Iran Open Thread

Reporting via Sullivan is not looking good.

Things are beginning to look very depressingly like Tiananmen Square.

Who saw Obama and John Hodgman’s performance at the Radio/Television event? Obama was very funny, his delivery has gotten much better, I especially like it when he laughs at the joke himself.John Hodgman, was just brilliant. Some are saying he wasn’t as funny as Obama but the two should not be compared. Hodgman really had something to say. Calling the Bush Admin the jock (dumb jock, actually) but not like the great athletes that we celebrate – that was great and I noticed that the audience look a little uncomfortable with that or maybe that it just went over their heads.My favorite part was when he said Obama is not what we thought he was. That wasn’t a dig, that was a reality check. Obama is not the Superman so many people made him out to be. He can’t work miracles and can only do the best he can, but we should stand behind him and support him in accomplishing his goals for this country.That’s what I took from the speech. Obama has been getting it from all sides lately, accusations of being like Bush or not enough like Bush, not doing things fast enough, cries of betrayal and threats of ousting him from the White House and I think that that is what this routine was about.

Not to be act like the thread police, but let’s leave Obama’s performance at the Radio/TV show for the PTT, Allonfla. This thread is about the critical developments in Iran, like the increasinly violent crackdown – including the use of chemicals – on the heroic protesters.

There are a bunch of European embassies accepting injured Iranians. Need medical care? Flee to foreign soil so they can’t come find you at the hospital! I wish I could do something about all this other than talk about the annoying new legitimacy of twitter and find websites that will change my avatars green.

Iranian state TV, i.e, the regime’s propaganda outlet, is now putting words in President Obama’s mouth – showing clips of him speaking, not translating and claiming he’s supporting the protesters and wants the state overthrow – and of course, he’s said nothing of the kind. It proves that Obama’s cautious approach so far has definitely been the wisest road to take.Also, as Sullivan’s said, this is really showing up the stupidity of the neocons because Khameini’s regime is trying to get the people to believe Obama’s saying exactly what the neocons want him to say. So, these idiots would have Obama doing what the Iranian Supreme Leader wants.Why do the neocons hate America?

Skippy, I heard Monica Crowley mouthing the same argument last night on McLaughlin.When asked what the Repubs think Obama should have said and she could come up with nothing. Nothing.

Can anyone find a non-snail-mail method of contacting MSNBC in regards to their lack of news coverage today?Are their reporters not calling in to ask if they should be at work?

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release – June 20, 2009

Statement from the President on Iran

The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights.

As I said in Cairo, suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion.

Martin Luther King once said – “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.” I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness.

There is a horrifying video – and photo – up on Sullivan’s site of a young woman shot and killed by the religious thugs (Basij). Blood is pouring from her mouth, nose and head. Hearing about such awful things is one thing, actually seeing an example is something else – I was in tears after watching it. I hope with all my heart that the protesting Iranians standing up to this terrible regime get the democracy and government they deserve for their incredible courage.I should say here that Andrew Sullivan deserves the utmost praise for his coverage of events in Iran. If ever a blogger deserved a Pulitzer, it would be him.

Between Sully and Nico @ Huffington they have covered this better than anyone. I think the NY Times has a live feed up today too..not sure how it is doing.I too saw the updated statement from the President, but the Neo-Cons are still saying it isn’t enough.. They are fast becoming the Bomber party.. following McCain..Frank Schaeffer has a very good piece on the status of the GOPers today.http://www.huffingtonpost.com/frank-schaeffer/the-real-lesson-of-iran_b_218359.html

Thanks for posting Obama;s comments, Carl.I’m curious to find out what Faux News and the neocons expect our President to do?Bomb? Invade?Fer crissake.

Joe Klein put up a very good piece yesterday morning titled There Will Be Blood regarding Krauthammer & Wolfowitz’s od-eds on Iran and why they’re wrong in criticizing Obama’s position on it. It’s also a bit of a history lesson which includes this:If Charles Krauthammer had bothered to ask anyone, he would have learned that the reform movement is every bit as outraged by the history of U.S. meddling as the Ahmadinejad supporters are–arguably moreso, because they are well-educated, sophisticated people who despise the neocolonialist condescension toward Iran that marked American presidents from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush.

