Death to America! No surprise when Iran's illegitimate President, Mr Ahmedinijad, says so. Can I echo that? I am after all a card-carrying, passport-holding American. Funny thing: I only resumed acknowledging that slice of my citizenship and nationality when President Obama took over. For eight years. under the prat from Texas, I denied it. Makes me a wimp.

 

America has problems with countries whose names being with 'I'. Iraq. Iran. The other counrtry whose name I am not allowed to say but it starts with 'I" and is a rogue state with nuclear weapons.

 

The Death to America reference and its juxtaposition with the Twitter reverse-censorship is salient for a number of reasons: eg:

- would these efforts be made on behalf of Hamas (democtatically elected)?;

- would these efforts be made on behalf of President Mubarak in Egypt (ruthless dictator)?;

- would these efforts be made of behalf of the House of Saud (dictators with a nice line in beheading and stonings)?.

 

Tickling the tummies of Middle East factions, variously muppets and puppets, is an alarming trend.

 

Death to America? Of course not. But for those who still stand accused of war crimes in the region start to manipulate the more facile ends of the banal social networking Internet to further their goals... and actually think it has an iota of importance beyond their superficial grasp of news management... thern I won't be shedding tears over their graves. And the sooner they are cosily tucvkd up in them, the better.

 

So if, for instance, an un-named Middle East state sarts slaughtering innocent civilians in a small occupied territory (think Sudan: Darfur, rather than the obvious one), the chances are you won't find where the next demo is taking place via Twitter.  

 

Jim Chalmers