America Sleeps While Iranians Confront Evil
Obama's failure to support the Iranian opposition following the election is inexcusable.
We elected a man who was supposed to restore our place in the world, but that place is not on bended knee. Good intentions and eloquent phrases mean nothing to men who keep the majority of the population in its place with violence and intimidation. There may be peace as long as we remain mute in the face of the growing threat, but it is a false peace, an Indian summer of goodwill that our enemies will use to their advantage. If Obama’s diplomacy buys us an additional two or three years of peace, to what end will we use that time? Will we use it to prepare ourselves for conflict with those nations that threaten to destroy us? At the moment, our government is instead choosing to squander the time we have so dearly purchased at the expense of our reputation. Our enemies are arming themselves, while we are cutting our defense budget. The shortsightedness on display in Washington is made even more inexcusable by the fact there are still thousands of men alive who remember what it was like to have to fight a war in which their army was woefully unprepared — thanks to the appeasers and disarmament advocates who ran their government. We cannot afford to let history repeat itself.
In 1934, Winston Churchill had been warning the world of the dangers of Nazism for two long years. England was still sleeping. He said, in a broadcast from London that November:
Only a few hours away by air there dwells a nation of nearly seventy million of the most educated, industrious, scientific, disciplined people in the world, who are being taught from childhood to think of war and conquest as a glorious exercise, and death in battle as the noblest fate for man. There is a nation which has abandoned all its liberties in order to augment its collective might. There is a nation which, with all its strength and virtues, is in the grip of a group of ruthless men preaching a gospel of intolerance and racial pride, unrestrained by law, by Parliament or by public opinion. … They are rearming with the utmost speed, and ready to their hands is this new lamentable weapon … before which women and children, the weak and frail, the pacifist and the jingo, the warrior and the civilian, the front line trenches and the cottage home, lie in equal and impartial peril.
England slept, and now it is America that is snoring. Churchill believed that, if contained by the world powers before his military forces grew too large, Hitler could have been defeated without the enormous loss of life that characterized the Second World War. It was the weakness of the League of Nations, the inability of that bloated and bureaucratic body to enforce its own charter that enabled the evil Nazi empire to grow unchecked.
President Obama should not go to Tehran under the guise of representing the world. Instead, he should represent the United States before the world at the United Nations. He should pull no punches, nor paint a rosy picture of an unrealistic future. It may be that he will find a chilly reception greeting him, but that should not cause us to falter. It may be we stand alone, or with precious few allies. It won’t be the first time that has happened. It may not be the last, but our devotion to democracy, our love of liberty, and the defense of our shores and cities has never relied on the blessings of the world. We stand ready to ally ourselves with all who believe in self-determination, but can no longer allow our enemies to remain unchecked. If our international body of nations is just as weak and wasted as the League of Nations was in the 1930s, far better for us to learn that now than after one of our cities has been turned to dust.
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Clarendon is a concerned American living on the outskirts of Washington, D.C. He blogs at thenewpamphleteers.blogspot.com
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94 Comments
1. Willy:Tens of thousands? Try upwards of 2 million.
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:47 pm 2. Hyphenated American:Revolution in Iran complicates Obama’s ME policy.
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:48 pm 3. Meryl:http://hyphenatedamericans.blogspot.com/
“We elected a man who was supposed to restore our place in the world, but that place is not on bended knee.” But obama has clearly illustrated that he thinks “on bended knee” is exactly the place.
Apparently he does not disagree with what is happening in Iran.
What else are we to conclude? Such a talker on Friday. So quiet today.
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:49 pm 4. Athena:President Barack Obama was not only rude to the Prime Minister of Britain Brown, but he returned the bust of Winston Churchill which had been lent to President George Bush by the previous Prime Minister. Obama has contempt for Churchill.
Jun 15, 2009 - 1:57 pm 5. PM:I’m sorry. Barack who?
