obscene
By shag carpet bomb • Jun 21st, 2009 • Category: Politicsthat’s the word that comes to mind when i read lefties re: the current events in Iran.
I read Lipstick Jihad for my book reading group a couple of months ago. Moaveni is a pretty good writer, so I followed up by reading her second book, Honeymoon in Tehran. This doesn’t make me an expert, and surely Moaveni has a point of view — though, of course, I guess the best way to understand her point of view is to see it as internally riven.
Reading up on the politics in Iran prior to recent events, and doing so for the past couple of months, mostly via these books and other books and articles that circled out from them, i am often physically repulsed by reading pretty much anyone on the left discussing Iran.
It’s obscene because it is always taking place not because anyone really gives two shits about the people, but it comes off as people who only want to advance their view of the world, what counts for social change and what doesn’t, who counts as a legitimate voice of protest and who is a puppet flapping wooden jaws while some puppet master does the talking, what counts as what is legitimate to be angry enough about so as to go into the streets to protest and is, therefore, a real protest versus what has been manufactured by outside forces, what counts as legitimate oppression and what counts as the frippery of the entitled.
it doesn’t matter who they are, if they’re on the left and especially if they are westerners, it always reads like everyone has their axe to grind and they’re going to see what’s going on in Iran through their fantasy. The anarchists wants this to be some ennobling spontaneous protest from below, people opposed to the state. The romantic leftists want this to be any sort of uprising, as long as someone is doing something to oppose something, somewhere since it gives them some sort of hope — especially if they’re convinced that u.s.ers will never do anything. then there are the leninists who are convinced it’s all a charade, a protest ignited by u.s. forces seeking to undermine the Iranian government. therefore, illegitimate. we should be on the side of forces who support Imadickinajar’s anti-imperialist actions. the lefties who are inspired, but can’t be so inspired or are just plain confused by a photo of a woman protesting in the crowds wearing designer sunglasses, threaded eyebrows, and bright lipstick. she’s educated, holds an advanced degree, an intellectual: therefore suspect. how can we support such people. the shame, the horror!
And, lord, yes, I know Moaveni is a secularist, but the tales she recounts in this book, it just makes Yoshie’s support of Imadickinajar just really really sad. And worse, what’s sad are Yoshie’s claims about the centrality of religion to lefty causes and movements. *sigh*
it’s entirely too redick to read this shit lately. it’s fucking depressing as i watch people i otherwise tend to admire repeatedly display their ass saying romanticizing stupid shit or dismissive, vile stupid shit.
shag carpet bomb is
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Oh, I’m so sorry, Ms. Shag….not only for being AWOL these last few weeks, but for being a bit late and light on the subject of the rebellion in Iran.
But damn…”Inadickinajar”?!?!?! You win, hands down.
And yeah, he is that much a dick,too. Why the likes of Lenin’s Tomb and Yoshie are so enamored by him just because he runs plenty of anti-US and anti-Israel smack is still quite a mystery….though even they won’t raise a candle to Stewart Gowans in definding fascist regimes as “Marxist” vangards.
Pardon this Leftist for believing that stoning women and killing gays isn’t socialist at all.
Anthony
Well…I have to eat some crow and apologize to Mr. Seymour over at Lenin’s Tomb; he has been actually pretty damn good of late in knocking Imadickinajar as nothing more than a right-wing populist gangster….and he’s been actually more than a bit evenhanded.
Yoshie, sad to say, on the other hand, still has Ahmadi on the brain. Too bad for her.
Anthony