Comments on Trailers of the Deranged

But... they do hate us for our freedoms. Does even the most sunny moral relativist believe that if we stopped supporting Israel and the Saudis, the terrorists would just pack up and bug someone else?

Note: this is not a reason to invade Iraq. This is not a reason to invade Iran. But pretending that islamic fundamentalists don't hate western civilization is absurd.

If only Al Gore had been President after 9/11 he would have had an anger-management seminar at the UN with Al-Qaeda and we could have avoided this war entirely.

The thing I never got about the whole "hate us for our freedoms" bit is, why us in particular? Why are our freedoms more offensive than those of other nations? I mean, does al-Qaeda hate Australia for its freedoms? What about Canada? Sweden? Jamaica? No, military involvement in the ME and support for Israel seem like much more likely (if no more defensible) gripes.

It seems to be as shrill as the media it claims to be mocking.

I don't see where Taibbi is criticizing the establishment media for being “shrill”. The very first sentence from the trailer is, “How many lies are too many?” From later in the trailer:

“They hate us for our freedoms,” was possibly the dumbest, most insulting piece of bullshit ever to escape the lips of an American president. But it was one of only a number of preposterous lies we were expected to embrace after 9/11.”

Is not about shrill, it's about the lies.

my favorite booktrailer (brailer?) is scott heim's We Disappear http://youtube.com/watch?v=u8Xl3TKx7mw

shub-negrorath@3:

I mean, does al-Qaeda hate Australia for its freedoms?

Yes. Yes they do.

Wow Mr Taibbi really nails it. Big Sven is way off the mark here. They hate the American government for what it has done to make the lives of many Arabs a nightmare, past and present. I've lived in the Middle East, went to university there (Not "The American University of ...") But a full fledged independent Arab university.

If you want to find out why "they" hate us you should not be listening to GW Bush nor the US Media. Ask an Arab. Better yet, ask a Palestinian Refugee.

Sargon Bighorn, you and Big Sven are talking about different "they"s.

If you talk to a typical university-educated Arab, his dislike of the U.S. rests on specific points of policy, and is in many respects well-justified.

The jihadists are different. They have moved from a dislike of policies to a hatred for everything western. They drone on about the west's decadant freedoms, its loose, independent women, and the danger that these evil western values might seduce Arabs into abandoning islamic values.

Go read Sayyid Qutb. The second "they" is very real, and it's the second "they" who are blowing up themselves, their countrymen, and as many westerners as they can.

Thanks, @8. They are different "theys." I totally understand why Arabs detest American foreign policy.

I happen to believe the "Renaissance Islam" theory: that Islam is on the cusp of a renaissance comparable to the one Christianity had 600 years ago. And that certain reactionary elements within Islam are deathly, deathly afraid of that change. And thus they need an external boogyman.

In much the same way, unfortunately, that Neocons need an external "other" to justify their xenophobia, stateism, etc, etc, etc.