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The MidEast is not the MidWest

Reader comment on item: The Middle East and Islam Dominate U.S. Public Life

Submitted by Abu Nuwas (Saudi Arabia), Jan 3, 2007 at 12:43

The Associated Press release would lead one to believe that the Middle East looms large in the daily discourse of ordinary Americans. But my personal experience questions the validity and conclusions of this release.

(I think the Middle East (et al) should be uppermost on Americans' minds, but I don't think it is…. not by a long shot).

A quick review of the online front pages of the top 20 dailies in the nation, shows if not scant, then definitely not prominent, attention paid to the Middle East.

(A list of the top 100 papers by readership, along with their website URLs, can be found at http://www.mondonewspapers.com/usa/readership.html

Among the "top stories" in many of these papers are such items as "Woman found dead with plastic bag around head; Murders fall, rapes rise in '06; Nardelli resigns at Home Depot; Mayo to separate conjoined twins" and so on.

I see very few "Middle Eastern" stories displayed, and when they do appear, it's seldom on the front pages.

The point is, it is local news that seems to be what really interest people, at least in the print media.

This is the way it should be, of course, during normal times. But these aren't normal times…..they're treacherous times.

At another, more personal level, my experience contradicts the conclusions reached by the Associated Press report.

As a long-time Middle East resident, I have long since given up trying to engage anyone in the US in a serious discussion having to do with the Middle East when I go home on visits.

Such statements as "Oh, you live in the Middle East…..do you speak Islamic or Islam or whatever it's called?" are common currency whenever the subject of "what I do" comes up. Even the intellectually "elite" among my acquaintances or new people I happen to meet, display such a jaw-dropping ignorance of even the "basics" that I avoid the subject at all costs.

It's this simplistic, pie in the sky world-view at the popular level that poses the greatest long-term danger to the US against the onslaught of an Islam bent on taking it over and establishing a world-wide Caliphate. That, and the even more ominous disbelief of our intellectually elite that "religion" has in fact once more become the centerpiece of international discourse.

It's like sheep being led slaughter with nary a peep.

Submitting....

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Reader comments (22) on this item

Title Commenter Date Thread
Islams' "FINAL SOLUTION" to US [500 words]Mike DeMontoyaMay 7, 2007 13:1491966
A conspiracy theory [140 words]Robert H. YaugerMar 13, 2007 12:1786147
A Jewish student was brutally attacked at CUNY, NY. Please see the attached article. [1310 words]HFeb 23, 2007 19:3678566
THE FAKE "PEACE" - PRO 'PALESTINIAN' MOVEMENT, AN INTERGRAL PART OF ENABLERS OF GENOCIDE [1915 words]NinaOct 19, 2008 17:2178566
The Scripture and the Heart [218 words]Stefan UllrichFeb 22, 2007 17:5578399
Not Islam but Political Islam? [44 words]
w/response from Daniel Pipes
Hassan RadwanFeb 22, 2007 08:5278337
Reply to the response by Daniel Pipes to me [179 words]Hassa RadwanFeb 27, 2007 05:1378337
awful [32 words]meJun 23, 2008 03:0478337
the choice is simple [185 words]syed bayezidOct 7, 2008 00:2378337
Hamas is sabotaging Sunnis [363 words]AbudllahJan 30, 2007 10:3675152
Pushing Back [30 words]Clifford IshiiJan 12, 2007 19:2672586
islam does not dominate public life in the US [54 words]jon purizhanskyJan 11, 2007 23:0472472
Of course [76 words]Douglas V. GibbsJan 6, 2007 23:1571922
The MidEast is not the MidWest [391 words]Abu NuwasJan 3, 2007 12:4371534
I find the same thing [98 words]EileenJan 6, 2007 16:1571534
The Naming of The War [164 words]Abu NudnikJan 2, 2007 10:3471420
think small-what constitutes a crisis [346 words]jJan 2, 2007 08:4771415
Up shi'ite creek in a sunni canoe [45 words]joe KaffirJan 2, 2007 02:2471404
Failing to Rise to the Challenge [853 words]Ron ThompsonJan 1, 2007 21:0671389
Jews in the News [174 words]Mitzi AlvinJan 1, 2007 19:2871374
Even more of the same for 2007 and beyond! [290 words]DaveDec 31, 2006 13:5071239
ME and Islam dominate... [83 words]steven LJan 1, 2007 21:0571239

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