[Al_U_Card]

Anyone remember the international "concerns" voiced during the Watt's riots or after the DNC convention in Chicago in '68?

Didn't think so.

Only because Iran is a focus of interest (read oil) is it a point of contention. Israel is more likely in need of "control" regarding future developments but that ain't gonna happen anytime soon.

Iran is one of the few oil-producing Middle East democracies. The US has a Supreme Court that can overrule the Executive and Legislative branches. So they (Iran) officially mix religion and politics. (The US does in a less official but very effective way.)

It was a choice and despotism continues throughout the world so wtp?

[vuroth]

Al_U_Card, on Jun 24 2009, 06:28 AM, said:

Iran is one of the few oil-producing Middle East democracies. The US has a Supreme Court that can overrule the Executive and Legislative branches. So they (Iran) officially mix religion and politics. (The US does in a less official but very effective way.)

And, as so many Americans remind me, the US isn't a democracy, either.

Remember when Kim Jong-Il and Breshnev were elected? Doesn't mean their countries were democracies.

Technically, Iran is a theocracy. Any democractic or pseudo-democratic processes being implemented or attempted in that country are secondary to the absolute power of the theocracy.

FWIW, I think the most interesting story here isn't the election fraud, or the protests thereof, but the potential drop in popularity of the theocratic rule of the Ayatollah. My limited understanding of the situation is that the theocracy itself was extremely popular before the election.

Granted, absolute power rulers are often only popular due to their power to limit free expression (i.e. hide the truth), but suddenly, internal political disgreements in Iran are being heard in more than just a whisper.

V

[helene_t]

vuroth, on Jun 24 2009, 03:42 PM, said:

My limited understanding of the situation is that the theocracy itself was extremely popular before the election.

Khatami was democratically elected, too. There has always been substantial popular support for both wings of the Iranian revolution.

[y66]

Quote

FWIW, I think the most interesting story here isn't the election fraud, or the protests thereof, but the potential drop in popularity of the theocratic rule of the Ayatollah.

For me, it's the incredible positive energy that the events and responses have produced so far and the moderating effects they are already having on the way Iran is governed and their ripple effects beyond Iran. Repressiveness is still thriving, but its agents and their authority are losing their grip in Iran.