So I have two books open and in a rolling read through Anti-intellectualism in American Life by Richard Hofstadter which is a traditional piece, and is a MUST READ for anyone who is interested in the traditional frame work of anti-intellectualism in american life. For those of you God Hating America Bashers, you may have your work cut out here, since this is a really good analysis of the rise of the american evangelicalists movements.
On the B-Side of the Psycho-Angst there is All The Shah's Men" which is ostensibly about Operation Ajax, so yes, when folks are gushing about 'ajax', I will of course ask rude questions to get the correct range and bearing...
The ostensibly kvetch is that the evil author is evilly engaged in the process of putting the story back into the sort of historical flow of history, that, well, fails to take into account that we have always been always at war with Iran, and their Evil Ikky Yukky ThingiePoohs. I mean, can any of the pro-war camp really work out how they know that they are really 'more at war' now than, well, the last time, and if so, how they know that this does or does not include Iran, North Korea, Vietnam, Mexico, Canada, Flatbush...
So the really scary part is watching the american christianist dialog in it's historical flow, while at the same time dealing with the islamicist, and in particular the Shi-Ite version thereof, and their patriotic support for the appropriate use of Religious Commitment to getting into the next life to be a gooder basis for, well, taking out the evil doing evil doers, who are EVIL and DOING, and, well, ERS...
So, golly, gee whiz... could the christianists please help us understand which of their arguments against Islam are not their arguments against their own position??? And vice Verso, how does we understand how the correct implementation of the Politico-Religious mean, well, which ever...
Clearly folks should be fore-warned that there are clear and compelling arguments that certain forms of Cognitive Dissonance CAN occur if one is not careful about how one organizes one's reading.
YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.