Cross-Posted at Democrashield

A common allegation among the right-wing is that the left is intolerant.  What leads them to this conclusion? Because progressives aren’t afraid to condemn conservative bigotry–and thus begin the conservative cries of "You hypocrittes, how dare you don’t tolerate our intolerance!"

Follow me for some common sense...

I read this in Harvard Mag, the essay of an Islamic scholar, but his point was this: what's going on in the MIddle East is not what you think. It's really a conflict between Muslim "protestants" and "catholics," (not Shia and Sunni, not "moderate" and "extremist"). The west, he argued, is really on the fringes of this conflict, since it is not Muslim.

What the US is doing, with Afghanistan and Iraq, and the escalation, with encouraging the Ethiopians in Somalia, is attempting to put our thumb on the scale. The effect, in most cases is exactly the opposite of our intent: opposition by Muslims who may not like the "protestants" but who like foreign, western, Christian intervention even less.

Of course the US has its own reasons...

Just in case any of you GLBT brothers and sisters out there had an inkling to go out and join a North Carolina Baptist church any time soon, um, please read this diary first.  

Income inequity has been in the news of late; disparity is increasing.  Jared Bernstein, of the Economic Policy Institute, wrote of this in,  "The Catch-Up Economy."  Paul Krugman, a writer-economist for the New York Times shared his views in "Left Behind Economics."  Economics Professor J. Bradford DeLong comments on the subject.  However, it seems to me that the views of these learned economists are limited.  While assessing the statistics, I think experts miss the substance, what lies behind simple "economic" causes and effects.  

This conflict, I have to admit, has rather surprised me in its speed and intensity.  It's easy to see (if not to condone) both sides of the coin; the Israelis' anger that some of their number have been abducted, apparently for political reasons; Hezbollah's feeling that some of their number are in Israeli jails for political reasons.  Each side willing to overlook (or sometimes, to laud) its own wrongdoing or atrocity, while equally willing to condemn (often with extreme prejudice) the wrongdoing or atrocity of the other side.  It's an old story, that actions considered repulsive when committed by the other side become justifiable and, indeed, meritorious when committed by one's own.

Anybody believe that, or think it might ever lead to any sort of peace-y type thing ever?

Of course not.  More over the fold, if you're not hoping for a brilliant and quick solution, because I don't have one.