Some might say it’s pretty heartless to mock somebody who just had a serious operation, but it’s okay because Rushdie hates the guy. Clearly, he’s learned an important lesson from his Islamist tormentors: Step 1 is to dehumanize the enemy.
Well, whatever it takes to impress Arianna.
Coincidentally, Rushdie was just profiled in the NYT and is quoted thusly:
Deepika Bahri, a friend and an associate professor of English at Emory University in Atlanta, where Mr. Rushdie is a distinguished writer in residence, said that Mr. Rushdie was game for interacting online with any person or subject, highbrow or low. “I don’t think it really matters to him,” Ms. Bahri said, when asked how such behavior might affect public perception. “He does not fear or have concern about what people think or what it will do to his literary reputation.”
Still, he seems to expect a certain civility. Mr. Rushdie blocked a Twitter follower last month after the follower made a cutting remark about having read one of Mr. Rushdie’s books in high school. “Discourtesy not tolerated here,” Mr. Rushdie wrote in a tweet. “Your parents need to teach you your manners.”
Belittling Salman Rushdie’s work is discourteous. Belittling a heart transplant patient, well, that’s just to be expected.
He’s a funny guy, that Salman. Hey, here’s another rib-tickler:
Knock, knock.
Who’s there?
Salman.
Salman who?
See, that’s what I’m worried about.
(Hat tip: Greg Pollowitz)