I never claimed to speak for anyone else. But "I'm just talking about a random blog post" strikes me as rather feeble.
I mean, respond to whatever you like. But you would have to be very shortsighted, or very partisan, to look at the heart of what's happening right now and see some PowerPoint slides or a well-produced video.
I believe I am neither and that I do not see the same thing in this story that you do. But either way, you're on a thread commenting on my comment on Juan Cole's article, which quotes a substantial portion of that article; I do not think you can reasonably accuse me of distracting from the "real" issue here.
It seems like your complaint is better addressed to Juan Cole.
Oh, I don't believe you are either-- apologies. But I also believe you see more here than you're letting on, and I'm happy to leave it at that.
I think my complaint, such as it is, would not productively be addressed anywhere. As I said, there are thousands of stories, and I'm not usually one to piss in the ocean. But it pains me to see intelligent people engage with toxic arguments, and that's why I decided to reply to you specifically.
That, and to pass the time :) I do take this subject very seriously, perhaps more than I have cause to, and I hope that isn't coming off as animosity.
I mean, respond to whatever you like. But you would have to be very shortsighted, or very partisan, to look at the heart of what's happening right now and see some PowerPoint slides or a well-produced video.