20 Responses to “The Second Palin Interview”

1. Dan says:

   February 13, 2009 at 1:48 pm

   Abe, I fear that’s not a very “nuanced” position.

   If you continue on in this vein, ———— I don’t know what’s to become of you. You’re only going to end up in that anti-enlightment and pro-war crowd of neo-conservatives.
2. g says:

   February 13, 2009 at 2:29 pm

   When I scream “Death to NPR” every morning, I really mean it. Or at least, death to tax-payer subsidies for NPR.
3. David S. Mazel says:

   February 13, 2009 at 2:52 pm

   I read recently, but have forgotten the source, that these chants are quite meaningful. In terms of psychology, the chants inculcate the Iranian people to expect (and accept) death upon America and when it happens, not to feel any remorse.

   So, while some mullahs may say they don’t mean it, of course they mean it. They may not act on such chants today, but it’s clear their intention is to follow through at some point. And it’s clear they want their people to mean it, or at least come to accept it.

   As a child I remember hearing: If someone says he wants to kill you, believe him. Words have meaning.
4. J.E. Dyer says:

   February 13, 2009 at 3:20 pm

   Well, thank goodness the political environment in Iran is such that the leaders there only “have” to SAY “Death to America! ” I mean, it would be a pretty serious problem otherwise.
5. g says:

   February 13, 2009 at 3:42 pm

   David, I believe you read it here on Commentary. A very good article, late last year I believe.
6. CK MacLeod says:

   February 13, 2009 at 3:53 pm

   [B]ehind the scenes [leaders hold] very different positions regarding how to actually conduct relations with the US.

   One must presume that those different positions cover a wide range: death to America, immediate death to America, slow death to America, death to most of America, eventual death to America, major injury to America, series of minor very painful long-lasting but unlikely fatal injuries to America, etc., etc.

   Very comforting!
7. Ed says:

   February 13, 2009 at 4:00 pm

   Not only does death mean death, the recent murders in Mumbai and other instances of terrorism show that death means death by torture involving sexual mutilation.
8. mds123 says:

   February 13, 2009 at 5:41 pm

   yes, it’s very important to accurately parse and deconstruct ‘death to america’ when uttered in farsi because, as decentered textualists such as paul de man and jacques derrida have demonstrated, the praxis of spittle and venom often yields great insights into the nuanced underpinnings of ‘death’ – as defined by koranic scholars – and ‘america’ – as instantiated in the orientalist musings of edward said…

   to confuse the two affirsm what has long been an imperialistic – and dare i say condescending – behavior of the west towards the misunderstood ontologies that align the ‘arab world’ – as understood by, say, the juan coles of academe – and ‘persia’ -which, as is well known, is not arabic per se, but an islamically validated variant of a twelfth imam-flavored reinterpretation of semiotic aspirations of mecca and medina…

   in other words, ‘death to america’ doesn’t mean ‘death to america’ and so-called ‘analysts’ who deliberately choose to misinterpret the phrase as somehow indicataive of either the persian psyche or the iranian id does nothing but reveal their own racist insecurities towards ‘the other’…

   i simply can’t be any clearer than that
9. Stuart Rose says:

   February 13, 2009 at 10:53 pm

   All these extreme pipulists at NPR seem to forget that many of the Iranian bigwigs who shout these slogans are the very people who made the Islamic Revolution. The ones who seized the American hostages and/or celebrated the action. The ones who created and have sustained Hezbollah. The ones who gave the green light for the attack on Khobar Towers etc.
   Also, NPR might revisit the years Khatami was in “power” to see just how moderate mullah vetted moderates are, and how far they can go in moderatin Iranian policy-even assuming they would love to seriously re-orient Iranian policies toward the U.S., as opposed to demanding some grand capitulation from the U.S. in return for El Baradi getting to go on more guided tours of Iran’s peaceful nuclear program.
10. Sully says:

    February 14, 2009 at 1:17 am

    If they still chant it after they see you’re not smiling it’s a fair bet that they mean it. And even those who don’t really mean it are servants of the regime and thus legitimate enemies, and legitimate targets if things come to that.
11. Alex Bensky says:

    February 14, 2009 at 7:46 am

    mds123, at least yoiu understand it. A lot of people don’t.

    If you want to know what the Arabs or Iranians really think, you have to consider their softest words spoken to western diplomats and media. Whatever they say to their own people is just, you know, that colorful rhetoric that makes these people so exotic.

    So when the Iranians call for death to America or threaten to incinerate Israel, they don’t really mean it. They just want peace and security for all and the avalanche of hatred emanating from every cleric, every government minister, every school, every tv and radio station, not to mention rallies of thousands of people calling for the massacre of Jews…all this is simply part of their unique and valuable culture.

    Or as The Economist put it recently, Israel shouldn’t be all that worried about an Iranian atomic bomb because even if they get one they “probably” won’t use it on Israel. I can imagine Israelis who read that breathed a sigh of relief.
12. mds123 says:

    February 14, 2009 at 9:23 am

    #11

    …exactly…the best way to understand ‘death to america’ is through the prism of postmodernism…

    you would think the ‘economist’ would have the courage to put it so simply…