The Elections That Never Ended

I bet you didn’t know that ballot boxes are still magically disappearing and reappearing in the polls in Tehran. Have a look at the latest from the reformers at “Rooz.” These poor souls are scattered along the sad highway that leads from faith in the Islamic Republic to open opposition. They are the Iranian version of Kerensky, the sweet Russian reformer who was contemptuously removed by Lenin. I once met this thoroughly honorable man at the Hoover Institution in Palo Alto, still giving lectures on the virtues of gradual reform.

I like the crowd at “Rooz,” how can you not? In normal times, they’d be just the ticket to staff out a decent, moderate government. But these are not normal times, and those who advocate reform are, I think, just playing into the hands of the Khameneis and the Ahmadi-Nezhads. This is the time for the fighters, for the revolutionaries. And more often than not, the “reformers” do their best to discredit the bona fide enemies of the regime who scramble out of the Iranian hell and make it to this country.

Lenin had a good phrase for such folks: “useful idiots.” In the end, they don’t threaten the tyrants but they do undermine the resistance.

On a more personal note, I’d like to thank all of you who have taken the time to comment. With rare exceptions–duly deleted after reading–the comments have been good natured, thoughtful and very helpful to me and, I trust, to the others who have read them. Blessings on you every one. It’s been a happy launch for me.