Never heard of him.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:00 pm 6. straightman:This “clarendon” person is a retard, the end.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:10 pm 7. Doug Johnson:Obama is a fool of epic proportions. Being clueless, I doubt that he is able to craft a response to the violence in Iran. His teleprompter popped a vacuum tube and is only stating that “it does not compute”. He’s probably still preening in front of a mirror reflecting on how cool he must have seemed in Cairo.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:11 pm 8. sefton:Fasten you’re seat belts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:21 pm 9. Chuck Pelto:TO: Clarendon, et al.
RE: Heh
What do you expect from a Muslim?
Regards,
Chuck(le]
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:24 pm 10. misanthropicus:[The Truth will out.....]
A perfect match – a false Iranian president and a false USA president. We sure live some interesting times.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:31 pm 11. Agha Ali Arkahn:Close one Gitmo. Create thousands more.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:32 pm 12. Greg:Perhaps the Nobel committee will confer the Peace prize on Ahmadinejad. Like Arafat and other winners, he’s only responsible for the deaths of a small percentage of his country’s population. His restraint should be rewarded, no?
Maybe Obama can get a chat scheduled at Camp David to seal the deal for them both? No preconditions.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:32 pm 13. Leatherneck:Clarendon,
I enjoyed the energy in which you wrote about the situation in Iran, and how POTUS should respond. However, the America in which you wrote about does not exist anymore.
Our government has sold out to special interests, put us in hock to China, empowered and enriched themselves. We are lead by children.
Until we vote out the likes of BLT POTUS, SanFran Nan, Harry Reed, and Barney back door Frank, do not hope for what you have written.
Over.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:38 pm 14. Gary Ogletree:Chuckle, take another look. This is a fight between Muslims. There are reports of a split in the ranks of the mullahs. The people are claiming that Islam is on their side and are challenging the Supreme Leader’s authority. There are people calling for modest reforms and there are people calling for an end to the theocracy. This is a critical moment in history and Barry is lost at sea about what to do.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:51 pm 15. Morton Doodslag:“America Sleeps While Iranians Confront Evil”
This is a laughable assertion. The Iranians aren’t confronting evil — if they were they’d be waging a revolution to exterminate Islam, which is the sole reason their nation resembles a stinking sewer. Sitting on top of the second largest proven oil reserves at the moment when the planet is paying between $70 to $140 dollars a barrel — and they can’t even develop the technology to refine their own oil into gasoline. Worse, they are using the mountains of unearned wealth to develop nukes so they can more effectively terrorize the rest of the planet — and most Iranians SUPPORT Iran’s push for the bomb. There is no moderation in this Islamic den of snakes.
Iran is a backward barbaric and shattered nation which is full to overflowing with Islamic Nazi fascists. This includes Mousavi — the man you seem to think represents an antithesis to the vile tyrants who hand picked him to “run” in this charade against their favored enforcer. All the grandstanding by Americans proves that they haven’t come to terms yet with the truth about the vile creed of Islam which existentially menaces our nation. Forget the Iranians — their salvation isn’t in our hands, but our salvation is. But it won’t come about with so many in the West lured into the lie that Muslims can or ever will reform their demonic religion.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:56 pm 16. Sebastian Shaw:President Obama believes in capitulation since he hates America, but the mullahs wanted to show the upstart messiah who runs the show in choosing the winner. Obama’s silence is a result of being humbled for the fool he is. The One is not used to being the fool, although we see him a fool daily.
Jun 15, 2009 - 2:57 pm 17. steeple:I’ve always felt that the true measure of a person is how they respond to unscripted problems and/or opportunities. The Obama administration looks pretty clutched up from my perspective; I suspect other world leaders are noticing the same.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:03 pm 18. Korla Pundit:Well, Obama can’t criticize the fine work ACORN has done in Tehran…
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:06 pm 19. Paul M Hupf:The Presient is living in a dream world, filled with his own vanity. He is naive to the point of being a danger to the citizens he is sworn to protect and defend. He can no more sit down and negotiate with Ahmadinejad than he could sit down and negotiate with the devil himself. He will find his pockets picked but only after he has surrendered all of the strengths of the United States; and at the same he will be telling us how wonderfully he conducted himself.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:14 pm 20. SLK:I see all the people in the streets, being oppressed by Ahmadinejad’s goons, and I feel so much compassion for them.
