Dave,
The willful neglect of the drive-by media in it’s refusal to impart to you in the west that Iranians have been demonstrating EVERY DAY for the last 30 years, is not something we Iranians hallucinate. It’s not from a lack of us trying to get the info out; we have been out there for THIRTY YEARS, but no one wanted to pay attention, because Iran was not on people’s “radar” until something happened that woke people up. There have been THOUSANDS of demonstrations, riots, protests and major peaceful gatherings in Iran to protest the regime, if the west wishes to remain in sweet slumber however… The west needs to acknowledge the fact that there is another side of the world with VERY different values and cultures, and that western thinking cannot always be applied to the east. I suggest you do some reading and more research…Pajamas Media has reported plenty and Dr. Michael Ledeen, myself and plenty of others, including Amir Taheri have written about it every week for decades! Read Iranian bloggers such as Ardeshir Dolat. Potkin Azarmehr, Spirit of Man, Kamangir, Fleeting Perusal (Serendip), Activistchat and Sarbazekuchakk…We write and report…if you’re not paying attention, do not go assigning a whole other spin to our reality. That is already done by the media and people who in the west side with the Mullahs because they’re self-loathers. We’ve had enough of that. Either be a part of the solution, or stay a part of the problem. We don’t need any retractors…My own father is a political prisoner, an esteemed Iranian journalist who spoke against the regime…so please have a little respect for those of us who fight for our motherland and who want to keep our adopted country, the United States and it’s citizens safe.
