dear l,

noticed the same. juan sees himself as a "responsible citizen" - he doesn't want to be in a situation where others can say "you haven't done enough to ward off/fight evilness in our own government".

he is very concerned about the american model being perverted.

we've already managed to make him stop commenting about things he doesn't know anything about - like lebanon.

at this point - i read his blog for info on contemporary iraq (which i know sufficiently well & for which i have enough alternative sources of information) and ignore the rest.

at least he's still providing valuable information.

--raf*

I've always found him a bit shrill.

Informative. But shrill(ish). And I'm vaguely leftish myself, though of the increasingly curmudgeonly and pragmatic sort ( no doubt the bad influence from some of folks I hang out with ;) ). It's actually why I've never read his journal as consistently as I should.

Well, I was of the opinion that certain Leb commentators' reaction to Cole's commentary was... rather overdone. Bordering on the irrational really, so I hope he wasn't driven off Leb topics - which as a matter of course should not be left to the Lebanese and their delusions of grandeur.

That aside, yes, does provide valuable information, but his fairly humourless banging on and partisanship seems to be getting more, well, more so.

I don't mind a combative attitude, makes for fun. But humourless banging on....

I agree that he does get a bit shrill at times, but that isn't even my biggest problem with him. I can't stand when people write like academics on the web (instead of being concise and making proper use of hyperlinks). His entries are too long and dry, with 20-paragraph blockquotes. Can't scan the page quickly, have to slog through each entry. Boring. SyriaComment guy has the same problem.

People read differently online, have shorter attention spans. If a blogger can't be interesting, they should at least get to the point quickly.

Hmm, well afraid I don't mind his more academic styled posting.

I do agree that longer text needs to be broken up differently online, especially with narrow reading spaces typical in blog layouts, but afraid I don't care to critique if someone does not feel like catering to ADD reading styles.

All in all, my problem with him is he seems to be getting more axe-grindingly partisan.

I believe Raf Bey has put his finger on Cole's self view as an engaged US citizen, fighting 'evil' - literally.

Which is a pity as it begins to justify his critics case against him to an extent.

I suppose the academic style is a matter of taste, but the increased partisanship doesn't surprise me. I stopped reading his journal regularly around the same time he became a frequent contributor to salon.com (IIRC the site routinely publishes alarmist diatribes about Bush and the Evil Republicans, forced me to cancel my subscription a year ago).

dear all,

as a recovering academic my attention span is legendary. & i learnt patience on the egyptian public transport "system" ... i don't mind juan's (or josh's) long posts. and some articles they feature simply are not online anywhere else.

the criticism of juan's leb "analysis" had little to do with "lebanese grandeur" - he simply wrote crap & had very obviously been out of touch with leb politics for a while. nothing wrong with that - just don't expertify on it, then.

salon.com is fine by me ... but i also just go via the "site pass" option - particularly since my adblock filters the silly advert.

the "engaged citizen" thing is actually the reason why i sympathise with him - i am much more pissed when he is imprecise or uses data selectively to that they fit his overall point. and in his "real life" presentations he's rather sloppy.

which is where i turn on my filter & read him for information, not political guidance.

the same with josh of "syriacomment.com" or "real" bloggers, for that matter.

--raf*

I've been interacting with Cole on and off for a few years online. I have to say that privately via email he has been nothing if not gracious and helpful on with my occasional MENA inquiries.

In his posts on H-Net or his blog Cole seems to be compelled to propagate the academic Left party line on subjects like economics, the Cold War, the Reagan administration or other topics not central to his research interests. Not sure why, path of least resistance perhaps, but it unduly influences his analysis of current events at times.

Mark

I am sure he is gracious and reasonable; when he steps back I rather like some of his analyses (even on those points where I have disagreed).

The prominence of the US Academic Left party line rubbish has begun to annoy me.

I suppose an underlying bias - after all you seem to incline in the other direction.

Raf Bey

First, I hope few people take bloggers for any kind of political guidance. Re criticism of Cole re Leb Land and Leb Grandeur. Well, let's say that I read some of the Leb Right jihad against Cole and it seemed to me the virulence had much to do with their Lebanese Grandeur and Specialness conceits. Errors on Cole's part aside. I am sure you know of who I refer to.

As to real life presentation, never saw, can't judge, but perhaps it is not his talent. Or it maybe the whole Party Line issue raising its head.