Truely disgusting that the idiot GOP continues to use every chance they get to push their ignorant and failed strategy on Obama. It’s like they’ve forgotten that Obama’s willingness to be a grown up during the unrest in Iran is exactly one of the many reasons why more Americans voted for Obama than McCain. All of the GOP chickenhawk bullshit is exactly why we’re currently involved in 2 wars. They should all just shut the hell up and let Obama handle it as he sees fit since he’s actually THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES!

CNN is reporting 19 people dead today in Tehran. Online reports from HuffPo and Sullivan are citing 30-40 dead. I cannot tell if they mean in Tehran only.The regime has miscalculated, I believe. If this insurrection is clamped down now, it won’t matter. The seeds have been in place since 1999. The days of the regime may last another year, but it has signed its own death warrant. By siding with one political person over another so blatantly, the clerics have destroyed their 1979 revolution. They have become what they hated about the Shah. Their days are numbered. Like I said, it may not happen soon, but it is inevitable.As to the neocons, this is what they wanted to happen in Iran. What they want overthrown, they want to institute here. The type of govt Iran now has, a fascist theocracy is what the right in this country wants to have here.I hope their rhetoric stops and lowers the temp in this country.Wow, after reading this I realize I am very cynical today.

I keep wondering why MSNBC isn’t taking the time and resources of the NBC news division to beat out CNN. Then cm reminded me they are the home of morning joke. apparently “the place for politics” doesn’t take into account that what happens abroad affects politics here in the US.It is a disgrace to call them a news channel. I will not watch MSNBC for anything other than KO and Rachel. I turned in on this morning and there was Buchanan talking about something petty and stupid I don’t even remember what he said. It was so inconsequential.

But, you’re dead on Vera! There’s no turning back now. The people have seen the betrayal and will never forget that their will was stolen!

And since I am bitching, CNN sucks. Didn’t they used to be a good news network? Every 5 minutes they tell me what twitter is. They also are very impressed with the fact that twitter updates “within seconds”! OMG…alright, I think I am done bitching now. You may now resume your regularly scheduled blog reading.

last weekend, when things were heating up, CNN was showing reruns of Larry King & Twitter was the only game in town. #Cnnfail seems to have gotten their attention.

veralynn -Your cynical thoughts match mine pretty much exactly so I must be a cynic too.The Iranian Government has lost the support of the people. They are on a limited time frame. They are already done but will stagger on like a zombie for some period TBD. They are done. There will be a new government. The only question is when.On MSNBC. There is no doubt that the two best shows are Countdown and The Rachel Maddow Show. I am also a fan of Ed Schultz and the 15:00 to 17:00 Tamron Hall and David Shuster show is working out well. David and Tamron work well together and I find it fun to watch. They are both decent journalists.On CNN. CNN was great in the early 90s. They started to go downhill in the late 90s. Somewhere around 97 or 98 their decline began. It was gradual and therefore hard to pinpoint when it started exactly. By the time W was sworn in as fuax president, CNN sucked. I have completely ignored them since 9-11.You are not alone. I agree with you.

I’ve been glued to this story since it began, and I think that not enough have been said about the incredible significance of the way we’ve been getting our information about it. I too have been following Nico’s blog and it amazes me that for the first time in history we’re witnessing a revolution as it happens from the perspective of the people actually participating in it. I think this could have far more significance for the future of humanity than anyone can see at this point.If anyone is interested in reading about my take on these events and what I believe to be their significance within the broad context of human history, check out the short essays I’ve posted on my online journal at http://kemstone.com/Journal/homepage-index.php (you may need to hit ‘refresh’) and let me know your thoughts in the comments.WARNING: My latest post includes some graphic images on the woman (Neda) who was shot to death.