Michael Totten

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Michael J. Totten

Totten in Lebanon
Born: Unknown
Occupation: Web Journalist and Blogger
Nationality: United States
Subjects: Middle Eastern Politics
Website: http://michaeltotten.com/

Michael J. Totten is a freelance journalist and blogger, who writes on politics in the Middle East, regularly reporting first-hand in both mainstream publications, online websites, and his blog, Michael J. Totten's Middle East Journal.

Contents

[edit] Background

Initially a liberal who marched against the first Gulf War and for the Palestinian cause, Totten's views changed after leaving the University of Oregon campus in Eugene.

Totten's political views became increasingly conservative, after changing his position on the virtue of the first Gulf War. His support for the Palestinians waned with what he saw as increasingly violent and anti-semitic statements he heard being promoted. He was a staunch supporter of invading Iraq in 2003. One of his major influences is[citation needed] Chrisopher Hitchens who himself has become increasingly centrist. Michael Totten was a staunch supporter of George W. Bush in 2004[citation needed] and endorsed Bush on his personal Blog.

[edit] Career

Totten has appeared as a freelance journalist in the online editions of LA Weekly, The Wall Street Journal, Tech Central Station, TCS Daily, Reason, Beirut's Daily Star, and Australia's The Bulletin. He has also been a frequent contributor for the news wire on popular punk-porn web site SuicideGirls.

Totten's reporting is popular amongst many bloggers, including law professor Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit, Matt Welch, Tim Blair, and Marc Cooper of The Nation and the LA Weekly.

In his 2003 article, "The Liberal's Case for Bush's War," which appeared in FrontPage Magazine, he argued that "The liberation of Iraq and the democratic transformation of the Middle East is the most progressive cause in the world today. It is the right side of history, and if you stand in the way or sit on the sidelines, your liberal humanitarian credentials are toast."

Totten spent a month in Lebanon blogging on behalf of Spirit of America and bringing in thousands of dollars through online donations.

Totten relocated to Lebanon in the fall of 2005. This was financed through donations received from his blog audience, and the Lebanese-American anonymous blogger Lebanon.profile of the Lebanese Political Journal.

Totten managed to arrange interviews with Hezbollah, however after publishing an article on the organization, he claims that he was threatened with violence. From Lebanon, Totten visited Israel, the West Bank, Egypt, Cyprus, Turkey, and Iraq, periodically returning to Lebanon.

Totten visited Iraqi Kurdistan in early 2006 and early 2007, and reports that Erbil now strikes him as "the capital of a serious and rising new power in the Middle East."[1]

[edit] Personal

Totten lives in East Portland with his wife Shelly and a cat.

[edit] External links

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