Iran

Jun 15, 2009 11:52

Are y'all watching this?

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Comments 36

fraterrisus June 15 2009, 16:05:48 UTC
inasmuch as i've been listening to NPR and following the completely unsurprising "reported" results and the resulting public outcry. is there something in particular?

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kcatalyst June 15 2009, 16:40:07 UTC
The suggestions of live-ammunition shootings are getting more frequent, too, although I haven't yet seen a clear confirmation.

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khedron June 15 2009, 16:49:17 UTC
I thought I was caught up, until I saw something on Salon this morning mentioning machetes.

Dude. Looking for confirmation.

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kcatalyst June 15 2009, 16:14:43 UTC
Yeah, we were down in Cincy for a lot of the weekend, I was up late catching up. :-)

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Yep t0rque June 15 2009, 16:58:17 UTC
Contrary to Fraterrisus's comment, I've been consistently surprised by developments.

My biggest surprises:
1) Ahmedinejad clearly didn't study his Daley, and didn't know how to properly steal an election.
2) The size and magnitude of the protests to his assertion of victory
3) The mullahs congratulating Ahmedinejad while the protests continued, clearly overestimating their authority
4) The possibility that Khameini's latest statement asking for a careful examination will actually reverse the course of the election

And of course, the worry that this is all just an outright military coup.

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Re: Yep kcatalyst June 15 2009, 17:08:40 UTC
I can't imagine that they're planning on actually investigating properly. But then, they probably weren't planning on pissing off this many people so badly either.

Just saw that 119 faculty members resigned as Tehran University, protesting the assaults on students there.

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Re: Yep t0rque June 15 2009, 17:27:14 UTC
I think you've hit the nail on the head: the fact that the Ahmedinejad faction has been so strikingly taken by surprise repeatedly.

I kind of wonder what the historical model here is--is this the French Revolution? The rise of Mussolini? Pinochet/Peron?

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Re: Yep harimad June 15 2009, 17:29:29 UTC
The one they're afraid of is the Shah.

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harimad June 15 2009, 17:24:16 UTC
I'm still trying to figure out why the citizens think it matters. The elected president has only a narrow range of actions that are contrary to the wishes of the Supreme Council.

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kcatalyst June 15 2009, 17:36:41 UTC
I think maybe they're hoping for more serious change in the long term. I'm not there, but it's hardly unheard of for a relatively minor but obvious affront to trigger anger/reaction to a more widespread problem. In fact it seems like it's more the norm than not.

I've also gotta say, I find your tone disturbingly condescending. Sounds like you're saying that they'd all be staying home ignoring the (potential) fraud if only they were as smart and level-headed as you.

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harimad June 15 2009, 19:26:01 UTC
No, I'm saying that it must be very discouraging to know that one, the elections aren't free and fair and two, even if they were they don't make much practical difference in how the government acts. What you aren't hearing is the tone of admiration in my voice.

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kcatalyst June 15 2009, 19:35:44 UTC
Ok cool, thanks for the clarification.

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jacflash June 15 2009, 18:31:50 UTC
Yes, mostly via Sully, who has been doing great work on this.

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