How many times does Ethan Bronner typically appear on the CNN? I don't know, I don't watch.

I can't really get too exercised as the corporate media work to make it more obvious to more people that they are the equivalents of Pravda and Izvestia. Frankly, the less subtle they get about it, the more I cheer.

And Mr Rami Khouri's visa for his frequent visits to USA will be revoked for writing this great article!
"Fadlallah’s Inspiring Life"
here

http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=2371

After reading the above article, I wonder, how he got labeled a "terrorist". I guess, if our govt does not like someone but who is NOT a terrorist or does not have a personality of one, our govt feels threatened and the best way to deal with that person IS to label him/her a ""terrorist"!!

I do not know why the link is showing a different article but the URL when copied and pasted shows the correct article. Will try again. If the link again shows the wrong article, please copy and paste the URL if interested in reading the article.
Thanks.

here

http://www.agenceglobal.com/Article.asp?Id=2371

And regards CREDIBILITY, Mr Khouri and Mr Ian Williams have greater credibility ( and of course Ms Nasr for speaking her mind or twitting her opinion!) than the likes of CNN or NBC or anyone of the MSM.
"The ayatollah of Canterbury"
here

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2010/jul/06/religion-islam-fadlallah-lebanon-ayatollah

ps conflict of interest...Mr Williams is a friend.

Jonathan, do you have one of those rooms like one sees occasionally on TV where you've pinned every available inch of wall space with every name you've read in print, and there are thousands of feet of yarn hanging from wall to wall connecting them all? Just curious, thanks.

Rupa Shah: I loved the line in the third paragraph about "wrung out of actionable intellegence." Hey, I gonna take a wild assed guess right here and say, "I'll bet William Barr got a medeal for offing those 80 souls," They ALWAYS get medals for screwing up. I'm thinking they get extra points for innocent bystanders.

I am always impressed that posts like that can be so good and so short. It looks so easy.

Fadlallah certainly doesn't sound at all like a terrorist in Khouri's story or Nasr's tweet. I don't remember ever hearing of him (that shows how much I know about the Middle East) and it looks to me like the only way he has supported terrorism is by arguing that suicide bombings are justified as self-defense.
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/religion-obituaries/7873637/Grand-Ayatollah-Mohammed-Fadlallah.html).

It should be remembered that a Christian sermon in favor of suicide bombing would be applauded by plenty of people, mostly Beck and O'Reilly and Hannity fans, if that were necessary to defeat the evil Islamofascist terrorist plan to invade Colorado and the heart of America with Cuban and Venezuelan troops under the command of Iranian and North Korean generals supplied by communists in China and Russia who never really did relinquish their grip on power but have merely lulled us into a false sense of security as part of their plan for world domination and the destruction of Israel. Fadlallah's real unpardonable sin was that he never sent a text message to Franklin Graham telling him that he accepted Jesus Christ as his personal saviour, or, failing that, urging the Palestians to hurry up and get all their irritating suffering over with.

Had Grand Ayatollah been humble enough to do that, Nasr could have sang his praises to the high heavens and kept taking CNN's money. Seriously.

Jonathan, do you have one of those rooms like one sees occasionally on TV where you've pinned every available inch of wall space with every name you've read in print, and there are thousands of feet of yarn hanging from wall to wall connecting them all? He has a beautiful mind.

Nice post. Really, how do you remember?

I sent off a hate e-mail to CNN for this stunt. I'm sure they will listen.

I sent off a hate e-mail to CNN for this stunt. I'm sure they will listen.

I guess, you have more faith in CNN than I do in my elected officials! Any number of emails ( no hate mails please, angry--YES ), nothing changes.

Interesting twitts at Nir Rosen's twitter site.

"How many fucking articles am I going to have to read falsely describing Ayatollah Fadlallah as the spritiual mentor of Hizballah?"
6:26 AM Jul 4th via web

" Octavia Nasr got fired for the one smart thing she ever said?
about 12 hours ago via web
here

https://twitter.com/nirrosen

Fadlallah was unique among emulated Shiite teachers in his views on women and women's rights, among other things. It was only after the Israelis attempted to kill him the he embraced Hezbolah. See Asad AbuKhalil's brief post regarding Fadlallah: http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2010/07/muhammad-husayn-fadlallah.html

RedPhillip

That's a very interesting post by As'ad. I look at it with ignorant eyes, and when I read that a cleric openly discussed female masturbation, I'm impressed.

There's one remark in your comment that I think could be interpreted (or misinterpreted) in a way that maybe diminishes Fadlallah a little. You wrote that "[i]t was only after the Israelis attempted to kill him that he embraced Hezbolah." To me that suggests he was motivated by personal reasons. I wonder if his thought process may have been broader, because it looks to me like the Israelis bombed his home and institutions as part of the 2006 invasion of Lebanon. If so, he would have viewed the whole of what happened, not just his personal part of it. Hezbolah was the only real force that fought against that invasion, and it fought well. It's normal and can be appropriate to give unqualified support to those who fight on your side during a war whatever your disagreements might be under other circumstances. So Fadlallah's change in attitude toward Hezbolah may not have been about him at all, and if his character is what Khouri and Nasr suggest, I bet it wasn't. People of that level of principle don't worry much about themselves, which is why they are so widely and deeply mourned.

"By firing Octavia Nasr, CNN has, in contrast, shown itself to be a deeply reactionary, conservative organization – either more interested in toeing party-political lines than in seeking the truth, or (somehow worse) believing itself to be impartial, and thus perfect, already.
CNN has soiled its journalistic credentials, and rendered itself untrustworthy. More fool them."

Did CNN have journalistic credentials or was trustworthy? Not according to their own former reporter Christiane Amanpour........

here

http://quitealone.com/2010/07/08/cnns-error-of-judgement/

"He has a beautiful mind."
I agree 101%.
AND, it is more than just a beautiful mind!

Rupa Shah, you are going to start some rumors if you don't look out!

I know this is WAAAAY beside the point, but when I read this article I asked myself, again, why anyone has a Twitter account? Like going out after 12AM, there is nothing good that can come from that.

@ NE

You are, I expect, correct. Fadlallah's alliance with Hizbullah does likely stem more from the fact that it was Hizbullah that proved itself the defenders of Lebanon in the face of Israel's invasion.

@ Jason

While it may be true that nothing good comes of going out after 12AM, a great deal of fun can be had. In my debauched dotage I'll take the fun, thank you.

surprised, no; sickened, yes.

I am always impressed that posts like that can be so good and so short. It looks so easy.

Short posts are easy. Ever managing to post a comment that isn't longer than the original blogpost is, apparently, very very hard.

Terrific work!

Why is spam so obsequious?

"Ever managing to post a comment that isn't longer than the original blogpost is, apparently, very very hard."

You have no idea.

Rupa Shah, you are going to start some rumors if you don't look out!

N E, I do not know how your mind is working or what kind of mind you have. Is it not possible that one can recognise an analytical, brilliant mind which then articulates things in an amazing way and the reader appreciates it and says so? That is not a rumour. It is a fact and I am not afraid to say so.

Rupa, I'm assuming NE interpreted this:
"AND, it is more than just a beautiful mind!"
as implying that Jonathan also had a beautiful behind. Which seems likely.

Sorry Rupa, saurabh got my little joke. I didn't mean to be elliptical. I am reminded by the subject that maybe I should do something on an elliptical instead.

"sending a message on Twitter praising the late Shiite cleric"

I don't understand how offering respect for the dead is equivalent to praise - or, as some have said, endorsement of Hezbollah.