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Open Thread February 22 2025
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Yesterday, The Conversation newsletter included an article titled “Making
sex deadly for insects could control pests that carry disease and harm
crops.” I ...
2 hours ago
Thanks for linking this, P.K.!
ReplyDeleteExpect a bloodletting. A river a green will be swallowed in a sea of red.
ReplyDeleteThis is one time when Petro might actually be right.
ReplyDeletePeeKay? I thought he was dead.
I'll guess we will see tomorrow.
ReplyDeleteI knew Peekay was alive, I saw him two weeks ago hanging out at a Krispy Kreme with Elvis and Jim Morrison.
And I'll be honest Jim is fatter than Elvis.
Yesterday, The House of Representatives voted 405-1 for a resolution in support of the Iranian dissidents and condemning the ruling government. And the one man who opposed it was...Rep. Ron Paul
ReplyDeleteSpeaking from the Floor before the vote, the Congressman said,
I rise in reluctant opposition to H Res 560, which condemns the Iranian government for its recent actions during the unrest in that country. While I never condone violence, much less the violence that governments are only too willing to mete out to their own citizens, I am always very cautious about "condemning" the actions of governments overseas. As an elected member of the United States House of Representatives, I have always questioned our constitutional authority to sit in judgment of the actions of foreign governments of which we are not representatives. I have always hesitated when my colleagues rush to pronounce final judgment on events thousands of miles away about which we know very little. And we know very little beyond limited press reports about what is happening in Iran.
Of course I do not support attempts by foreign governments to suppress the democratic aspirations of their people, but when is the last time we condemned Saudi Arabia or Egypt or the many other countries where unlike in Iran there is no opportunity to exercise any substantial vote on political leadership? It seems our criticism is selective and applied when there are political points to be made. I have admired President Obama's cautious approach to the situation in Iran and I would have preferred that we in the House had acted similarly.
I adhere to the foreign policy of our Founders, who advised that we not interfere in the internal affairs of countries overseas. I believe that is the best policy for the United States, for our national security and for our prosperity. I urge my colleagues to reject this and all similar meddling resolutions.
Other prominent conservatives are supporting Preeident Obama's tone-perfect position on Iran.
ReplyDeleteSen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), the ranking Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee, Republican senators, including Sens. Mel Martinez (R-FL), Bob Corker (R-TN) and John Thune (R-SD). Ex- Sec of State Kissinger said,
Well, you know, I was a McCain supporter and — but I think the president has handled this well. Anything that the United States says that puts us totally behind one of the contenders, behind Mousavi, would be a handicap for that person. And I think it’s the proper position to take that the people of Iran have to make that decision.
Of course, we have to state our fundamental convictions of freedom of speech, free elections, and I don’t see how President Obama could say less than he has, and even that is considered intolerable meddling. He has, after all, carefully stayed away from saying things that seem to support one side or the other. And I think it was the right thing to do because public support for the opposition would only be used by Ahmadinejad ...
I am refraining from joing Twitter for fear my email will be inundated. Is that fear justified?
ReplyDeleteReading a piece by Lila Ghobady, I gain an Iranian perspective. In part, she writes,
ReplyDelete.....No change is possible while Iran is controlled by autocratic, fundamentalist religious despots who determine the laws of the land. There has been no real election. Candidates are all hand-picked and cleared by a central religious committee. It is a farcical imitation of the free nomination/ election process that we have pictured in the free world. There is no possibility that a secular, pluralistic, freedom-loving democratic person who loves his or her country can become a candidate to run for president (or any other office) in Iran.
.....The people of Iran are fed up with poverty, injustice, corruption and international embarrassment with the knuckle-dragging, anti-Semitic, war-mongering cretin who is President Ahamdinejad. They chose to support a bad choice – Mousavi – rather than something worse choice, Ahmadinejad. When an election is really a selection, choice is an illusion.
.....Let us not forget that Mousavi was Prime Minister of Iran in the 1980s, when more than ten thousand political prisoners were executed after three-minute sham trials. He has been a part of the Iranian dictatorship system for the past 30 years. If he had not been, he would not be allowed to be a candidate in the first place.
Mir Hossein Moussavi may be a changed man. Some women in Iran looked to Moussavi to carry their banner, perhaps because they were inspired by his wife, Zahra Rahnavard, a much-admired academic who told CNN's Amanpour that Iran's 34 million women want civil laws and family laws revised. Ahmadinejad's fundamentalism has pushed Iranian women to the edge.
ReplyDeleteI have no objection to the last addition to your hit list, Petro. But when the Iranians are shouting "death to the dictator", I think they mean Khamenei.
ReplyDeleteThe reliable think tank, Chatham House, establishes this election as a sham. Ahmadinejad's rural popularity is a myth.
ReplyDeleteYou are correct Vigil. The Iranian people, especially the younger crowd, are tired of being repressed by the religious zealots that have have ruled for far too long.
ReplyDeleteMir Hossein Mousavi has published on his Web site "Kalemeh" (The Word) a letter addressing the people.
ReplyDeleteIt is always disturbing to see ultra-conservative repression unleashed. The senseless murder of the young and idealistic Neda Agha-Soltan was a horrible crime against all humanity. Ultra-conservative paranoia and excesses, whether in Iran or here, always seem to manifest themselves in vicious attacks on others, often innocent others. May young Neda's idealism and spirit live on forever and lead to the eventual destruction of the intolerant Iranian regime!
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