Hey, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has retired as president of Iran. Why didn't NBC hire him and cut out the middle-man? But seriously, what did NBC think it was getting when it hired as a "contributor" someone who served as Ahmadinejad's translator and who in that role mouthed his vicious anti-Semitic rants?
On Chris Hayes' MSNBC show this evening, Hooman Majd claimed the Iran deal is "a good deal for Iran, probably a better deal for the US," and that the US is not giving up anything, that there is no "signing bonus" since "it is Iran's money." In an illogical leap worthy of the man he translated for, Majd argued that it makes no sense to worry about Iran attacking the US or Israel since it hasn't done so yet. Ah, right, Mr. Majd: Iran hasn't gotten the atom bomb yet. That's the point. And for that matter, Iran and its proxies have attacked and killed many Americans and Israelis.
Even more outrageous than the propaganda spewing from this Iranian apologist was to hear the feckless Hayes laugh along with Majd's spiel.
HOOMAN MAJD: This is a good deal for the world, actually. And it's probably a good deal for Iran, probably a better deal for the US . . . What a lot of people are forgetting. What senators in some cases and congressmen are forgetting is when they talk about this money. It is Iran's money. The US is actually not giving up anything. There's no signing bonus.
CHRIS HAYES: [laughs] Right, right.
MAJD: The US Is actually not giving up anything at all. It's Iran that has given up everything. This is not a defense of the Iranian regime in any way [righttt]. This is the fact. What the US has agreed to do is to stop punishing Iran. That's all.
HAYES: Right. Right. When we talke about the money flowing in. It's the money that would be flowing in absent the very intense regime of sanction that has cordoned off that money.
MAJD: Exactly. And despite the sanctions Iran has actually accelerated its nuclear program over the years. And they haven't attacked the United States. And they haven't attacked Israel. So all the senators that are worried that Iran is going to suddenly turn around and attack Israel or America. Some have even said, why would they do that, now? Why have they not done it? So it doesn't make sense. A lot of the argument doesn't make any sense.
