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Iran, Part III

Edgy DC Jun 16 2009 08:10 AM

<img src="http://media.washingtontimes.com/media/img/photos/2009/06/16/20090615-204640-pic-239403201_t756.jpg"> I remember liking the Rumanian version of this movie. The Chinese one not so much.

metirish Jun 16 2009 08:13 AM

In a few days or a week the protests will be crushed and done with and whatshisname will still be in power .

Edgy DC Jun 16 2009 10:28 AM

I'm going to hope not. The reason to be optimistic is that totalitarian rulers --- if they want their countries to compete on the world stage --- need an educated populace to compete in new markets. But an educated populace will continually grow in awareness of --- and demand for --- the freedoms they are being denied.

sharpie Jun 16 2009 10:59 AM

Hard to see a way, however, that power changes hands. Are the mullahs going to say that they tolerated an election grab in the first place after congratulating Mr. A?

Edgy DC Jun 16 2009 11:14 AM

I agree there, but it's hard to ever see how these thingss will shake.

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr Jun 16 2009 12:40 PM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 16 2009 02:56 PM

="sharpie":2a2zox5j]Hard to see a way, however, that power changes hands. Are the mullahs going to say that they tolerated an election grab in the first place after congratulating Mr. A?[/quote:2a2zox5j] No, and you can't have an election grab without an election. This-- with no election monitoring at all, holey and inconsistent electoral numbers for decades, increasing Revolutionary Guard involvement in "facilitating" voting, and NUMEROUS explicit structural restrictions embedded in the system itself (thanks to Velayat-e Faqih, the entire thing's in the hands of the Islamic Guardian Council)-- is not an election; it's an ongoing, tragicomic farce. Taking off my cultural-relativist hat for a minute, anyone who says otherwise is willfully self-blinded or has a touch of the brainworm. Here's a pretty comprehensive-- but quick-reading-- explanation of the situation courtesy of the Abdorrahman Boroumand Foundation, a nonprofit group that studies human rights/democracy in Iran. http://www.iranrights.org/english/document-604.php If you're comparing your nation's electoral system to those of other countries, and you're looking up in the standings at Malaysia and Pakistan, you're in deep Shiite. Nymr83 Jun 16 2009 01:41 PM ]you're in deep Shiite. LOL metirish Jun 17 2009 12:35 PM Huge protests today.....this shot from Twitter Edgy DC Jun 17 2009 01:01 PM Any idea what's the ratio of pro-Ahmadinejad marchers to anti-Ahmadinejad demonstrators is? I had an election stolen from me back in my colege radio station days, so I"m sensitive to this stuff. Seriously, the amazing thing is that Mousavi doesn't exactly look like a model reformer, and these folks risking their necks are doing it for almost wholly abstract reasons (which may make their gesture even more meaningful). Edgy DC Jun 24 2009 09:47 AM Four Iraninan footballers get a lifetime ban for the wearing o' the green on their arms in a match against South Korea. <img src="http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/WORLD/meast/06/24/iran.football.protest.retirements/art.iransoccer1.afp.gi.jpg">