Until I remember that they are supporting another Israel-hating Jew-annihilationist thug. At the drop of the hat, aren’t these the same mobs that will be burning the American flag and cheering as bombs fall on schoolgirls in Israel? This is no Cedar or Orange revolution, is it?
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:16 pm 21. macko:boobama has taken a stand.
he voted present
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:18 pm 22. Chuck Pelto:TO: Gary Ogltree
RE: Look Again, Gary
Yes….
….between ‘moderates’ and ‘hardliners’ bent on building nuclear weapons to be used against Israel and against US.
Three guesses as to which one Obama supports. First two don’t count.
Additionally, one would think that a president sworn to uphold freedom and democracy would decry the murder of citizens. But ours doesn’t seem to care about that.
Hope that helps….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:18 pm 23. David P:[The Truth will out....]
Dude, I have to disagree with your use of the word opposition, Mousavi & Ahmadinejad are one in the same. Mousavi is more representative of the old guard, while Ahmadinejad is emblematic of the next generation of revolutionaries. Both are ultra loyal to the tyrannical Ayatollah whose mullahcracy controls the governmental, economic, social, military, diplomatic and religious affairs of every Iranian. No free speech, means no free press, means no free thought, means no critique, means no opposition.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:22 pm 24. Delia:I done told ya, and I done told ya. I done told ya.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:25 pm 25. Professor Guvinoff:The Iranian youth is confronting the goons, and the brilliant orator gets an attack of cameraphobia! This is not the time to hide behind a teleprompter. The Teheran regime is vulnerable. Why not push them when they are ready to fall? Can a worse regime possibly take over?
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:33 pm 26. Blackwater:You have no idea how angry I am. All my leftist friends are like “Obama is doing the right thing dur! He’s not saying ANYTHING which is EXACTLY what he should do. Any hint of American involvment in this at all will completely ruin it. And besides a revolution isn’t happening anyway. At most they’ll get a couple human rights guarantees out of this like more transparent elections.” Well I’m doing them a favor by making their statements sound more coherent and insightful than they were but that’s what I’m assuming they were trying to say. The left are such idiots. They don’t know anything about history. They don’t realize this is literally a once in a generation oppurtunity to finally overthrow this barbaric islamist regime. They just believe what ever the leftist media tells them to think who are esentially just defending and justifying Obama’s inaction. The world could make so much progress with a reformed Iran. Way less terrorism, way less threats of beady eyed apocolyptic religious nuts with nukes, the possibility for democratic revolution spreading throughout the rest of the muslim majority nations, etc. This is too important to mess up and brush off as “just some protests in a foreign country I don’t care or know anything about”. You know what’s probably going to happen? After most of the energy and ethusiasm for revolution passes THEN Obama will release some weak-ass statement but by then it will have been too late. God I can just imagine if McCain was office right now. He gets it as most right wingers do. He would have pounced on this opening for reform in Iran like a starving man on a Christmas ham. He would have rallied international support behind the democratic uprising and gave his full unconditional support to the freeom fighters in Iran. Which probably would have urged on the whole country of Iran. Instead we got the damn Thief in Chief in the White House who still wants to make a damn deal with the islamist despots who the Iranian people are rebelling against.
OBAMA AND THE LEFT – YOU ARE IDIOTS – GET OUT OF GOVERNMENT AND GO SMOKE POT OR SOMETHING
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:43 pm 27. Chuck Pelto:TO: David P
RE: Well Then….
….if that’s the case, it’s STILL a situation where Obama is not willing to openly criticize Muslims.
Isn’t it….
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:48 pm 28. Warren Bonesteel:[The Truth will out....but sometimes it takes some digging to get to it.....]
Twitter: Tehran.
http://twitter.com/persiankiwi
Glenn Reynolds. Army of Davids.
