So a deal has been reached between Iran and the west. And I’m thrilled. For one thing, I’m not afraid of Iran. As a country, it has shown itself to be reasonable. And the people of Iran are generally quite pro-American. I’ve long felt that we should be engaged with Iran. As it is, we act like a jilted lover — just can’t get over that 1979 revolution. And we refuse to take any responsibility for creating it. You know, if we actually did push democracy overseas — if we had held the Shah in line and made him create a more just country — the revolution probably never would have taken place. Khomeini could have died in obscurity in France.

But what do my fellow Americans think? Well, mostly, they think, “What?! A deal, you say?” They just aren’t plugged in. They don’t especially care. The only people who really care are those who are plugged into conservative media. They’ve been fully manipulated into thinking that this is the worst thing in the world. So this evening, I was treated to a local news segment on it that really highlighted the people who were angry about the deal. Now each and every one of them was angry for the same reason. As the Merovingian would say, “They were told to be angry and they obeyed.” If a Republican were in office, they would think this was a good deal.

I don’t really care what Americans think. Similarly, I don’t care what Benjamin Netanyahu has to say. P M Carpenter gave Matt Yglesias a little ribbing because he posted one of Netanyahu’s tweets in Hebrew. But how could it possibly matter? We all know exactly what he had to say: this is the worst thing ever; Armagedeon; betrayal; shame shame shame; and so on. Who cares? Clearly Netanyahu has incentives that have nothing to do with the good of the world, the US, or even Israel.

But I am interested in what the Iranians think of this deal. So I was pleased to see that Glenn Greenwald and Murtaza Hussain over at The Intercept wrote, Iranians’ View of the Nuclear Deal: Optimistic, With Significant Caveats. It’s not surprising that the Iranians would be pleased with the deal: like people everywhere in the world, they care about economics. This is a deal that will both improve their economy and make war less likely. What’s not to like?

The people in Iran who are against the deal are very interesting: “fundamental Islamists who are now the only real hard-core nationalists in the country.” Other than the “Islamists” in that, the same could be said of the US: “fundamental Christians who are now the only real hard-core nationalists in the country.” That’s one of the things that has been so amazing to watch since 9/11: the two sides hate each other because they are so much alike. Or perhaps I should say the three sides, because the Israelis are the same.

What’s sad, is that Americans don’t know this. And that’s because our “neutral” press thinks that the right way to balance Netanyahu is to quote Lindsey Graham.