The Political Fish

There has been a lot made of the townhall meetings on healthcare recently. Both sides calling each other names, both sides turning up the heat on the other. But today, a woman in Pennsylvania put it all into perspective at Sen. Arlen Specter’s local townhall meeting in Lebanon PA.  Listen to these powerful, yet simple words.

Katie Abram personifies what makes America great. She like many of us are observing the liberty and freedom of this great land being taken away. Recently, this freedom has been disappearing at breakneck speed, in favor of bigger government and more power being centralized inside of the Beltway. It is not the American way, and Katie knows it. She courageously stood in the face of power and told the hard truth. This sleeping giant has been awakened in this country…as we are reminded where we came from. Listen to her words on Fox News in an interview played shortly after her simple yet powerful words.

Will you stand by and do nothing? Is the D or the R next to your name more important than your country? This average American woman from small-town Pennsylvania has taught us all a lesson. Have we learned it?

5…..4…..3…..2……1….. There it is everyone, the White House is starting to take a little credit for the uprising in Iran.  From the Washington Post today:

Obama’s approach to Iran, including his assertion that the unrest there represents a debate among Iranians unrelated to the United States, is an acknowledgment that a U.S. president’s words have a limited ability to alter foreign events in real time and could do more harm than good. But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republic’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history.

One senior administration official with experience in the Middle East said, “There clearly is in the region a sense of new possibilities,” adding that “I was struck in the aftermath of the president’s speech that there was a connection. It was very sweeping in terms of its reach.”

There is more don’t worry…

Obama’s advisers say the outreach may have contributed to the defeat in Lebanese elections a few days later of a coalition led by Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed party, that had been predicted to win. In recent days, administration officials have pointed to the Iranian demonstrations as further evidence of Obama’s possible influence in the region.

Asked Friday whether the administration believes Obama’s outreach to Iran and the Muslim world is affecting events on the ground, press secretary Robert Gibbs said, “You’re witnessing something that many people might not have presumed or imagined . . . just a few — even a few weeks or a few days ago.”

That didn’t take long. The arrogance of this self-proclaimed “world changer” is amazing to me. The Iranian population has stirred for a while now. The population of Iran is made up of youth, some say in the range of 65-70% of the population is under the age of thirty. These youth have grown up in an oppressive society in an age where information is available world wide. This is not a new movement in Iran. The youth of that nation have been stirring for years. There were similar uprisings in the late 90’s and the early 2000’s, the difference here is the size and gravity. These things were brought about and rallied around a blatant injustice on the part of the oppressive regime. It brought to the forefront the grievances that the populace carried against the inept governing. The current Iranian President went out of his way to irritate and provoke the West and thumb his nose at them, all the while isolating his country from the rest of the world. The Iranian youth witnessed these things as they have come of age. The election and the injustice that was served up on a silver platter to them was the straw that broke the camels back. Follow these things up with the handling of the uprising, as the Iranians were met with batons and teargas and murder and you have all the makings for a revolution. I said all that to say this. Iranians did not just learn that they lived in oppression. It wasn’t taught to them from behind the podium in Cairo. The love for freedom and the desire to go and get it doesn’t just spring up overnight. Frankly, Obama made the case in Cairo to embrace rogue governments such as the Ahmadi government. Overthrowing that government could be conceived as a rejection of that strategy. Its not, it just goes to show the flawed logic of taking credit for what is going on in Tehran.

When will the American government realize that its not always about them. At the same time that White House staff is talking about their great success in achieving this  new wave of uprising and hope, they are tamping down their statements, as not to meddle in the affairs of Iran. If you are going to take credit for it, how can you not in good faith support it with much stronger words? I for one have been on board with the somewhat muted response. He has said all the things that need to be said, support for the people, fraudulent power…all these things are the reality of what is happening. What more can really be said, other than strong demands against a government who is your sworn  enemy, and could embolden them to stronger force against their citizens. Frankly, the ayatollahs and Ahmadi really couldn’t care less what the American president has to say, it does however strengthen their propaganda.  Given Americas questionable history in the region, is this something you are willing to do? My support for that strategy dies however when I read the statements from the Post.

Since the administration has the idea in their head that they have had much to do with the Iranian uprising, let me give a counter argument. I am not going to get wordy, I am not going to research this all the way out. I will make it short and sweet.

Could the Iranian uprising be a vindication of the “hated” Bush doctrine of “planting the seeds of democracy in the region?” A democratic Iraq to the west, a democratic Afghanistan to the east. Now an Iranian population rising up against tyranny right in the middle. Just a thought, bring on the Bush-haters that want to shut that down. Both democracies mentioned are struggling for sure, but the people are largely free from the oppression they suffered at the hands of Saddam Hussein  in Iraq, and the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Just a thought.

This open letter to the Lebanese people was posted on  an Iranian blog.

Dear Lebanese friend

I am sure you have seen the awful images circulated on the news and internet, images captured by millions of Iranians and sent out to the world, so at least someone could hear their side of story as well. Images and video shots that are ignored by the government run TV!