Social Singularity.
Clay Shirky, “Here’s Comes
Everybody.” and “Gin, Television and Social Surplus.”
Paul Hawken. “Blessed Unrest.”
You…We have the power to change the world for all time to come, hopefully, for the better.
All it takes is a little courage.
Jun 15, 2009 - 3:53 pm 29. Michael:#6 Retard eh? You do follow close to Obama don’t you. Maybe a little too close.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:00 pm 30. Stephen:“All it takes is a little courage.”
Yes, and a warm gun.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:00 pm 31. Xixi:“… forced instead to rely on the deception and dishonesty of the media …”
Sounds like the wish book of CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, the NY Times, the Washington Post, etc.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:11 pm 32. Maurice:Obama will fist-bump Ahmadinejad…both used thugs to steal their elections. Both Muslim.
Dont know if Ahmadinejad is a Marxist though, and he’s a lot shorter than O.
Both hate America and Israel.
Some similarities, some differences.
Close enough for government work, though, eh?
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:19 pm 33. SukieTawdry:Excellent piece, Clarendon, but you’re asking the president to exhibit qualities he doesn’t possess. He’s all about image and biography (America’s image now emanates directly through him; Barack is America, America is Barack) and he has the narcissist’s need for continual reinforcement through idolization and adoration. Stand alone and endure a “chilly reception?” Not our Barack. Our Barack has no courage of his convictions if, indeed, he has convictions in the first place. For proof of that, just listen to today’s candy-ass statement.
We cannot afford to let history repeat itself.
No, but we keep doing it anyway, don’t we.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:30 pm 34. macko:We should donate the weapons seized from the quds forces in iraq to mousavi’s folks for a little turnabout.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:31 pm 35. Derek:Y’all need to relax. I just heard President Obama is planning to vote “present” on tuesday regarding US support democracy in Iran.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:36 pm 36. SteveB/Colorado:So if Obama goes to the UN and denounces the election. Or if McCain had been elected (I voted for him), he would have rallied international support for the democratic uprising and gave his full unconditional support…..
Isn’t that all forms of diplomacy, which some of you abhor? You can rally all the support outside Iran you want. But how is that going to bring down the theocrats? Or maybe you folks haven’t thought of that?
Of course, if we weren’t still bogged down in Bush’s Iraq adventure, maybe we could place some military pressure on Iran. Or maybe not?
I’ll offer the situation in Iran is far more complex than some of you think. After all, we fought an 8 year proxy war with Iran in the 1980s and there was no change in Iranian government. You all do remember that the Reagan administration supported Saddam in the ’80s and supported the Iranian Mujahadeen, based in Iraq, don’t you?
You can blame Obama all you want. But I have yet to see any solution posted from any of you that will bring about regime change in Tehran.
Jun 15, 2009 - 4:48 pm 37. Bender:America has a long, albeit recent, history of turning its back on those who aspire to freedom, of raising the hopes of people who long to be free, only to let them down and leave them hanging when the going gets tough.
Just ask the Cubans or the Vietnamese or the Czechs/Slovaks or the Hungarians or the Cambodians or the 1990s Kurds and Iraqis or the Poles or many other oppressed peoples who foolishly thought that they could depend on America. All too often, we have been the worst friend that a freedom fighter could have.
Sorry people of Iran — you are on your own. Obama would rather make friends with the thugs who have enslaved your country and who quite possibly will usher in a nuclear holocaust.
Jun 15, 2009 - 5:37 pm 38. carthage146:We’re broke! There is no money left! The middle class and wealthy, whose tax dollars for decades were thrown around to keep entire peoples from killing each other wholesale, will not exist within ten years in these United States, thus rendering our Treasury empty for a long time to come. The jig is up. Wake up already, and accept that an era has ended. It’s over. Something will take it’s place, for better or worse, but for pete’s sake, stop the mental anguish already. Nobody is particularly happy about it, but that’s the way it is. Something else: did you notice how all the money spent (trillions of dollars), all the diplomacy (manipulation), all the commentary, all the good intentions, decades of it, and people still want to kill each other wholesale and they still hold onto the very beliefs and ways of thinking that leave them impoverished and demoralized? Yeah. It’s a head-scratcher.
