"Dear Liberals"--Curb your enthusiam for Iran protesters

Carl Ballard:

I know the situation in Iran is heart rending. And I know that Hitchens and Sullivan are good writers, but please stop sending me things that neocons are writing about the war unless you want me to make fun of them. They aren’t credible. They aren’t right, and as soon as there’s any sort of hiccup, they’ll be the first ones calling for a war.

For goodness sake, “Crack” Pipes was rooting for I’m A Dinner Jacket. Was pleased when he declared victory.

Sully has good info, but he’s still unapologetic about having said that liberals on the coast would betray America to Islamic terrorists. He seems to think that changing the color of his masthead will make a difference in Iran; it won’t. How soon will this lead to belligerence on his part? How small of a setback before he’s demanding military action? Before we read, “OK, Iraq was the wrong war but Iran is the right one.” I don’t know, but I suspect sooner rather than later.

And Hitchens? Really, why would anyone send me this? I grant you that it’s written well enough that you can only barely smell the Johnnie Walker when you read it - comparatively good for Snitchens. But I simply don’t give a fuck what you think about Iran if you still think Iraq was a glorious time and the right decision.

None of this is to deny the sympathy liberals should feel for any movement for democracy. I and every liberal I know supports the protesters on the street (and again, the neocons aren’t so sure). But the best way we can support them is to stay out of the way. And the second best way is to make it clear that we reject people who feel the solution to every problem in the Middle East can be solved with enough bombing.