Iranian Fascists Censor Bloggers, Illustrate Difference Between Actual and Imaginary Fascism
Liberal activists make much of their brave and defiant stand against the shadow of fascism that the Bush administration is casting over the United States. This idiocy has much to do with their basic misunderstanding of "censorship", which is in turn tied up with their poor upbringing (seriously). You see, liberal activists (especially of the college campus variety) tend to be children of the imbecile 80s - picked on by peers but doted on by parents, they took refuge in the illusion that every little word that tumbled from their rosy, dew-soaked lips was the shiniest and bestest utterance ever.
Then they grew up just a little. Suddenly, nobody really wanted to hear their inane "insights" on socialism, indy music, and their own feelings. But it couldn't be that they had nothing worthwhile to say (remember: shiniest and bestest ever). So it must be... that they were being censored! Whenever anyone told them that they were wrong - or worse, if anyone didn't want to listen to them - then it was suddenly the equivalent of the Soviet gulags.
And so when private organizations refuse to invite odious musicians to perform for them (as in they refuse to help those musicians make statements ) it becomes "censorship" (as in the government actively preventing musicians for making statements). When Ann Coulter accuses liberals of "supporting the goals of Al Qaeda" (as in she criticizes people that she has no formal or informal power over) it becomes literally "indistinguishable from McCarthyism" (as in a government official leveraging the government's monopoly on violence to intimidate government employees). Why? Because liberals have the shiniest and bestest ideas ever - so anything that falls short of actively endorsing their ideas might as well be outright censorship. Seriously - the Google search for DailyKos and blog censorship is above - click through to witness the staggering self-importance of America's self-declared best and brightest.
Usually, these delusions of grandeur wouldn't rate more than a sarcastic passing comment. Under normal circumstances, it's relatively harmless to let this not exactly intimidating netroot army think that Rumsfeld has deployed UAVs to monitor the keystrokes that they so indignantly punch out deep in their parents' basements. Except that there's a cost to calling everyone who disagrees with you a fascist and a censor: it prevents people from being able to identify actual fascism and censorship. And people should care about real fascism and censorship, not least of all because more and more proof is emerging that the Iranian government is beating and arresting bloggers who voice opposition to the totalitarian regime:
Dozens of Iranian bloggers have faced harassment by the government, been arrested for voicing opposing views, and fled the country in fear of prosecution over the past two years. In the conservative Islamic Republic, where the government has vast control over newspapers and the airwaves, weblogs are one of the last bastions of free expression, where people can speak openly about everything from sex to the nuclear controversy. But increasingly, they are coming under threat of censorship.
We eagerly await news that Leftwing bloggers intend to launch the same kinds of diatribes against Ahmadinejad's actual censorship that they launch against Bush's imaginary kind. Not really, because we're pretty sure that they've lost the ability to identify actual fascism. But it'd be nice if they kind of pretended.
Then they grew up just a little. Suddenly, nobody really wanted to hear their inane "insights" on socialism, indy music, and their own feelings. But it couldn't be that they had nothing worthwhile to say (remember: shiniest and bestest ever). So it must be... that they were being censored! Whenever anyone told them that they were wrong - or worse, if anyone didn't want to listen to them - then it was suddenly the equivalent of the Soviet gulags.
And so when private organizations refuse to invite odious musicians to perform for them (as in they refuse to help those musicians make statements ) it becomes "censorship" (as in the government actively preventing musicians for making statements). When Ann Coulter accuses liberals of "supporting the goals of Al Qaeda" (as in she criticizes people that she has no formal or informal power over) it becomes literally "indistinguishable from McCarthyism" (as in a government official leveraging the government's monopoly on violence to intimidate government employees). Why? Because liberals have the shiniest and bestest ideas ever - so anything that falls short of actively endorsing their ideas might as well be outright censorship. Seriously - the Google search for DailyKos and blog censorship is above - click through to witness the staggering self-importance of America's self-declared best and brightest.
Usually, these delusions of grandeur wouldn't rate more than a sarcastic passing comment. Under normal circumstances, it's relatively harmless to let this not exactly intimidating netroot army think that Rumsfeld has deployed UAVs to monitor the keystrokes that they so indignantly punch out deep in their parents' basements. Except that there's a cost to calling everyone who disagrees with you a fascist and a censor: it prevents people from being able to identify actual fascism and censorship. And people should care about real fascism and censorship, not least of all because more and more proof is emerging that the Iranian government is beating and arresting bloggers who voice opposition to the totalitarian regime:
Dozens of Iranian bloggers have faced harassment by the government, been arrested for voicing opposing views, and fled the country in fear of prosecution over the past two years. In the conservative Islamic Republic, where the government has vast control over newspapers and the airwaves, weblogs are one of the last bastions of free expression, where people can speak openly about everything from sex to the nuclear controversy. But increasingly, they are coming under threat of censorship.
We eagerly await news that Leftwing bloggers intend to launch the same kinds of diatribes against Ahmadinejad's actual censorship that they launch against Bush's imaginary kind. Not really, because we're pretty sure that they've lost the ability to identify actual fascism. But it'd be nice if they kind of pretended.