Jun 15, 2009 - 5:38 pm 39. Chuck Pelto:TO: SteveB/Colorado
RE: Heh
I seem to recall some graffiti that appeared on a wall in Tehran sometime around late 2003….
Freedom through American boots!
I think it STILL applies, today.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 15, 2009 - 5:44 pm 40. Pat J:P.S. But I’d be happier to see the Persians rise up and throw off their self-inflicted tyranny by their OWN revolutionary action.
Nothing wrong with denouncing the violence. The best thing to do is not take a side. The Iranians would only see this as American medling. Remember they still blame us for the 1953 coup which ousted Mossadegh.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:00 pm 41. Paul of Alexandria:SteveB/Colorado (36):
Possibly. we hope so, anyway.
“Abhor”? Ah, you’re one of those pinko liberals that think that all conservatives worship Mars. Try again. Diplomacy is good, when the other side is also reasonable and willing to listen and negotiate in good faith. When they’re not – well, that’s what the Special Forces are for.
See above. Since Iran hasn’t (directly) done anything to us, what justification would we use to use military force directly on them? We would do far better to support Isreal, which we could easily do regardless of our committments elsewhere.
Oh – and BTW, who do you think supports those “insurgents” that we’ve been fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan? Gee, I don’t know; maybe they picked up all those weapons with Iranian markings down at K-Mart? Not!
The enemy of my enemy is still quite often my enemy. It’s called letting them bleed each other dry.
Perhaps you’re just not looking very hard. The last paragraph of the article said a few things.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:10 pm 42. Marc Malone:#36 Steve B – Yes, Reagan supported Iraq against Iran. This was after Iraq started to lose. Wasn’t it Iran which started the war? Not sure. Anyway, the goal was to not let either thugocracy win.
Solutions? Okay. Make some use of the U.N. Get some Muslim nations to call for a re-vote. Demand international inspectors to ensure fair elections. Put the pressure on hard. Sanctions until they do, which will have the added benefit of slowing their progress towards nuclearization.
The purpose is to give the regime a blackeye; take them down a peg. Other Muslim nations could get behind this. If they have wanted to back us in stopping Iran from getting nukes, but couldn’t, because they wouldn’t want to be seen as our lackey, this gives them the perfect cover.
We don’t care which thug is in charge. However, forcing an honest election would be truly revolutionary. Who knows what might happen. At the least, the cries for regime change would get stronger. If atrocities follow, then the world might, just might, decide to intervene. The U.S. would operate behind the scenes in such circumstances, while lending a strong voice “in support”.
No matter what, we de-stabilize the regime somewhat. How’s that for a beginning idea?
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:19 pm 43. BillJ:US–2012.
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:20 pm 44. Snake eater:SteveB/Colorado:
Blah blah blah Bush’s fault blah blah blah Reagans fault blah blah blah. I see you failed to mention Clinton’s fecklessness. But here’s a little newsflash Obama is the one in the White House and he’s told us he was breaking with the ugly past and now things would be all good. How’s that working out there moron?
Jun 15, 2009 - 6:28 pm 45. Big Red:SteveB. Bogged down in Iraq? Find a map, son. Look at the borders of Iran. Turkey, NATO ally, but very short, mountainous border. Afghanistan? Bigger border, but logistical nightmare to get forces in place because it’s land-locked with unreliable states around it. Go in by sea? Ask any vet of Normandy or Tarawa how easy that is. Now Iraq, long border in a country with established bases and a lot easier logistics involved. Not saying we’ll use it, but like the shotgun on my wall, nice to know it’s there. Ol’ “W” was as dumb as a fox.
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:49 pm 46. G. Clarke:The hypocrites on the left may give lip service against torture if it will help defeat their domestic political opponents, but to actually stand up against real torture, like what the Iranian despots are planning now? Jane Fonda wouldn’t do it, nor will Obama. Silence in the face of evil gives the pretense it isn’t there And they think that the Republicans are the pro-torture party? Ple-e-ease. Dr. Tiller ripped arms off babies whose hearts were still beating and those on the left say nothing. How do you argue with these people?
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:54 pm 47. john m e:…….many liberals seem clueless when asked to add to the discussion and often flee to the safety of attacking those who do. Military action seems a
Jun 15, 2009 - 7:58 pm 48. kabud:likely outcome of failed diplomacy….rahm and barack baby will never admit failure so who leads (with our tacit approval and plausible denial) Israel.
Iran is a KGB operation since at least end of 1960s
these events now is a simple venting out for the opposition
including but not limited to identifying the regime enemies
same technology as it was done in Beijing in 1989
and many many times before and after
well if iranian oposition can use this as an opportunity to take over- good for them
but they can not. The KGB regime under the mascaraed of false mullahs is not you regular corrupted European government: it is a scientifically based intelligent operation conducted by russians for decades:
stakes are very high Iran has one of the world largest oil/gas reserves
just reach for your calculator folks and you will see for yourselfs
what makes it serious is that kremlin needs to clean IRAN out of forces that could oppose the war plans
in which IRAN will act as a independent aggressor!!
HA HA, that’s how it is meant to be sold to you my darling American naive fellow citizens
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:04 pm 49. gadzooks:kabud — indeed I heard rumors of Khomeini being a KGB officer – do you have evidence?
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:43 pm 50. gadzooks:15, 20 – I am with you. Please people, good vs. evil? All candidates are approved by the mullahs. The president is in charge of economics and education; the mullahs run defense and foreign policy.
this being a ruse to bring out the opposition with a subsequent purge is the most plausible story I’ve heard.
Alrite, kabud, even if no evidence, just wargaming — what would the KGB gameplan be? A war against Israel in a “Foxbats Over Dimona”-type provocation? Taking over more hydrocarbons from Arabs? Hitting the US?
Jun 15, 2009 - 8:55 pm 51. CPT. Charles:I forced myself to watch his…’mutterings’. I noted with interest that he never really looked into the camera, it was very telling.
My one-word summation: empty.
God help those brave souls in the streets.
Jun 15, 2009 - 9:07 pm 52. Derek:No, YOU were sleeping while Iranians confront evil. What is this? Day 4? America sleeps? No conservatives were sleeping. Everyone on pajamasmedia was too busy bashing obama about the election while huffpo was covering this from hour one. People wake up on monday and want to make political hay out of a situation that can only be decided by the Iranian people? Please. I think I preferred it when you were all ignoring what was going on, just like the mainstream media you hate.
Jun 15, 2009 - 9:26 pm 53. Oscar the Grump:Does Obama have an alarm clock? Does he know its time to wake up?
Jun 15, 2009 - 10:37 pm 54. PatriotUSA:Somebody get him some coffee. I don’t think that this country needs a stimulus package as much as our leader does.
#52 Derek
HuffyPo???
Great source there, Derek. PJM is all red and full of dumb, nasty conservatives picking on the mullah in the whitehouse, so what! He deserves all the criticism thrown at him, and then some. What has been written, said, expressed about the Obama debacle pales in comparison how the left treated the Bush adminsitration. You want to call the kettle black, look in a mirror.
You think just because many of us visit PJM that is our ONLY news source? Please…..
I can give a list of my daily news stops but you could not handle them. They have the truth, not just the leftarded news and views of which one finds on Huffypo. Go get some more Kool Aid
Jun 15, 2009 - 11:54 pm 55. Derek:and pretend you are having a burger with Obama and Biden.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/13/iran-demonstrations-viole_n_215189.html
the 3:09am story:
“Iran state TV using Fox News footage.
