The American Spectator

Patriot| 6.21.09 @ 8:44PM

And of course, ACORN.

Basil Plumley| 6.22.09 @ 12:47AM

What do you mean "Americans aren't patriotic"?
In the year 2000, there were a couple of wards/precincts in Philly that had every eligible voter vote.
Of course, the final percentage was 99%-1% in favor of Gore. The mathematical odds of every eligible voter voting is astronomical.
With 50 entire cities, it would take a miracle.

I can see Holder finding nothing wrong happened and Jimmy Carter will weigh in that nothing irregular took place.

I guess in Iran, they have no tolerence for hanging or pregnant chads. Then again, they would hang pregnant Chads.

MattSwartz| 6.22.09 @ 1:22AM

Okay, so it's pretty much accepted fact that the mafia and their vote fraud machine helped JFK win in 1960 elections.

The question is, how would we have felt if, say, the Russians or the Mexicans or somebody else decided that said obvious fraud made the election void and tried to agitate internally within our borders for us to do a do-over?

Would have you guys liked that?

We're stepping on the Iranian citizenry's toes. They have a big problem right now, but our assistance is one of the quickest ways to turn that big problem into a huge one.

If they would be free, let them strike the first blow. America isn't the world's election referee service, unless that's written on the back of the Constitution or somewhere else where I missed it.

Angel| 6.22.09 @ 4:38AM

Geez, Matt--no one said we are the world's election referee service, and I don't believe the bloggers here think that. And no, it's not written on the back of our Constitution.

But you know what, Matt? My love and support for these courageous young Iranians is written on my heart, and I will shout my encouragement from the rooftops if it will help them stay strong.

Your fear takes my breath away and makes me pity you, but it will not silence my words of solidarity with the Iranian people or my condemnation of the Mullah's evil regime.

I hope the numbers of frightened American men like you are few, Matt. I believe the time is coming in our own country when each of us is going to have to step up.

Freedom is not free--as can be seen in today's Iran.

Crusader| 6.22.09 @ 9:22AM

I am about as right as they come but reading all these stories of the "fight for freedom" in Iran I have some questions that are still unanswered:

- How is the regime under Mousavi going to be different than under Ahmednijad?
- What "freedoms" are the protesters fighting for?
- Can a muslim country truly be "free" as we know it in the West?

I have not seen these questions answered anywhere, just pom-pom waving about Iranian "freedom fighters," as if Mousavi is some great friend of America.

Finally, what moral authority does America have, a country whose president has refused to release his own birth certificate and who allowed voters to be intimidated by racist black panthers for cripes sake, to tell ANY other country how to run its elections?????

Now, I fully expect to be eviscerated by Repub zombies but I truly would like to know how Iran is going to be different under Mousavi. Can someone answer that at least?

Old Texican| 6.22.09 @ 10:23AM

Hi Crusader
I'll take a stab at answering your questions.

- How is the regime under Mousavi going to be different than under Ahmednijad?
.....It won't be different, because it won't exist...

-The protestors are pretty chaotic, true, but they are unhappy enough to go out and risk getting shot. I gotta' admire and root for them to have a little better hope for the future.

What moral authority?..........
.....Well, we dumped Saddam, and toppled the Taliban from GOVERNANCE of Afghanistan, and we sent Bin Laden to a cave somewhere....
...Any American "intimidated" by black panthers at a voting station shouldn't be allowed to vote anyway...the wimpy nerd! ...and if it was a woman, she should have grabbed the sleeve of a real American or two to escort her in and out...

...Obama might very well be inelgible by birth to be President, but here in the US...innocent until proven guilty. We do know he lied to become President, and has broken faith with Americans since in office.

Finally...if Mousavi is somehow swept into power...over the heads of the Ruling Clergy...his only power bases are 1 , lots of people, and 2, other clergy.
He might actually have to act rationally to satisfy those two groups.
It is not impossible to be a sane Shia....just very difficult.
.....

Crusader| 6.22.09 @ 11:04AM

Old Texican,

I appreciate the civility of your answers, but I am not convinced. I've actually google's Mousavi and read some of his quotes. I find him politically not really all that different than Ahmedinejad. Well, about the only dif is he doesn't deny the Holocaust, but he still does not recognize Israel's right to exist. He has also referred to America as the Great Satan. He was also co-founder of Hezbollah. So again, why are we rooting for him?

