I stand with the Iranians...

[rasputin1952]

These men and women protesting the election results in Iran are risking their lives to show that they will not accept the corruption any longer, I am proud to stand with them in spirit, because I cannot be there with them physically.

Rarely do we see such things in life. Let me reiterate, these men and women are literally putting their lives on the line to express themselves, and it appears to having an effect. I have heard on Rachel Maddow's show that some powerful clerics have now sided with the protesters on religious grounds, (exceptionally powerful in Iran as other places in the area), this is so inspiring to me, I find it difficult to find the wording to express just how powerful this is.

I have been on the front lines for Human Rights for what seem like eons, but have been decades. I was there, marching in NYC as a young teen for Civil Rights; I have stood and spoken against the rise of government intrusion on our Basic Rights; I have stood time and again for the Rights of all human beings being oppressed in many ways across the globe. I never thought I would see the day when the Berlin Wall would fall, but there it was, (and Reagan had nothing to do with it, it was the spirit of the German people that took that wall down). I stood in spirit with that anonymous Chinese man in Tienanmen Square when he faced down the tank.

I think that in this nation, we need more of what we see in the world when people just get sick and tired of being oppressed. We generally don't face death in this nation for standing up for what we believe in, and I don't think we comprehend what the men and women in Iran are doing by their acts. We stand, march and do hundreds of other things to voice our opinions, but we don't face death, especially on a vast scale.

What would it take for us, the vast majority of Americans who oppose the wars, oppose the oppression of the GLBT members of our society, oppose those who would drive our nation into a financial abyss while calling themselves "patriots" or make the NSA stop 'collecting" information on American citizens? What would it take for us to get on the streets to denounce the "fear" that the RW lives for?

Do we, as a society, have what the Iranians have? Do we possess the motivation and drive to truly try and change the injustices the bush administration has foisted upon us? Are we, as a nation of Freedom lovers, capable of putting our lives on the line for the Rights we hold so dear?

We didn't hit the streets en mass when bush took the reigns of power under dubious voting results, (twice!), yet we see a nation of people determined to be heard, determined to make a change, under the threat of death from an oppressive regime. It truly is inspiring.

Yes, I stand with these men and women in their quest for truth and a government that apparently they elected but didn't get. Let us watch and learn, for we were born of protest ourselves, we have nurtured protest at various times in our history...can we do it again?

I think we can.

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Great post. I agree with every word.

[Horse with no Name]

2. Excellent. n/t

[Mind_your_head]

3. In truth, "NO" we americans don't have it anymore......

I hope we can "get it back", but it's going to take a LOT more hardship before that happens, this is "my humble opinion", of course. I hope I am wrong.

Peace,
M_Y_H

[stray cat]

6. I'm not sure I would willingly risk execution to peacefully protest a fraudalent election

[Mind_your_head]

7. Sooooo, you would "put up with a fraudelent election" and hope everything

turns out 'alright' in the end? Or mebbe not?

Do you agree or disagree with that?

[stray cat]

4. I am in awe of the courage of the Iranians - peaceful protests in the face of potential execution

They are following in the footsteps of Ghandi and Martin Luther King in the face of a government and police force that can execute them without reprisal.

[Deja Q]

5. Nice words. Words are as useful as our currency right now.

Where's the action? Show us the money.

[NYC_SKP]

11. multitask.

Shit, you're running OS 10.5...

:P

[rasputin1952]

15. I have been active in the past, am still active today...

and will remain active in the future.

I have been in the forefront for Human rights my entire life.

But this isn't about me, it's about the people of Iran, and their courage, in spite of the possibility they may be killed for what they believe in.

I cannot stand with them physically, but I can stand with them for their cause.

[TheBigotBasher]

8. Agreed

This has all of the hallmarks of the fall of Communist regimes 20 years ago. The police brutality is actually making things worse for the Government.In my view - as I have argued on here, by countenancing these elections and offering a recount of what millions are making known that they consider a fraudulent ballot, the Ayatollah may have undermined any claim to his legitimacy. Power has been transferred no matter what happens. If the status quo remain, they will remain in office. They have lost power. The people have that now.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5871632

[NYC_SKP]

9. K & R #5 ..."The Whole World is Watching"

Yes, we can.

