The envelope please . . . It's a tie. Dumb Ass of the week goes to the Airs of The Nation, Ari Mebler and Ari Berman. The no-stars of the campaign horserace set!
We really think the award goes to Ari Mebler who, according to The Nation, wrote "Why the Muslim Smear is Bigger than Islam" at one of their two or three dozens blogs dedicated to gas bagging over the election. (They don't really have that many, it just feels like it. They do, however, offer no blog on Iraq.) However, Common Dreams credits the piece to "Ari Berman." We can understand the confusion (and wouldn't be surprised if we'd confused them as well). They write exactly alike. They tend to always have the same opinion (Bambi=God, Hillary=Satan). There's never a topic one tackles that you couldn't imagine the other writing about as well -- and in exactly the same manner.
Generally we refer to one of them here as "The Airs" lumping them both together so we're glad to know that Common Dreams also sees them as Siamese twins.
One of the Airs, and does it really matter which one?, felt the need to take Naomi Klein to task for pointing out that High Drama Bama was being insulting. In "Obama, Being Called a Muslim Is Not a Smear," Klein writes:
Of course Obama must correct the record, but he doesn't have to stop there. What is disturbing about the campaign's response is that it leaves unchallenged the disgraceful and racist premise behind the entire "Muslim smear": that being Muslim is de facto a source of shame. Obama's supporters often say they are being "Swiftboated," casually accepting the idea that being accused of Muslimhood is tantamount to being accused of treason.
[. . .]
Farrakhan's infamous comments about Jews took place twenty-four years ago. The orgy of hate that is "the Muslim smear" is unfolding in real time, and it promises to greatly intensify in a general election. These attacks do not simply "smear Barack's Christian faith," as John Kerry claimed in a campaign mailing. They are an attack on all Muslims, some of whom actually do exercise their rights to cover their heads and send their kids to religious school. Thousands even have the very common name Hussein. All are watching their culture used as a crude bludgeon against Obama, while the candidate who is the symbol of racial harmony fails to defend them. This at a time when US Muslims are bearing the brunt of the Bush Administration's assaults on civil liberties, including dragnet wiretapping, and are facing a documented spike in hate crimes.
Reasonable points. But reason doesn't exist in the fetish world of Bambi Adoration. So along comes one of the Airs -- so non-destinct that no one can tell them apart -- to 'correct' one of the few authentic voices the left has left and declare that she's wrong and, furthermore, "But the larger imperative is to undermine the character, credibility and honesty of the candidate, developing a resilient narrative to poison media coverage and stoke fundamental doubts about anything the candidate says." Where do the Airs loyalties lie? Not with the people. Never with the people. It's all about one man (we'd say "person" but fear Katrina vanden Heuvel would start trying to pocket more dough she never had to work for).
One man matters more than the Muslim population. Klein rightly notes the very real attacks Muslims have been under and are under. The Airs don't give a damn. Their candidate's not Muslim so screw Muslims. It's all about Bambi to the Airs.
The 'unity' candidate has created a lot of walls and tossed a lot of people under the bus but we're not aware of one of his professional groupies ever being so obvious about it. Obama, the Airs tell us, "is also bigger than Islam." (Some may want to point that Mebler or Berman, we're dealing with Jews and since neither's known for championing the rights of Palestinians, their views of Muslims may be suspect.)
Airs, Klein is "bigger than" both of you combined. You interchangeable, faceless scribblers. Tools of the Democratic Party and proud to be nothing more than that. (Don't trot out your 'bravery' in attacking Hillary, no one here buys that as 'independence'.)
Shameful and a Dumb Ass. Again, the article's credited to Mebler at The Nation but, like Common Dreams, we say, "What's the diff?" They write alike, they talk about, we're sure they even cream their shorts over the same photos of Bambi. They're a team, a package deal, and with the implosion of the Jessica Simpson-Nick Lachey match, America needs another underwhelming duo to focus on.