I hope  you have seen the massive demonstrations in Tehran, people risking their life to come out and demand their constitution right. The right to a fair and free elections.

These people you see in the videos protesting are my borders and sisters, my family , my classmates, my childhood friends, they were born, raised and studied in Iran under the Islamic Republic. They are tired of  a government that is policing their thoughts and dictating an ideology. An ideology witch doesn’t even match Islam !

We have heard multiple reports from all over Iran indicating that some of the police force that are hitting and killing peaceful protectors and break peoples cars and personal properties speak arabic, and they don’t even know farsi!

Yesterday it was confirmed that Hezbolah has sent 5000 troops to help Ahmadi nejad take over power in Iran. This troops were sent before the results of election was out! It clearly shows that Hezbollah and Ahmadi Nejad planned to take over Iran with the back up of Khamanei!

My dear Lebanese friend , hitting and killing defenseless people is not humane and defiantly not Islamic.  When we heard your Prime Minister Fouad Siniora’s congradulation statment to Ahmadinejad , it felt  like  being stabbed from the back!

Ahmadi nejad has sure tried to mislead a large group of people with his way of talking, and I admit he is good at this, but please open your eyes and your hearts see for yourself. this traitor is calling the protesters nothing but “dirt and dust” and opens fire in to peaceful protesters. His shameless police force even attached dorm rooms in every city killing defenseless students, and the burning the place down.

I am asking you to please send letters to your government and pressure them to condemn Ahmadinejad actions in Iran. Please write to Hezbolla’s members of parliaments in Lebanon and ask them to call back the 5000 troops. Ahmadi nejad is a criminal , don’t participate in his crimes.

Please help circulate this letter. This is a call for peace and a call for freedom

ARABIC Translation :

وأنا واثق من رأيتم النكراء على تعميم الصور والأخبار والإنترنت ، وصور التقطتها الملايين من الايرانيين وأرسلت إلى العالم ، وذلك على الأقل ما يمكن أن تستمع الى جانبهم من القصة أيضا. لقطات الفيديو والصور التي يتم تجاهلها من قبل الحكومة التلفزيون!

وآمل أن تكونوا قد شهدت تظاهرات حاشدة في طهران ، ويتعرض لحياة الناس للخروج على الدستور والطلب. الحق في محاكمة عادلة وحرة.

هؤلاء الناس تراها في الفيديو هي رسالتي احتجاج على الحدود والأخوات ، وعائلتي ، وزملائي ، وأصدقاء طفولتي ، ولدوا فيها ، والتي طرحت ودرست في إيران في ظل الجمهورية الاسلامية. انهم تعبوا من حكومة تكون الشرطة أفكارهم ويملي أيديولوجيا. أيديولوجيا لا بل ساحرة المباراة الإسلام!

لقد استمعنا إلى تقارير متعددة من جميع انحاء ايران مشيرا الى ان بعض قوات الشرطة التي ضرب وقتل السلمية حماة الشعوب وكسر السيارات والممتلكات الشخصية يتكلم العربية ، وأنهم لا يعرفون حتى الفارسية!

كان بالأمس أن Hezbolah ارسلت 5000 جندي للمساعدة على تولي احمدي نجاد السلطة في إيران. هذا وقد تم ارسال القوات قبل الاعلان عن نتائج الانتخابات! فإنه يبين بوضوح أن حزب الله وأحمدي نجاد يخطط للاستيلاء على ايران مع دعم من خامنئي!

يا صديق لبنان ، وضرب وقتل أناس لا إنسانية وبتحد غير الإسلامية. الخاص بك عندما سمعنا رئيس الوزراء فؤاد السنيورة في بيان congradulation لأحمدي نجاد ، فإنه يرى أن طعنها من الخلف!

أحمدي نجاد متأكد قد حاولوا تضليل مجموعة كبيرة من الناس في طريقه من الكلام ، وأعترف أنه في هذا جيد ، ولكن رجاء افتحوا أعينكم وقلوبكم لترى بنفسك. هذا الخائن تدعو المتظاهرين سوى “الاوساخ والغبار” ، ويفتح النار على المتظاهرين المسالمين. وقال إن قوات الشرطة وقح حتى تعلق بالمبنى المكون من غرف في كل مدينة مما اسفر عن مقتل الطلاب العزل ، وحرق المكان.

وإنني أطلب منكم الرجاء إرسال رسائل إلى حكومتكم والضغط عليهم لإدانة الأعمال أحمدي نجاد في ايران. يرجى الكتابة إلى Hezbolla أعضاء البرلمانات في لبنان ، ونطلب منهم ان الدعوة دعم 5000 جندي. أحمدي نجاد هو مجرم ، لا تشارك في جرائمه.

الرجاء المساعدة على تعميم هذه الرسالة. هذا هو دعوة للسلام ودعوة للحرية