Let me introduce you to the face of America for the rest of the world. Empirically, Dana Loesch is an attractive person. But what she represents with her statements as a CNN contributor is sheer ugliness and worse, it is how we are perceived in the rest of the world.

Loesch, you see, saw that video of troops urinating on the corpses of alleged Taliban and she decided to celebrate what she saw as a completely acceptable act of American dominance.

On her radio show, CNN contributor and Big Journalism editor Dana Loesch cheered on an Internet video reportedly showing U.S. Marines urinating on what appear to be dead Afghans, saying she would "drop trou and do it too."

That shiny hyperbole of American exceptionalism rarely plays well past our shores. Back in 2004, I had to travel to Europe for a writers' conference and opted to extend my stay with a visit to a close friend in Holland. My friend was eager to share with me the rich history and culture of the Dutch. Everywhere we went, she introduced me to friends and acquaintances as the "good kind" of American, namely one who wasn't an Ugly American like Dana Loesch. I didn't support our invasions and occupations in the Middle East; I didn't hold myself up as bastion of goodness and light and civilization (the presumption to do so in a country that can boast Rembrandt, Vermeer and Anne Frank!) nor was I dismissive of Muslims (although admittedly, Holland is struggling with deep anti-Muslim bias as well). Never, in a million years, would it occur to me to celebrate an act that lowers us down to the level of barbarians we claim the other side is.

CNN, in their typically gutless way, tried lamely to distance themselves from Loesch's words

CNN contributors are commentators who express a wide range of viewpoints—on and off of CNN—that often provoke strong agreement or disagreement. Their viewpoints are their own.

Well, not her own entirely. But make no mistake: giving Loesch a microphone and putting a camera in front of her face tells the rest of the world that you have no problem with what she said, CNN.

I think there are a few people out there who shrug at the notion of caring about how others see us. But this cavalier attitude truly becomes a national security threat. A threat that CNN continues to promote on its airwaves: