[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Don't know how reliable this is....but was referenced on this Blog at Huffington Post :

Nico Pitney

[Cheetahcat]

Just think how bad this would be without the Iranian 2nd Amendment!!!!! Oops !!!!!!!!

[LukeL]

I am convinced that the vast majority of people under the age of 35 in the Middle East hate Islam and want real freedom, but are too afraid to speak up unless they can act in a group like what is going on now.

[CaptRon]

Frankly, except for the oil thing, it wouldn’t bother me if all of the countries in the middles went at each others’ throats.

[SolidWood]

He predicted that the so-called reformist camp -- who are not exactly humanists in the Western liberal sense -- may try and animate efforts to decapitate the regime and "do away with" Ahmadinejad and even the Supreme Leader himself.

This would be just the beginning. Once the Fundamentalists and the Supreme Leader are gone, the faux "reformers" won't hold long onto their power.

Musavi, Khatami and Co. are just transition, once the radicals are gone.

After the toppling of the Shah 1979, there were several cabinets that were NOT Khomeinist. It took almost a year until the regime was truely changed.

Likewise today, once the genie is out of the bottle and the Ayatollah is deposed, the people won't put up with faux "reformers". The next time real elections are being held, they WILL demand free elections, and no way the old guard will stay.

[RushIsMyTeddyBear]

Thanks for posting. Interesting stuff.

[Zman]

Politics 101: when those in power are threatened by domestic opponents, create an external crisis to bring about a national rally-around-the-flag mood in an attempt to unify. Israel, I’m sure, is on a higher state of alert.

[RichInOC]

And may the Israelis drink Iran’s milkshake.

[jiggyboy]

Ahmadinejad is now genuinely scared of Iranian society and of Mousavi and Rafsanjani

I am literally making popcorn at this very instant. This is Berlin Wall stuff.

Minute-by-minute twitter updates direct from Iran here http://www.scoopler.com/search/#%22iranelection%22

[PapaBear3625]

One important factor to consider is the price of oil, and Iran's oil revenues. Oil is way down from a year ago, and oil forms a big part of government revenue. According to the CIA factbook, it's 85% of export revenue.

Iran is very poor, the government has to sustain a vast welfare state to keep the poor on their side, and the revenue just isn't there to keep things propped up for much longer.

The protesters seem to be from the educated class that actually keeps things running, and who are tired of holding up the welfare state.

[Miss Behave]

OMG. BUMP. MUST READ.

[Who is John Galt?]

The right is tenaciously consolidating its control over the state and refuses to yield... But the scariest point he made to me that I had not heard anywhere else is that this "coup by the right wing" has created pressures that cannot be solved or patted down by the normal institutional arrangements Iran has constructed.

By "right" & "right wing" does he mean folks who believe in individual liberties, and limited government, like America's "right?" That doesn't seem to fit - maybe he actually means "left" & "left wing:" statists who believe in government control, and rights based on race, religion, union membership, etc.

He predicted that the so-called reformist camp -- who are not exactly humanists in the Western liberal sense...

In the "Western liberal sense," 'reformists' are folks like Obama, who want to "reform" (i.e., increase the cost of, and limit access to) health care, "reform" (i.e., make more restrictive, with regard to individual freedoms) our so-called 'gun control' laws, and "reform" (i.e., eliminate the right to secret ballots) the voting process related to union representation.

Looks to me like the homicidal fascists currently controlling Iran are more akin to 'Western liberals' or 'progressives'...

[smokingfrog]

http://tehranlive.org/2009/06/14/iranian-protest-election-results-2/

[mia]

But the scariest point he made to me that I had not heard anywhere else is that this "coup by the right wing" has created pressures that cannot be solved or patted down by the normal institutional arrangements Iran has constructed.

Why would Obama support a right-wing coup? Can't believe Olberman is even interested in Iran.

[Vanders9]

We live in interesting times.

[Cyber Liberty]

I’ve been hearing this same crap since 1979.

[phrespearit]

That is some fine “robust debate” Harry.

[justa-hairyape]

Clashes intensify at Iranian universities, 15 students severely wounded

Excerpt follows.
Per news.gooya.com, at least 15 students were severely wounded Sunday after clashes with police at a Tehran University dormitory. Shots were fired and the casualties could be much higher.

You cannot fight guns with books.

[hatfieldmccoy]

Oil at $100 in 4..3..2...

[G8 Diplomat]

To the protestors: Keep it up! Put pressure on that regime! This is the news I’ve been waiting years to hear.