Moments of grim

But enough with all the grimness, it becomes tedious after a while.

I read the text of the letter Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad sent to George Bush. Apart from the frequent references to Jesus Christ, PBUH (Peace Be Upon Him), and the long quotings of relevant verses from the Koran, much of it could have been printed in the SF Chronicle without really looking out of place. I have occasionally made many of the same points myself. OK, not the stuff about the Palestinians. And I don't really agree that liberal secular democracy is crumbling, although I worry about it. But the bits about "how can you call yourself a Christian, when..." I have also asked about aloud.

What I have not done either, while I'm clarifying things here, is make the connection between the three big monotheistic religions and suggest that all monotheists of the Abrahamic tradition have a cousin-like bond and deserve to rule the world in some sort of global pre-Last Day triad. I don't think monotheists have a monopoly on the truth or are in anyway superior to polytheists, animists, or atheists. It was thoughtful though, now that I think about it, for Mr. Ahmadinejad to include Jews in the club, even if he does want to eliminate the state of Israel from under them.

I am left wondering however, if his writing the letter itself is an act of monomaniacal craziness? Should we be worried about the fact that the leader of a large $72-a-barrel oil nation writes long, scolding sermons addressed to the Leader of the Free World? Do his stated concerns for justice and charity for the world's oppressed mean that he is basically a good, if misunderstood guy?

Speaking of which, if Iran is getting disgustingly rich on oil money, and feels so much compassion for the Palestinians, why isn't Iran funneling more of that money over to them? They could finance a lot of hospitals and schools, financing the Palestinians desperately need now they are being essentially embargoed by the West after the election of Hamas. And wouldn't that be grand, when the Palestinians having lost all connection with the West turn to Iran for help. Iran, whose president wants to "wipe Israel off the map."

OK should we be getting back to the grim thing now?