[bdamomma]

10. We are not in that place yet, I don't know if we would ever do

what the Iranian people are doing, we didn't push the envelope far enough, as they say power in numbers and the Iranian people have that!!! After hearing Rachel tonite and her guest things could snowball very quickly in Iran and among the religious leaders. I stand with the Iranian people and even their soccer team had the balls to show their support.

[create.peace]

12. K & R nt

[AntiFascist]

13. Thank you for this Rasputin...

I would agree that the ruling theocrats in Iran are not unlike the religious Right Wing in the US, but on steroids. The reason they came to power originally was because of Western interference in the Middle East in order to gain control of the oil.

It is encouraging to see the ultra-ayotallahs on the side of true democracy. It would also be encouraging to see them push for less control by the high religious figures of the governance by the people. This could be beginning stages of an Islamic Enlightenment.

[myrna minx]

14. Beautiful essay. K&R n/t

[Oregone]

16. Are you *sure* these people are protesting the election?

(As you mentioned in the first sentence)

Its entirely possible that they are rather protesting their government and expressing their pent up outrage.

The fact of the matter is that these people had little hopeful to vote for (all the candidates sucked). The expression of rage and frustration of one sucky candidate losing to another isn't quite logical. Their expression of rage that an election is "stolen" in a country with rampant fraud and vote manipulation also doesn't quite add up, as it would be expected. People are putting their lives on the lines, and Id rather think that it goes beyond just wanting yet another asshole in charge of a theocracy.

I think it is possible that voters on all sides may be seizing an opportunity, in a hope to change their entire government. Its also possible that foreign influences are trying to persuade the people to do so. I wouldn't rule out that its possible that the main asshole did in fact win either.

Information is flying out of Iran fast and hard, as well as unverified. If the people want a better government, it is my hope they have one. In the meantime, I'm not going to presume to know what is happening, or that I know what is best for anyone. I hope them to be safe and happy in the future, no matter what comes of this.

[rasputin1952]

20. I think they are using the election as a means to change the

current situation in Iran. It is a catalyst for change, the "final straw' so to speak.

I believe that 99+% of the people in the world want to live in peace, it is the <1% that cause most problems, and they are in every society, constantly searching for ways to subjugate people...bush/cheney in this nation are a prime example.

[WillyT]

17. Excellent !!! - K & R !!!

:bounce::yourock::bounce:

:hi:

[bridgit]

18. The Iranian people are offering the world a jaw-dropping profile in courage

Mentioned on Maddow's show as well, they are receiving shadowy, threatening, Kafka-esque robo-calls about having been seen protesting...but only after the regime turned their systems back on. The regime was quick to show it's true colors reminding the people themselves that Islamic law considers waging war against God punishable by execution. Not the regime...God!

The regime would seem to be suggesting that they are to be thought of as: God. To disobey the regime is to disobey God, to offend the regime is to offend God, etc, etc, etc, but I don't think the people's quibble is with God...

It's with the regime. But the regime appears less than balanced and able to overreact with deadly violence and xenophobic oddities...they seem to be doing a bang-up-job of marginalizing their wobbly tenure while sealing their fate as a migratory gaggle of brittle ideologues no different from the rest

Can we, Americans, replicate such images of persistant, popular uprising against the heavy weight of clear & present social injustice? I'd like to think we could. Some will surly say, "I'm not firing till I see the whites of their eyes." and such as, "I'm good right here, keeping my powder dry like a proper patriot." or even, "Well I'm waiting for that *special* outrage that fits my single issue like a glove, but thanks all the same." shit like that, some beats do they keeping going on...

But maybe this freedom & liberty stuff has us boggled, maybe we never really knew what to do with it, maybe we're too busy living hand-to-mouth, maybe we're too busy fucking each other over stabbing each other in the back & front...maybe we only care enough to just get by knowing full-well that for many that is Job-1. But for the present the here the now today?

