Tuesday, September 25, 2007

Oh great, now we hurt Iran's feelings. Happy?

I'm always mildly amused when the citizens of totalitarian governments--particularly those in the Middle East--criticize our bad manners. It's true, Westerners can be rude and disrespectful on occasions like Ahmadinejad's visit (and many others), but that's one of the privileges of living in a society where freedom of speech and expression are protected and not proscribed. I'm sure the Western hostages of the Iranian Revolution were charmed and delighted by their hosts' impeccable manners, to say nothing of those who have been treated to the "hospitality" of Hamas and Hezbollah over the years.

3 comments:

The Local Crank said...

I seem to recall that right after Ahmadinejad was elected, several former hostages claimed he was one of the "students" who stormed the embassy in 1979. Did anything ever come of that? Not that he could really be any more repulsive...

Eric said...

I've heard that he was one of the captors, but I honestly don't know if it's a proven fact or not.

dmarks said...

Petty tin-horn dictators are just as succeptible to flattery as they are to insult. Imagine all the good will if George W. Bush would just drop by Caracas with a nice fruit-basket to give Il Duce Chavez?