Markos Moulitsas offers a forceful defense of his book, endorsing Glenn Greenwald's thesis that I probably just don't want to think of Americans as monsters:
That's probably it. The issue here isn't that people doubt the shared social values of American conservatives and Islamic fundamentalists. The issue is that the Taliban are monsters, and it's beyond the pale to refer to Americans in those terms.
If that's the core reservation, then I can agree to disagree with those who believe in American exceptionalism. I certainly don't. But if the argument is that American conservatives and Islamic fundamentalists don't share the same goals, then that's just delusion.
I've already said my piece on this, but you should read the rest of Moulitsas' response. I'm actually just a general believer in the idea that there are a lot of monstrous acts in the world, but very few actual monsters.
