Iranian Elections

[Prodigal]

yeah, there can be no doubt, thousand years of cultural superiority is a clincher

[Crazed Rabbit]

yeah, there can be no doubt, thousand years of cultural superiority is a clincher

Well who can argue with that? We all know how French culture is beginning to dominate the US, and how frightened nationalist politicians are demanding desperate measures like secretaries of culture to ensure that US culture is not wiped from its own country.

CR

[Lemur]

This may or may not be big, but it certainly shows that the Greens ain't going away, no matter how many students they torture and put on TV to "confess."

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment. [...]

“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

[Fragony]

There is freaky and there is freaky. Not just a power-politician he might just actually believe all that crap.

http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1063353.html

The hammer of god

[aimlesswanderer]

This may or may not be big, but it certainly shows that the Greens ain't going away, no matter how many students they torture and put on TV to "confess."

The most important group of religious leaders in Iran has called the disputed presidential election and the new government illegitimate, an act of defiance against the country’s supreme leader and the most public sign of a major split in the country’s clerical establishment. [...]

“This crack in the clerical establishment and the fact they are siding with the people and Moussavi in my view is the most historic crack in the 30 years of the Islamic republic,” said Abbas Milani, director of the Iranian Studies Program at Stanford University. “Remember they are going against an election verified and sanctified by Khamenei.”

Interesting, but I haven't seen any indications that there is any split between the hardliners and the guys with the guns. If that happens then the 'moderates' may have chance.

I suspect that there must be frantic behind the scenes activity between all the centres of power, but we don't hear about it unless they go public like in this case. Perhaps this will sway others, we will wait and see.

[a completely inoffensive name]

To help jump start this conversation again, here is a recent article I found on reddit.com that might add a little more information to discuss about.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/08/wo...wt&twt=nytimes

[aimlesswanderer]

Interesting, it seems somewhat like now that the opposition has shown that it has mass appeal and is committed, the struggle has moved behind the scenes. While the low level people get hauled off, the influential opposition figures have used the number and commitment of the protesters to push their case.

I am not entirely sure that the aims of the protesters and their influential backers are always the same, however. It seemed like many of the protesters wanted more democracy, while their backers may want merely a tweaking of the system.

[CountArach]

I am not entirely sure that the aims of the protesters and their influential backers are always the same, however. It seemed like many of the protesters wanted more democracy, while their backers may want merely a tweaking of the system.

Yeah that's going to be a problem. But once the protestors get organised and show themselves the leaders will have no choice but to submit to majority will.

[CountArach]

Protests continue in Tehran.

[Vladimir]

Protests continue in Tehran.

Wow. Thar article makes me so sad.

I wonder how the teleprompter will reply to this.

[Meneldil]

Well who can argue with that? We all know how French culture is beginning to dominate the US, and how frightened nationalist politicians are demanding desperate measures like secretaries of culture to ensure that US culture is not wiped from its own country.

CR

Since we're OOT, I don't see anything wrong with trying to keep american mainstream 'culture' (if by culture, you mean movies made for braindead idiots) out of France. Fast and Furious is crap. Movies with Nicolas Cage are crap. SWAT is crap. Thing is, given the amount of money found in Hollywood, US producers can keep on producing crap and flood the world with it. The ministry support french productions (sometimes good, often crap - Luc Besson produces mostly crap, Taken was crap), and that's about it.
Then again, the ministry of culture has many aims, and 99% of those could hardly be labelled as nationalist. Cultural globalization is happening, it has good and bad effects. Trying to prevent the worst ones is by my standards a good idea.

Back to Iran.