On 4 May, 2007, at 9:50 PM, wrobert at uci.edu wrote:
> Funny, I remember the demand on the part of Leninists (in this case
> the
> Freedom Road Socialist Organization in Mpls.) to never criticize
> the Iraqi
> regime or Saddam Hussein during the anti-sanctions campaigns... on the
> logic that "any nail in the coffin of imperialism is a good nail"
> or some
> bullshit like that.
It is not an issue of what you do as much as it is one of whether what you are doing is meaningful and fruitful. Real leftists were criticising the Saddam Hussein regime *before* the sanctions, before he stopped being the buddy of those imposing the sanctions. It is therefore both unnecessary and worthless to repeat such criticisms. Especially so, since liberal delicacies require such a preface before any criticism of our action.
The analogy seems to serve no purpose, or perhaps an opposite one. The censorship is not of criticism of Iran (my reaction being mere curiosity regarding the intent) but of support of Iran: "the demand on the part of XYZ to never support Iran ... on the logic that 'any thorn in the cadaver of liberalism is a bad thorn'". Of course neither Doug nor Andie write or imply anything this crude (analytically speaking), but I am working with the analogy I was given.
--ravi