Margaret Cho And Iraq Blog I Have Been

Juan Cole 07/28/2004

Margaret Cho and an Iraq Blog

I have been a fan of comedian Margaret Cho for years, and so was happy and surprised to see traffic coming from her site to mine. I found her appreciation of an Iraqi family’s blog touching. As someone who has been interested in Iraq for more than 30 years, it is still surreal for me to find so many Americans now concerned with the place. What is refreshing about Margaret’s comments, however, is her contrast between knowing about Iraqis in the abstract and encountering them on a human level.

There has been controversy over the gay and lesbian Human Rights Campaign’s decision to rescind its invitation to Cho to preview some material from her “State of Emergency” tour at the Democratic National Convention. Their loss. And, luckily for her, there is no such thing as bad publicity in show biz.

About the Author

Juan Cole is the founder and chief editor of Informed Comment. He is Richard P. Mitchell Professor of History at the University of Michigan He is author of, among many other books, Muhammad: Prophet of Peace amid the Clash of Empires and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Follow him on Twitter at @jricole or the Informed Comment Facebook Page