John Podhoretz Overcompensating with Misogynist Machismo? No Way!

Sorry about the free-form ranting lately... it's not really my thing, but the newspaper has been lacking in insanity on the opinions pages of late, so I haven't had a lot of my usual source material to work with.

Plenty of people are pointing it out, but just to add another voice echoing the accusations of hypocracy, here's my take on Jill Carroll. Thank God she's okay. Thank God she wasn't abused. Thank God there's actually a good news story out of Iraq.

Of course, that's what the far right has been whining about for months, isn't it? That there's no good news coming out of Iraq? That the media only covers the bad news? Here's a positive story, being covered extensively, so the neocons should be pissing themselves with delight, right? Nope. As usual, the only thing causing the neocons to piss themselves is old fashioned stupidity.

"It’s wonderful that she’s free, but after watching someone who was a hostage for three months say on television she was well-treated because she wasn’t beaten or killed — while being dressed in the garb of a modest Muslim woman rather than the non-Muslim woman she actually is — I expect there will be some Stockholm Syndrome talk in the coming days." - John Podhoretz, National Review

"Maybe it's just me, but Jill Carroll is increasingly starting to bug me. The details are still murky and it’s hard to appreciate what she’s been through. And maybe JPod’s right about Stockholm syndrome. And maybe the media’s selectively choosing what to show of her statements. But it would be nice to hear her say something remotely critical of her captors, particularly about the fact that they murdered her translator in cold blood. I’m very glad she’s alive, but I’m getting a very bad vibe. More, no doubt, to come." - Jonah Goldberg, LA Times

"She strikes me as the kind of woman who would wear one of those suicide vests. You know, walk into the — try and sneak into the Green Zone...
...She may be carrying Habib’s baby at this point...
...She’s like the Taliban Johnny or something..." - Bernard McGuirk, The Imus Show

"American journalist Jill Carroll, abducted in early January by gunmen in Baghdad, was released to a Sunni Arab political party in the capital Thursday morning after 82 days in captivity. 'I was never hurt, ever hit,' she told a Washington Post reporter. 'I was kept in a safe place and treated very well.' May as well just come right out and say she was a willing participant." - Orrin Judd, brothersjudd.com

Hey, right wingers! These guys are speaking for you! Your media representatives are actually condemning a woman who was held as a hostage in Iraq for 3 months. Evidently, because she didn't walk out raving like a maniac and screaming for the blood of Iraqis to flow deeper than Halliburton's pockets, she is somewhere between annoying and a traitor. Do you wonder why your side seems to be getting less and less relevant? Here's a clue. This kind of tripe isn't just sickeningly disturbed, it's also extremely alienating for people who haven't yet completely numbed their consciences on the altar of extreme partisanship. When Iraqi insurgent kidnappers treat an American woman with more respect than right-wing idealogues, you can bet that won't sit well with people.

Welcome home, Jill.