The Decline of the Economist

More than a year after the beginning of the non-revolution Syrian "revolution", the Economist decided to write a piece about the sectarian opposition preacher, `Adnan Al-`Ar`ur.  None of the Western media wrote profiles about this man who operate from the Saudi Salafite channels of hate and discord.  But the correspondent of the Economist could not help herself: she had to be defensive about even `Ar`ur to fit her heroic narrative of the Syrian "revolution":  "And it has been claimed that his blood-curdling video threat to Alawites, who comprise the core of the Assad regime’s support, is often taken out of context, since he directed his meat-grinder rant only at those Alawites who were actively suppressing the revolt; any of them who stayed neutral, he insisted, should be protected as equal citizens."