The American Commentator Making Excuses for Iran

When I saw that the commentator Max Blumenthal was going to speak in Washington, D.C., about his recent trip to Iran, I couldn’t stay away. I have long been fascinated with Americans—especially privileged, well-connected Americans—who, out of alienation from their own country, show an admiration for distant authoritarian lands.Blumenthal, the son of the Clinton-family adviser and former journalist Sidney Blumenthal, was one of some 400 pro-regime influencers invited by the Iranian government to cover the funeral earlier this month of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike on February 28.
Reported by 1 outlet — The Atlantic. See all sources ↓
When I saw that the commentator Max Blumenthal was going to speak in Washington, D.C., about his recent trip to Iran, I couldn’t stay away. I have long been fascinated with Americans—especially privileged, well-connected Americans—who, out of alienation from their own country, show an admiration for distant authoritarian lands.Blumenthal, the son of the Clinton-family adviser and former journalist Sidney Blumenthal, was one of some 400 pro-regime influencers invited by the Iranian government to cover the funeral earlier this month of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike on February 28. Speaking last week at the flagship location of the progressive bookstore and restaurant chain Busboys and Poets, Blumenthal portrayed the man who’d overseen the mass slaughter of young Iranian protesters in January as “a father, a guide, a religious teacher” and presented the regime that he’d led as not only legitimate but also an inspiration to the world. Khamenei’s assassination, he told the standing-room-only crowd, ought to have generated far more outrage than it did.
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- What's the story?
- When I saw that the commentator Max Blumenthal was going to speak in Washington, D.C., about his recent trip to Iran, I couldn’t stay away. I have long been fascinated with Americans—especially privileged, well-connected Americans—who, out of alienation from their own country, show an admiration for distant authoritarian lands.Blumenthal, the son of the Clinton-family adviser and former journalist Sidney Blumenthal, was one of some 400 pro-regime influencers invited by the Iranian government to cover the funeral earlier this month of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who was killed in a joint U.S.-Israeli air strike on February 28.
- How widely is it covered?
- 1 outlet, average source rating 8.0/10.
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- 11h ago.
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The American Commentator Making Excuses for Iran
Sources1TypeCoverageThe Atlantic