You know when the Islamic Republic admits ten “terrorists” died in the demonstrations that the numbers are much greater. It’s unlikely we will ever know how much greater, but the death toll is most likely depressing, as well as the number tortured (in the real sense, not the Abu Ghraib sense).
Meanwhile, Debka file is wondering about the protection of Iranian nuclear assets in the current situation. Are they open to theft by Al Qaeda? Similar disappearances of fissile materials occurred during the breakup of the Soviet Union.
AND: This video, just off Twitter (#iranelection), certainly looks like a country in civil war.
The toll will unfortunately have to climb much higher if they are to succeed — freedom is never free.
Meanwhile, The Washington Post reports that “U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour.” Once I read that a few times to believe my lying eyes the expletives flew fast and furious.
Shameful. Disgraceful. Inexcusable.
President Obama, how do you sleep?
Lightnin’ Hopkins:
And did you notice that his week late, tepid and flaccid stement of yesterday did not even include the two words FREEDOM or DEMOCRACY? How does the “Leader of the Free World”, in speaking to a crisis such as this, not even bring himself to utter these words? Calibrated, indeed.
As you said: “Shameful. Disgraceful. Inexcusable.”
“U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour”
I agree 100% with LH’s reaction – Shameful. Disgraceful. Inexcusable. I will only ask whether there is a shred of evidence that BO has ever done anything else throughout his entire political career.
PS – LH, you may be interested to know that I am a musician and once performed with your namesake.
Heads up Roger, for whatever it’s worth:
We had a couple of Iranian kids on the weapons board of 4chan last night, pleading for information on how to stop tanks without anti-tank weaponry. There’s gonna be a gigantic rally in Shiraz today… and the rumor is that the government is sending in tanks. So we told ‘em how to use rocks and boards to bust up the running gear, and had a brief argument over what household ingredients made the best Molotov cocktails….
I asked one of them, hey. What are you trying to accomplish? Secular society, they said. But whoever gets elected, Khamenei is still in charge, isn’t he? We are going to cut his f*cking head off, they said….
May have been a couple of mouthy kids. May have been a harbinger of the next Tiananmen Square. Hold onto your hats, and watch for word from Shiraz.
Gary,
Wow. Small world, huh? That’s fantastic! I’m primarily a rock guitar player myself, but I have always deeply admired blues guitarists like Lightnin’ — he was a standout and a genuine original.
We may not know the numbers but reports showing actual violence against demonstrators are more damaging than statistics.
It may surprise LH and Gary Rosen that I too met the original Lightenin Hopkins was he was recording for my old record producer Ed Michel. So Luke minds…
Oops, typos. On my iPhone. Will correct later.
I believe these attacks on Our President are wildly misplaced. Consider what His current actions have produced: a foreign policy almost completely without risk. That is, the mullahs are already blaming us, so whether they win or lose, they will blame us. If the opposition loses, they will be able to blame us for not providing support. The only risk I see is the slight chance that that the opposition wins, in which case they will owe us nothing, and will be able to curse us for not helping.
In other words, no matter what happens, we lose. See, nearly risk-free. Not even Carter was this skilled.
123:
For a amoment, I thought you were serious. Let that serve as a testament to your skill at sarcasm. Kudos.
The sound of silence is deafining from ObiIwon. These kids are on their own; although they have God’s help (probably, maybe, if your agnostic). Freedom is not free.
“U.S. officials say Obama is intent on calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour”
So I posted this as an item on my FB page along with probably about four other items relating to Iran. My, I guess you would call him step, nephew told me to STFU. Finally my FB page is working.
Some American Presidents lead. Some, not so much.
That line about Obama “calibrating his comments to the mood of the hour” reminds me of what was sometimes said of the elder Bush–he waited to see which way the parade was going and then ran to get at the front.