I think it is pretty unfair for you to characterize someone a "wimp" when you probably have never been to North Philadelphia as a White person. As far as this wuote of yours,

"It is not impossible to be a sane Shia....just very difficult."

I suggest you read the koran and siras and hadiths. Read a biography of "the prophet" or two. IMHO it is impossible to follow the tenets of islam and be labeled "sane" as we know it here in the West.

Anyway we could go back and forth on just how "effective" our military's been in Iraq and Afghanistan, but suffice it to say I disagree with you there.

Anyway, a follow-up: What freedoms are the Iranian "freedom fighters" fighting for?????

Old Texican| 6.22.09 @ 11:47AM

Well, Crusader
First, I'm not rooting for "him". I'm sorta rooting for a crack in the Theocratic Thug Regime.

.....fighting for????
Well, so far the "freedom fighters" really aren't...yet. So far they are only demonstrating against obvious lies and fraud.

Having worked there, (during the Shah), I witnessed first hand an "eastern despotism".
(brrrrr!)
The average blokes there just want to be left alone, pretty much like we do.
Sadly, most of the people there have ALWAYS been screwed over...forever...by somebody. I'm not sure any of them even have a clue of what freedoms to pray for and root for...or at least in what priorities.

Angel| 6.22.09 @ 3:47PM

Charles Krauthammer compared Mousavi to Boris Yeltsin. He said that Yeltsin had been a Communist hardliner but had changed over time and gradually became a transitional figure whose tenure led to Gorbachev. That analogy made sense to me.

Krauthammer argues that it's not about Mosavi or the election anymore, "The election allowed the political space and provided the spark for the eruption of anti-regime fervor that has been simmering for years and awaiting its moment." "It started out as election fraud but like all revolutions, it has outgrown its origins."

This is about the Iranian people yearning to breathe free. I'm on their side.

Crusader| 6.22.09 @ 4:53PM

Angel, a Commie seeing the light, a la Boris Yeltsin, is one thing. However we are talking about islam here. THERE IS NO FREEDOM in islam!!!!! That's the point I have been trying (and failing, obviously) to make.

If the Iranian people really, really are "yearning to breathe free," may I suggest:

- Mass conversion to Christianity
- Armed revolution

Muslims are not our friends. Look, let's assume for a minute there is a big outcry, the election gets overturned, and Mousavi is installed as president. What's the over/under on his first "America is the Great Satan" speech? How about a "Wipe Israel off the map" speech? A week? Two weeks? These same people backing Mousavi were probably cheering in the streets on 9/11.

I just don't get the frigging LOVE affair with the muslims. How many planes do they have to fly into our buildings? How many embassies do they need to blow up? How many times do they need to TELL US they want to forceably convert us or kill us and have one muslim world? Are we not LISTENING?

And you people want our "president," who has not even released his BIRTH CERTIFICATE, to tell another country how to run THEIR election? Did I wake up on bizarro world or what?

Lemme tell yall something. The usurper is not going to do ANYTHING to piss off the mullahs. He's a freaking muslim himself, in case you didn't see the bow to the saudi king. So no, there will be nothing from him.

Even if there were, then what? He can't even handle that little pissant in North Korea. A missile aimed at Hawaii (how ironic that is the alleged "birthplace," giggle giggle wink wink) and what are we doing? If the usurper came out this minute with some "strong words of moral support," then what? What if the mullahs said "Oh yeah? Republican Guard, shoot to kill with extreme prejudice." THEN what? More words? What? What is the next step after "words?"

Angel| 6.22.09 @ 6:17PM

Crusader, take a breath! You're asking questions no one can answer yet. We don't know enough to understand everything about the Iranian situation, I agree.

I am only speaking for myself: When I see thousands of people risking their lives to have just a little of the freedom I have everyday my heart goes out to them. I have to stand up for them because they're the underdog, and I do so without pronouncing judgment on them.

I guess, when it comes down to it, I believe all human beings have more in common than not. I can't believe those young kids, bloody and bruised as they run through the streets of Tehran, are really much different from me.

Idealism dies hard in some of us.

Ridicule my beliefs if you wish, but they are from my heart.