We can't touch this!

[Echo In Light]

21. Agreed. One would NEVER see docile, obedient Americans take such a courageous stand

...well, maybe if it involved sports, or American Idol. Beyond that, Americans are active, enthusiastic participants in their degradation and subjugation. Try explaining to some of them just how badly they're routinely fucked over by the corporate/state nexus and many are likely to wave you away as one-a them "conspiracy theorists." Fuckin' idiots don't know up from down, and more to the point, have been conditioned to not care one way or the other. Hence Bush/Cheney in 00, and again in 04 ... and a very long list of similar atrocities they COULD have done something about if they WANTED to.

But weak-willed cowards of course don't do that: they simply deny that anything is really wrong, or that wrong. Hence, nothing to take a stand against. How conveniently self-serving for cowards.

Why would the powers that fuck Americans over ever stop when the citizenry passively accepts it every time w/o fail, w/o exception? They won't, of course. And the suckers just keep on pretending that their "votes" will make the difference. Hysterical. Reality is going to be terribly difficult to manage for this country should it ever set in.

[moodforaday]

22. I don't know about that.

I was 20 when Solidarity won the first semi-democratic elections in Poland in 1989. I remember the times well, and since then I have seen countless documentaries and pictures of demonstrations at that time, and at earlier moments in the struggle. Since this was right in the middle of Europe, all the social protests were covered well by Western news media. I don't recall seeing banners in English. (Or in Russian for that matter.) Even though a significant portion of funding for Solidarity and many other self-organizing groups was coming from Western Europe and the US. I just never saw English on banners. I don't know what to make of it.

Did the Chinese students at the Tienanmen Square put up banners in English?

I really don't think any Westerners should be taking sides in the post-election situation in Iran. From what you can read these days, Mousavi is not a reformer, he's not a moderate. He is and has always been part of the same regime. It's not like he wants to dislodge the ayatollahs, who are the real rulers of Iran. He has a more polished, more educated, more Western appearance than Ahmadinejad. But it's Ahmadinejad who polled 60% to Mousavi's 30% in the poll commissioned by Washington Post, and it's Ahmadinejad who's made his name by routing corruption (or appearing to do so).

Did they rig the election? Sibel Edmonds says they may have, since they usually do. That still doesn't mean Ahmadinejad lost - perhaps he still did win though by a smaller margin? Or won in some places but not in others? We just don't know.

Is it true that BBC turned their homepage green at some point this week? I hope it's not true; but if they really did so, it would be yet another reason to stay the heck away from it. We may be watching a re-run of 1953. Then again, we may not. I don't think anyone outside of Iran can tell.

We should be speaking out when innocent people are shot dead on the streets; and they certainly have a right to protest. Given how irregular, how untrustworthy this election seems to have been, there's reason enough to protest no matter who you support. While we don't know enough about what's happening there right now, we should know enough history to reserve judgment and not take sides. Not until we know whose side we'd really be taking.

[rasputin1952]

23. As per the first line in your last paragraph, I have to take exception...

I think anyone with a moral stance should speak out before innocent people get killed. It should not take a life to get a movement going.

Alas, there have already been people shot to death...I'm not sure what we could do to stop it, but we should remain behind them, even if on the sidelines. Sometimes, it helps just to know people are behind you in spirit...:hi:

[rasputin1952]

19. An update...There have been reports of increased violence pressed

upon the protesters. This violence appears to be coming from an "elite" group of paramilitary "guards", which I read, (perhaps mistakenly), to be of a religious sect, not the Iranian Army. How, and if, the Iranian Army reacts will be the turning point.

I do not pretend to know what is going to happen, but I am hoping that the Army will back off if ordered to intervene, (unless they go after the paramilitary group(s)). Last report I have seen as far as some Muslim clerics go, they have publicly stated that killing these protesters is not the will of God, but opposed to the will of God. Religion being powerful in the area, this may have a positive effect.