Hullabaloo Reads Carnegie

by tristero

Following up on a previous post, I counted more than 10 people willing to read Iran’s Nuclear Ambitions by Iranian author Shahram Chubin. Unless I missed them, none of our prolifically commenting rightwing colleagues signed up. I will take their failure to participate as a sign of their utter lack of serious interest in views that contradict their own fantasies.* We are talking 244 pages here, not Atlas Shrugged, fer crissakes.

So I have ordered the book. When it arrives, I’ll suggest a time period in which to finish each chapter or section which I think is reasonable, given that all of us are busy, and a time at to discuss the section. I’ll also try to reach Shahram Chubin or someone else at Carnegie to see about answering questions we have.

I do hope that all of you who agreed will follow through and order the book, primarily because I think it will help all of us understand the situation in Iran a little better, as most people whatever their politics agree it is a very serious one. As mentioned, Carnegie has done excellent work in the past and although I don’t know Chubin’s work, I think the fact that Carnegie chose to publish it means we’ll find it a very helpful place to focus our attempts to understand some of what’s going on with Iran.

One more thing. Here’s the link to Cirincione on Fresh Air.

*The common rightwing retort to refusing to look at the facts of a situation is something like, “Hey buddy, you may have time to sip a latte and read a book, but I gotta work for a living, loser.” To which one can only reply, I gotta work for a living, too but I also happen to be an American citizen. It is an obligation of each and every American to stay informed on important issues facing our country. so we can vote responsibly for our representatives. Furthermore, I don’t drink lattes. Have t’watch the cholesterol, y’know. I prefer expresso or coffee American style, brewed dark, with a little 2% in it, no sugar, although what my preference in caffeinated beverages has to do with my politics or authenticity as an American is a little obscure to me.