If Andrew Sullivan Were Kryptonite, Thinking Would Be Superman

Matthew Yglesias points here to some particularly dense snideness of Andrew Sullivan, in which Sullivan links to a story on the website of Reporters Sans Frontieres about the arrest of several Iranian bloggers, and asks, "You think the Europeans will protest?" As Matthew says, RSF is based in France, which our best information indicates is in Europe. (RSF says it also has sections in "Austria, Belgium, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom.")

But Sullivan's characteristic dippiness is funny in other ways too:

1. Obviously "the Europeans" in the sense of European citizens are already protesting. But I would guess European governments will also protest. Whether that protest is anything more than pro forma is up to regular Europeans. We will see what they are capable of.

2. One thing we know for sure is that if Sullivan were Iranian he'd be first in line to arrest these people. Sullivan would justify it based on the enormous threat Iran is under from the US and Israel, and would fulminate about how the arrested bloggers are part of "a decadent Left" that "may well mount what amounts to a fifth column."

All this said about Sullivan and his non-functioning noggin, it's still important to support our Iranian brethren and do whatever possible for them. I will keep an eye on this and report back.