fashion? You know, like a civil rights activist keeping a sex slave and killing her. Or an anti-Death Penalty crusader killing someone who wronged him. Or, how about someone who dedicates their life’s work to creating a venue of understanding, a place where people can learn about how good and decent and non-murderous his faith really is. What about a religious person who ran a company or media venture, the purpose of which was to teach you that his faith doesn’t go around beheading people … well, beheaded someone. Big news right? I mean, when Christians sin it’s all the rage to get all enraged. It’s trendy to get offendy. So this would lead the news networks, then, right? Nope.

Much like the word adultery on Jesse Jackson’s wikipedia page, big stories and left-blog commentary about Muzzammil Hassan, a man who recently beheaded his wife, is mysteriously elusive. Hassan set up a TV network a few years back called Bridges. The objective of his station was to counter Muslim stereotypes and present a modern and integrated face of the moderate Muslim to America. I’d say he may have undermined that mission just a tad. But Hassan, you may note, is not conservative Christian.

Mark Steyn at NRO ponders the media’s obvious double-standard. Not simply with regard to tales of Christians in trouble, but with regard to their previous adoring coverage of Hassan when his station first launched. The press averts their eyes, though, to what, by standards applied to any other religion, ought to be a sensationalized story and provoke finger pointing at the faith. But it won’t, of course, because the faith in question is Islam. A quick search of google news confirms the relative obscurity in which this story unfolds.

What is it that the press doesn’t want to confront? Is it merely the old enemy of my enemy thing? George Bush was fighting Islamic terrorists, so the New York Times isn’t so keen on negative news about Muslims? Is it just political correctness run amok? Could it be fear of reprisal?

After all, when a Danish paper ran negative cartoons about Muhammed there was blood and fear around the globe. Shortly thereafter, provocative cartoon show South Park was censored: a scene showing Muhammed giving a salmon football helmet to another character was cut by Comedy Central. As a frame of reference, the same episode featured, uncensored, Jesus and George Bush defecating on one another and on the American flag. It would be very hard to argue that Comedy Central wasn’t censoring for fear of reprisal. (I’ll let you know, by the way, when worldwide Christian bloodshed breaks out in response.)

Leaving the media aside, I wonder where the left blogosphere is on this? Actually, I don’t wonder. Anyone who reads bloggers on the left knows that the only thing they are truly interested in is heaping snarky derision on conservatives and Christians. Everything else in the world is just background noise. Like Frank Schaeffer and an increasingly unabashed chorus of lefties, these bloggers really only believe in one evil force on this earth, and that’s conservatives and Christians. Whether they behead anyone or not. Unhinged? You bet.

The story of Muzzammil Hassan is of little interest to the mainstream press or the left blogs, contrary to their keen in interest in sensational "hypocrisy" stories otherwise. Although he received much praise for reaching out on behalf of Islam, he’s receiving little criticism for honor-killing his wife to the detriment of the image of Islam. That media silence is as deafening as it is, dare I say, hypocritical. And all in a day’s work for a press completely in bed with the left.

This story was originally written for AOL’s Political Machine?