Dinesh D'Souza is a fucking idiot
By Michael J.W. Stickings
I refuse to quote such a vile right-wing blowhard here. Suffice it to say that in an op-ed in the L.A. Times he blames 9/11 on...
Can you guess? Come on, it's easy. What's the usual target of vile right-wing blowhards?
That's right.
The left. Or liberals. I'm not quite sure. I suppose anyone to the left of, say, Pinochet is a liberal. Or a leftist. He seems to use the terms interchangeably, so typically ignorant is his, uh, argument. In this case, the "left" means Carter and Clinton. And his, uh, argument consists of accusing Carter of paving the way for theocratic Iran and Clinton of not doing anything to get bin Laden. So somehow Iran was behind 9/11. I'm not sure how. I suppose he lumps all Muslims together just as he lumps all liberals and leftists together. And somehow Clinton's alleged weakness emboldened bin Laden. As if killing off bin Laden would have kept al Qaeda or other jihadists from attacking the U.S.
D'Souza doesn't seem to understand any of this. His purpose is solely to attack liberals and leftists and everyone else to the left of Pinochet. And his ignorance is revealed most clearly early on, in the second paragraph. He doesn't understand why Muslims -- or at least the more radical elements among them -- would find U.S. involvement in the Middle East, well, disturbing. The U.S. can do no wrong and has done no wrong, the implication seems to be, except where Carter and Clinton and all those like them are and were concerned. This sort of partisan reductionism is common among vile right-wing blowhards, of course -- consider Coulter, Malkin, Hannity, O'Reilly, and their ilk -- but the right often succumbs to it more generally. And it is ubiquitous here. D'Souza ignores Islam and the divisions within it, the history of the Middle East and U.S. involvement there, and the complex social, political, economic, religious, and psychological factors that brought al Qaeda and jihadism more generally into being. And he ignores them because they do not suit his partisan purpose, his ideological agenda. And perhaps because he doesn't -- and can't possibly -- understand them.
Such ignorance comes as no surprise -- this is D'Souza, after all -- but the breadth of his ignorance is breathtaking nonetheless. It takes uncommon ability so pack to much ignorance into a single op-ed.
There aren't many who have that ability quite like Dinesh D'Souza.
I refuse to quote such a vile right-wing blowhard here. Suffice it to say that in an op-ed in the L.A. Times he blames 9/11 on...
Can you guess? Come on, it's easy. What's the usual target of vile right-wing blowhards?
That's right.
The left. Or liberals. I'm not quite sure. I suppose anyone to the left of, say, Pinochet is a liberal. Or a leftist. He seems to use the terms interchangeably, so typically ignorant is his, uh, argument. In this case, the "left" means Carter and Clinton. And his, uh, argument consists of accusing Carter of paving the way for theocratic Iran and Clinton of not doing anything to get bin Laden. So somehow Iran was behind 9/11. I'm not sure how. I suppose he lumps all Muslims together just as he lumps all liberals and leftists together. And somehow Clinton's alleged weakness emboldened bin Laden. As if killing off bin Laden would have kept al Qaeda or other jihadists from attacking the U.S.
D'Souza doesn't seem to understand any of this. His purpose is solely to attack liberals and leftists and everyone else to the left of Pinochet. And his ignorance is revealed most clearly early on, in the second paragraph. He doesn't understand why Muslims -- or at least the more radical elements among them -- would find U.S. involvement in the Middle East, well, disturbing. The U.S. can do no wrong and has done no wrong, the implication seems to be, except where Carter and Clinton and all those like them are and were concerned. This sort of partisan reductionism is common among vile right-wing blowhards, of course -- consider Coulter, Malkin, Hannity, O'Reilly, and their ilk -- but the right often succumbs to it more generally. And it is ubiquitous here. D'Souza ignores Islam and the divisions within it, the history of the Middle East and U.S. involvement there, and the complex social, political, economic, religious, and psychological factors that brought al Qaeda and jihadism more generally into being. And he ignores them because they do not suit his partisan purpose, his ideological agenda. And perhaps because he doesn't -- and can't possibly -- understand them.
Such ignorance comes as no surprise -- this is D'Souza, after all -- but the breadth of his ignorance is breathtaking nonetheless. It takes uncommon ability so pack to much ignorance into a single op-ed.
There aren't many who have that ability quite like Dinesh D'Souza.
posted by Michael J.W. Stickings at
9:17 PM
8 Comments:
As an unrepetent commie bastard, I resent being lumped together with a bunch of goddamned liberals. But where's a link to my post on the wing-nuttery of D'Souza and Goldberg? Some executive editor you are.
By
., at 10:10 PM
What is really ignorant here, what is really tragic here, is that a newspaper like the L.A. Times sees fit to give a platform to this drivel.
R.
By
Anonymous, at 6:55 AM
Okay, Heraclitus. I'll link to your (excellent) post later. I was just so tired last night that I neglected to do so.
I'll be sure to check out your post, Minor Ripper. Thanks.
Sorry, S.T. I agree, perhaps my title should have been more, uh, subtle. Just as it bother some of us on the left when one of us, say, compares Bush to Hitler, so should such ignorance from D'Souza bother you on the right who aren't ignorant.
Which brings me to this question: Who on either the left or the right has crossed the line? Or where is that line? Who has become an embarrassment? Who arouses shame? I would think that, on the right, Coulter and Malkin have crossed the line, but I'm not so sure. On the left, Michael Moore has said some stupid things. And so has Cindy Sheehan (although she's not a media figure).
By
Michael J.W. Stickings, at 9:52 AM
Yes, Sister Toldja, Dinesh D'Souza blames September 11th on liberals, and the important thing is that Michael used the word "fuck." This is classic conservative misdirection: don't pay attention to how crazy and venomous one of our most famous spokesmen is -- look at the evil baddie bad-bad who said a bad word. If you want to get a better sense of what ST considers to be constructive and good-faith commentary, check out this brief post, which gives the context for the ST post linked therein:
http://faultline.org/index.php/site/comments/who_said_compassionate_conservatives_dont_exist/
Ah, such humanitas!
By
., at 5:03 PM
Let's try that link one more time.
By
., at 7:21 PM
You use big words but sarcasm and vituperation are not arguments. To carry on with the argumentum ad hominum, D'Souza has more brains in his little fingernail than you have in whole ass (get it, asshole?)
By
Anonymous, at 10:39 PM
Wow, anonymous, thanks for your brilliant insights, and your imaginative and original insults. You add so much to the discussion. And so courageous, too, speaking anonymously like that. You're really showcasing all the wing-nut virtues for us.
But, and although this will no doubt come as a shock to someone who considers DD a lucid observer, it's not really much of an insult to tell someone they don't have brains in their ass (so I guess your put-down was original after all -- another wing-nut speciality, blazing new paths in the domain of blustering incompetence). I don't believe anyone here has ever done much boasting about the intellectual prowess of their posterior. Indeed, one's brains are stored neither in fingernails nor in one's booty. But, given your apparent identification with those who support abstinence-only education and deny the reality of global warming and evolution, as well as oppose stem-cell research, I suppose we should be impressed with such knowledge of human anatomy as you do manage to display here. Way to go, junior.
By
., at 4:01 AM
This is intresting, if I'm right Dinesh D'Souza if of Indian background and his articles on Indian web sites are extremely left of center. Hmmm!!!! seems to be a case of Im where the sugar is.
Just goes to show Mr.Dinesh is a dishonest individual.
By
Anonymous, at 12:56 AM
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