[lit-ideas] Is there any such thing as a Moderate Muslim?
- From: Eric <eyost1132@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2006 18:04:15 -0500
Lawrence: What I found most interesting was
Kelly’s conclusion that the reaction against the
Port deal in the U.S. was indication of a growing
prejudice that there are no Moderate Muslims. . .
. . An overwhelming majority of Americans were not
willing to accept Bush’s assurance that Dubai is
moderate.
Apropos of the situation, if not the topic -- does
anyone recall Paddy Chayefsky's film Network?
In that film, the mad prophet of the airwaves
("We're mad as hell and we're not going to take it
anymore!") gets great ratings by articulating the
discontent of the American public.
Remember that this is 1976.
What gets the mad prophet into trouble is that he
reveals that the conglomerate that bought the news
network has just been acquired by "The Saudis."
"The Arabs are buying us," he shouts. He tells
everyone to write to their Congresspeople and stop
the deal. They do.
That brings about his chastisement by the
corporate Big Boss, who screams at him that he is
"meddling with the primal forces of nature," and
that "we needed that Saudi money!"
The Big Boss then converts the mad prophet into a
messenger of economic globalism--"you're an old
man who believes in nations and ideologies. There
are no nations. There are no ideologies. There is
only IBM, ATT, DuPont, Exxon...these are the real
nations of the world."
Only after he begins to preach this evangel, do
his ratings fall. Nobody wants to hear the bad
news that they don't matter anymore. The Boss
wants the message out, people don't want to hear
it, his ratings drop lower, and ... I won't give
away the rest.
But remember: that was in 1976.
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