i've been kind of curious how pam atlas would handle the latest outbreak of protests in iran. that spokesperson for the lunatic wing of the already-pretty-nuts american right has long reduced complex issues into simplistic good guys vs. bad guys. for most situations, pam has a fairly easy rule of thumb: for any conflict, find the muslim. muslim = bad guy. through this simple binary formula, pam regularly sees sunnis in league with shia (even sunni groups that are notoriously anti-shia, and vice-versa). everything gets reduced to the simple good vs. evil framework, just the sort of dumbed-down easy analysis that has gotten her so much attention.
but what happens if that confusingly complex wide world out makes a conflict with muslims on both sides?!?!? what will pam do?
but first, a quick background:
(1) iran 2009: good guys = protesters, bad guys = iranian government
in 2009 when demonstrations flared in iran over the stolen election, pam decreed the protesters = good guys. (it also worked out conveniently for pam because that instance of the iranian protests failed, giving her the opportunity to blame obama for losing iran)
(2) egypt 2011: good guys = egyptian government, bad guys = protesters
pam was decidedly pro-mubarak/anti-egyptian people during the recent demonstrations in that country, viewing it all as an iranian plot to take over egypt via the muslim brotherhood. (and it worked out conveniently for pam that the protesters ended up forcing mubarak out of office, giving her the opportunity to blame obama for losing egypt)
(3) iran 2011: ?
now the iranian democracy movement is back. pam is already on record calling them the good guys from 2009. the problem is that the protestors are pretty openly saying that they are inspired by the egyptian democracy movement, who pam has already decreed are the bad guys. what will our favorite simpleminded islamaphobe do?
so far it looks like she is rooting for the iranian protesters and ignoring the contradiction. never mind that by her usual (extremely loose) guilt by association standards, any statement by even a single participant in the iranian protests suggesting they approved of what happened in egypt would have doomed the entire movement to perpetual bad guyness. depending on how much the iranians keep talking about egypt i'm not sure how long she can ignore the contradiction. one thing is for certain, when the dust clears, whatever happens that pam doesn't like will be all the president obama's fault.
but what happens if that confusingly complex wide world out makes a conflict with muslims on both sides?!?!? what will pam do?
but first, a quick background:
(1) iran 2009: good guys = protesters, bad guys = iranian government
in 2009 when demonstrations flared in iran over the stolen election, pam decreed the protesters = good guys. (it also worked out conveniently for pam because that instance of the iranian protests failed, giving her the opportunity to blame obama for losing iran)
(2) egypt 2011: good guys = egyptian government, bad guys = protesters
pam was decidedly pro-mubarak/anti-egyptian people during the recent demonstrations in that country, viewing it all as an iranian plot to take over egypt via the muslim brotherhood. (and it worked out conveniently for pam that the protesters ended up forcing mubarak out of office, giving her the opportunity to blame obama for losing egypt)
(3) iran 2011: ?
now the iranian democracy movement is back. pam is already on record calling them the good guys from 2009. the problem is that the protestors are pretty openly saying that they are inspired by the egyptian democracy movement, who pam has already decreed are the bad guys. what will our favorite simpleminded islamaphobe do?
so far it looks like she is rooting for the iranian protesters and ignoring the contradiction. never mind that by her usual (extremely loose) guilt by association standards, any statement by even a single participant in the iranian protests suggesting they approved of what happened in egypt would have doomed the entire movement to perpetual bad guyness. depending on how much the iranians keep talking about egypt i'm not sure how long she can ignore the contradiction. one thing is for certain, when the dust clears, whatever happens that pam doesn't like will be all the president obama's fault.
