[lbo-talk] Pug The Slug

[Dennis Perrin]

I've gotten to know Juan Cole over the past few months, and the idea that 
he's pro-Ahmadinejad or an apologist for hardline Muslims is ridiculous. His 
own written statements already disprove that assertion, as does his 
consistent support for freedom in the Arab/Muslim world. And unlike 
Hitchens, who mentions the Palestinians only when it suits his needs, Juan 
has been relentless in his criticism of Israel's brutal land grabs.

Juan is a soft-spoken mainstream liberal. Hitchens' attempts to twist his 
words and otherwise smear him has clearly upset Juan to a greater degree 
than I initially realized. He's not used to this kind of sneak attack, and 
it shows. I've pretty much stayed out of it because, (a) Hitchens has no 
scruples, and when dealing with him you end up with shit on your hands, and 
(b) Juan needs to weather this and learn to better reply, if indeed he ever 
wishes to reply to Hitchens again.

That MPug comes to Hitchens' aid on this is really not surprising. Not 
content to sic Marc Cooper on Yoshie, he now trolls around to discredit Juan 
Cole, who is perhaps one of the more level-headed and accessible Middle East 
experts around. In time, I suspect, Pug will feed Roger Simon or Instapundit 
with whatever garbage he can find, maybe about me, or maybe you. Who the 
fuck knows at this point. I used to find him humorous and engaging, but now 
I see that he's simply a piece of shit.

Dennis