Matthew Duss

Karim El-Khashab writes in Al-Ahram on the rebirth of the adversarial press in Egypt. “Certainly the number of daily and weekly papers has increased dramatically in the last decade, with many adopting a critical position towards the government and regime. Hitherto uncrossed red lines have been repeatedly crossed, and now, argue many commentators, the backlash […]

The conservative response to outrage over Rush Limbaugh‘s “phony soldiers” comment is instructive, with numerous righties contorting themselves into impressive rhetorical asanas to demonstrate that Limbaugh didn’t say or mean what he clearly did say and mean. Compare this to the progressive counter-response to the outrage over the “General Betray Us” ad, which I recall […]

There’s a lot to digest in the leaked transcript of a February 2003 conversation between President Bush, Spain’s Jose Maria Aznar, and Condoleezza Rice on the impending invasion of Iraq, but it pretty much confirms what we already knew about the president: By February 2003, he was already committed to going into Iraq, UN mandate […]

Via LGM, the heartwarming story of a multitude of wingnuts working themselves into a sanctimonious froth over a movie still. Let’s all join D in issuing a hearty, Nelson Muntzian “HAW-haw!” to Right Blogistan. Despite the photo in question being, repeat, a movie still, it remains true that that Iran continues to engage in the […]

Via the Arabist, it seems two Saudi women recently lodged a protest against their country’s religious police: Members of Khobar’s Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were the victims of an attack by two Saudi females, Asharq Al-Awsat can reveal.According to the head of the commission in Khobar, two girls pepper […]

Via Steve Benen, All Saints Episcopal Church in Pasadena has been cleared of preach-crime by the IRS. “The Internal Revenue Service has told a prominent Pasadena church that it has ended its lengthy investigation into a 2004 antiwar sermon, church leaders said Sunday. But the agency wrote in its letter to All Saints Episcopal Church […]

Writing in Salon yesterday, Peter Galbraith goes into great detail about Iran’s new role as regional hegemon. The L.A. Times reported on Mahmoud Ahmedinajad‘s growing popularity throughout the Middle East, a result of his steadfast opposition to the U.S.’s continuing occupation of Iraq. I think the latter story is particularly significant in that it suggests […]

STILL A PROBLEM. One of the more interesting aspects of the criticisms of Mearsheimer and Walt‘s The Israel Lobby is the way that, despite the authors’ specific and strenuous disavowal of the idea of a “Jewish conspiracy,” some critics still accuse the authors of describing a “Jewish conspiracy.” (Am I supposed to hold the book […]

EVERYBODY CAN TAKE IT EASY, WE GOT THE TOYMAN. Michael Goldfarb notes the killing of reputed al-Qaeda car-bomb specialist Abu Yaqub al-Masri, and links to this wonderful post that I think perfectly captures the deliriously triumphal macho-geek essence of the species warblogger: “Important that we don’t understate how important of a kill this was… if […]