I Hate To Say This About GiGi . . .

30Nov/100

I Hate To Say This About GiGi . . .

because of the whole sockpuppet thing, and maybe a couple of others, but Glenn Greenwald has been one of the more consistent and, yes, principled voices since the Obama Accession, deploring the same things in Obama that he deplored in Bush.

Nevertheless, I think he's being a little naive about the assassination of nuclear scientists in Iran. First, there's no proof that the US is behind it, though that wouldn't surprise me. True to form, the Iranians are blaming it officially on Israelis, though according to them the WikiLeaks are a US ploy. The latter would take an awful lot of co-ordination from this administration, and a willingness to set aside short-term gains for long-term benefits, that seems uncharacteristic. Despite the ways in which the Obama administration has disappointed Iranian resisters, it's just possible that it's a domestic job. Don't forget, too, that some high-ranking Iranian military and security people have defected recently, partly, I am sure, due to incentives, but partly, I am just as sure, due to alarm at the policies of Ahmadinejad and the mullahocracy.

In point of fact, Iran is and has been at war with the United States, through its exportation of shaped charges and by other means. They've been collaborating with the Syrians to back Hezbollah in Lebanon. As much as I dislike the Saudis, I understand their desire, revealed in the WikiLeaks, to bomb Iran's nuclear facilities, and as much as I find his rhetoric laughable, I understand Obama's desire to cut a big arms deal with them.

Stuxnet apart---and I feel that its sophistication has a lot to do with Iran's inability to believe that the US allows disgruntled Privates to access classified State Department communications---the Homophobic Republic has just gotten the green light, along with other murderous nations, from the UN, to execute those whom a teenaged Palin might refer to (to much greater consternation on the part of gay activists) as faggots. Copts are still being slaughtered in Egypt. Christians are still being sentenced to death for blaspheming The Prophet in Pakistan. The Cordoba Initiators, ever mindful of bridge-building, as was the Buffalo Beheader, are creating pathways to understanding by applying for government cash.

Our own military, our own society at large, have been moving inexorably toward destigmatization of gays. If one of the big suppliers of leaks to Assange and company turns out to be a gay activist, it is to be hoped, I think, that he had some idea of what kind of damage the leaks would do to Islamist ambitions.

People who can't see the difference between powerful mullahs in Iran and the very marginalized morons of the Westboro Baptist hate brigade really aren't worth my time, but strangely enough that description applies nowadays a lot to Andrew Sullivan and not much to Glenn Greewald. On privacy issues, I am in almost complete agreement with one of them. The other one smokes pot.

Regarding the heartbreaking arson at a Portland ~~mosque~~ center for enhanced mutual understanding . . .