Protests in Iran....

[Frank4]

http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/ ... index.html

[RinglingRingling]

given that a week before the election, the government shut down most communications other than thru state-run and state-approved sources, this was not a surprise. Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other sites were blocked because the demographic least likely to vote for the mullahs and their puppets were using said sites to exchange information contrary to the propaganda.

[Wino you know]

GOOD FOR THEM!

I hope they protest and burn the place back into the 6th century.
It'll save us the trouble of having to do it later.

[Skibo]

I predict a drop in the Iranian population this week.

[Wino you know]

I predict a drop in the Iranian population this week.

Too bad it'll be the average Joes and not the a-holes at the top.

[Frank4]

I predict a drop in the Iranian population this week.

Too bad it'll be the average Joes and not the a-holes at the top.

it would be interesting to see them ride the current idiot out on a rail....

[Wino you know]

it would be interesting to see them ride the current idiot out on a rail....

The current idiot in charge over there was one of the ring leaders when the American embassy was taken over by his coward countrymen, and yet he was so warmly received at Columbia University a few months ago.

They give that bastard the red carpet treatment, and protest our own elected officials.
Only in America.

[Frank4]

it would be interesting to see them ride the current idiot out on a rail....

The current idiot in charge over there was one of the ring leaders when the American embassy was taken over by his coward countrymen, and yet he was so warmly received at Columbia University a few months ago.

They give that bastard the red carpet treatment, and protest our own elected officials.
Only in America.

It looks like the people of Iran are finally starting to realize this guy is leading them down a dangerous path, hopefully these protests will lead to something bigger...not holding my breath.

[Wino you know]

It looks like the people of Iran are finally starting to realize this guy is leading them down a dangerous path, hopefully these protests will lead to something bigger...not holding my breath.

Me either.
But yes, they're starting to realize that THEIR "elections" are about as fair as the "elections" in Venezuela, where the PIMP continues to rule.

[RinglingRingling]

it would be interesting to see them ride the current idiot out on a rail....

The current idiot in charge over there was one of the ring leaders when the American embassy was taken over by his coward countrymen, and yet he was so warmly received at Columbia University a few months ago.

They give that bastard the red carpet treatment, and protest our own elected officials.
Only in America.

It looks like the people of Iran are finally starting to realize this guy is leading them down a dangerous path, hopefully these protests will lead to something bigger...not holding my breath.

I wouldn't. Dissent is allowed, as long as nothing comes of it. Taking to the streets (odd sense of deja vu given the way the current government took over from the Shah...) and burning stuff in protest makes the old men nervous.

[Frank4]

Shots reported...
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/06/ ... index.html

[Skibo]

Did anyone else laugh when the media compared the Iranian elections to the Florida elections in 2000?

[LIBuffettFan]

Did anyone else laugh when the media compared the Iranian elections to the Florida elections in 2000?

Protests, what protests, Ahmadinejad describes this stuff as the same as the "passions after a soccer match". This guy is a head case, and the fact that he has the power to bascially just take an election is very scary. I think big "O" should fly over and have tea with him and discuss this stuff.

[Wino you know]

It's getting worse over there, and I have to say, I'm enjoying the hell out of it.

[flyboy55]

I think we need to realize that events in Iran are passing through more than one filter. While the Iranian government is exercising much control over information flow and the media - both domestic and foreign - our own media outlets are not unbiased observers of events in Iran.

It should be remembered that the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, may not be the madman he is widely portrayed to be by our own government officials and political commentators. When the media uses a term like 'hardliner' to refer to Ahmadinejad, they are in effect substituting their judgment for yours. Ahmadinejad, who came to power in 2005, ran a 'populist' campaign that appealed to his country's religious right and the poorer Iranians who dwell mostly in the rural areas. This kind of political appeal should sound very familiar to Americans.

Something else to keep in mind about Iranian elections is that we aren't talking about a Stalinist state like North Korea. Iranians live under an authoritarian regime which limits some of their freedom of expression, but certainly not all that different than the many authoritarian regimes we funded and supported throughout Latin America for decades, and certainly no worse (maybe even better) than what they experienced under the Shah for much of that same period.

When Iranians go to the polls they are thinking about many of the same things that we are thinking about, in particular, jobs and the general economic outlook. Many Iranians have felt for years that a less confrontational approach in international affairs would benefit their country. In fact, without the badly-timed interference and saber-rattling of our former president Bush during the 2005 Iranian election, the Iranians might have elected a more moderate individual to the presidency. But Ahmadinejad was able to capitalize on the perceived threat from the U.S. to gain a large following. This election dynamic should also be familiar to most Americans.

Public talk here in the U.S. about regime change, the 'Axis of Evil', and veiled threats about preemptive strikes at Iran's nuclear industry benefits the 'hawks' both here at home and in Iran, but does nothing to increase the security and safety of either population.

I think when the time is right, the Obama administration should open a multichannel dialogue with the Iranian government to discuss matters of mutual concern. We should also avoid the appearance of trying to dictate to the Iranians how they should run their country, remembering that our own CÏA was responsible for the coup that replaced a democratically elected Iranian government in the early 1950s with the Shah's authoritarian regime. By taking the conciliatory approach, we may be pleasantly surprised by what the Iranian voters decide in their next election.

[Lightning Bolt]

Simply enough, our interests lie SOLELY in the efforts to prohibit the A'jhad, or even Moushabi for that matter, from developing an A-bomb.
A leader of an Islamic state who wishes to see the annihilation of the Jewish state nearby is not going to be tolerated by
the hawk leader of Israel, Netanyahu, and OUR interests here in the U.S. are in keeping the two from a region (and energy market) destabilizing war.
I would bet this will be used as our reason for keeping a sizable force stationed in Iraq for years to come.

[SuperTrooper]

What a joke.

[Frank4]

What a joke.

Great cartoons...

[Lightning Bolt]

Who ever thought Iran was a democracy??

Certainly not in a state where there is already a Supreme Leader...!

[The Lost Manatee]

Iran is not a democracy, even though they hold elections. I, for one, believe that the moderates lost big time and that it really was a fair election. What many people are overlooking is that Iran is a largely rural, conservative country, think Utah circa 1950 or Alabama 1920. The conservative, rural population out numbers the more urbanized areas by about 3 to 1. This means that even if all the moderates voted as block and the conservatives vote as a block, then the moderates lose out. This is a national election and thus the demographics of the entire country come into play.