Muddled thinking and atrocious writing from a darling of the Left
Regular readers will be aware that I often scoff at Antony Loewenstein's cut-and-paste blogging. Loewenstein's 1,151 word opinion piece in today's Crikey illustrates why he relies on copying and pasting: the guy can't write.
Here's the opening sentence to his "analysis" of ongoing events in Egypt:
This soon follows:
And does he really mean that "Washington and Britain have battled Communism and the years after September 11, 2001"? How exactly is it possible to battle blocks of time?
The problem with Loewenstein's "analysis" is obvious: he's feted by Left-wing media – Crikey, Fairfax and the ABC – as something of a Middle East expert, yet can't muster the brain-power necessary to write coherent, high-school-level prose. The guy has parlayed his status as something of an oddity as an anti-Israel "Jew" into minor celebrity status but offers precious little in the way of actual analysis and nothing in the way of true insights.
Here's the opening sentence to his "analysis" of ongoing events in Egypt:
While the Egyptian masses are uprising in unprecedented ways across the country against a Western-backed dictator, Israel fears the worst.Loewenstein apparently means to say that the "unprecedented Egyptian uprising" causes "Israel to fear the worst".
This soon follows:
The American media and our own are filled with neo-conservative doomsayers who argue the Muslim Brotherhood is on the verge of taking over Egypt though there is no evidence for this.Loewenstein gives no examples of these nonexistent "neo-conservative doomsayers" allegedly "filling the media".
Indeed, Washington and Britain have a history of working alongside Islamists in their battles against Communism and the years after September 11, 2001.
And does he really mean that "Washington and Britain have battled Communism and the years after September 11, 2001"? How exactly is it possible to battle blocks of time?
The problem with Loewenstein's "analysis" is obvious: he's feted by Left-wing media – Crikey, Fairfax and the ABC – as something of a Middle East expert, yet can't muster the brain-power necessary to write coherent, high-school-level prose. The guy has parlayed his status as something of an oddity as an anti-Israel "Jew" into minor celebrity status but offers precious little in the way of actual analysis and nothing in the way of true insights.
posted by Anonymous at 5:17 PM |
5 Comments:
Well said! The sheer number of left-wing people in positions of influence (either government or journalism) that dribble such nonsense never ceases to amaze and nauseate me. It is almost as though logic, reason, and rationality have completely abandoned the left. Now all they possess is the ability to thrash around and hysterically vomit when anyone questions the existence of their precious Gaia.
But he look FANTASTIC in a smoking jacket.
Cheers
He's their token self-loathing Novelty Jew™.
Too bad he's such an atrocious writer. He gives self-loathing Novelty Jew™s a bad name.
[WV: "bless"]
"The American media and our own are filled with neo-conservative doomsayers who argue the Muslim Brotherhood is on the verge of taking over Egypt though there is no evidence for this."
OK, so there is no evidence neo-con doomsayers are arguing the MB is on the verge of power.
Nobody has said the Muslim Brotherhood is on the verge of taking over.
Nobody.
Is there a risk of it happening? Absolutey. A significant one. However the die is yet to be cast and it's anyone's guess at this point.
I think what Loewenstein is really trying to say, while the rest of the world wakes up to the dysfunctional Arab world, is "can we please get back to worrying about Israel?" Oh, and "buy my book, the rent is due".
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