…
What a propaganda masterpiece. So the gist of it is that there were some minor rallies that started peacefully but some people took advantage of the situation and began vandalizing. Meanwhile, the foreign press tried to make it sound worst and create disunity among the population. It cuts to a Fox News interview that US should take advantage of this situation and make contact with the people in the street.”
congratulations, fox news, your grandstanding about what america/obama should be doing made the cut for Iran’s state run media propaganda. Like i said, i preferred it when you all were ignoring what was going on. Let a bunch of bitter conservatives get a hold of the issue and you’d rather score political points and hurt the iranian revolution. Nothing has exposed this movement’s fundamental intellectual bankruptcy than the response to the iranian protests.
Jun 16, 2009 - 12:40 am 56. Derek:@ 54
I really don’t give a damn what your grievances are about how the left treated bush. Go cry to a therapist if you’re so traumatized about it. The problem is that the right would rather try to make a political issue out of all this to the point that conservative analysts are ending up as propaganda ammo on Iranian state run TV.
It’s beyond whether or not you’re insulting obama. YOU’RE ENDANGERING THE IRANIAN MOVEMENT. I mean, i don’t mean you personally but your attitude is a symptom of the way conservatives are thinking these days. Everything is one-upsmanship to you all, damn the consequences.
Jun 16, 2009 - 1:14 am 57. Paul -Indiana:Obama gave his usual speech.
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:19 am 58. Tomp:“They are forced instead to rely on the deception and dishonesty of the media aligned with the government…”
Sounds familar..
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:36 am 59. AThinkingPerson:#56 Derek: The HuffPo? LOL! Ariana Huffington….the pinnacle of journalistic integrity. Not.
Derek I’d suggest that her comments regarding FOX News might be a bit biased. If you’d like a more well-rounded approach you might try reading a wide variety of news outlets instead of just that one. She has been shown in the past to filter news through her own liberal agenda (shocking I know) and her handling of important topics like the Iranian elections should be taken with a grain of salt. Have you ever actually seen her talk (grunt out her agenda) on MSNBC? ‘nough said.
Ever wonder why she revels in stories that trash Sarah Palin and she runs story after story about Michelle Obama’s accomplishments (which include having nice arms and patting the Queen on the back)? Yep Derek, the HuffPo is an entertainment site at best. News source it ain’t. Sorry.
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:51 am 60. AThinkingPerson:Derek: Typical HuffPo “news”…
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/15/michelle-obama-walks-bo-t_n_215692.html
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:52 am 61. David P:To: Chuck Pelto
Re: ….if that’s the case, it’s STILL a situation where Obama is not willing to openly criticize Muslims. Isn’t it….
Please, don’t misunderstand me, I have ZERO faith in this president, I expect him to react in the opposite direction of whats right in every situation. Obama represents an America whose dangerous ideology should NEVER be at the helm.
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:54 am 62. Derek:Bias? THEIR COVERAGE ENDED UP AS PROPAGANDA ON IRANIAN STATE TV.
Not msnbc, not cnn, not bbc…
FOX NEWS.
Jun 16, 2009 - 8:34 am 63. CJ:Derek:
@ 54
I really don’t give a damn what your grievances are about how the left treated bush. Go cry to a therapist if you’re so traumatized about it. The problem is that the right would rather try to make a political issue out of all this to the point that conservative analysts are ending up as propaganda ammo on Iranian state run TV.
It’s beyond whether or not you’re insulting obama. YOU’RE ENDANGERING THE IRANIAN MOVEMENT. I mean, i don’t mean you personally but your attitude is a symptom of the way conservatives are thinking these days. Everything is one-upsmanship to you all, damn the consequences.
=================================================================================================
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
A Liberal crying that the attitude of Conservatives is endangering the Iranian movement! Are you kidding?!
First, you are WRONG! Obama’s attitude is endangering the Iranian movement.
Second of all, if you were right-which you are not, and Conservatives are endangering the Iranian movement with their attitudes…what the hell do you think Liberal attitude did in Iraq?!!!!!! eh?!
Liberal attitude in Iraq not onlyl endangered foreigners, it endangered American men and women serving in our military. It also endangered Iraq. It has been proven that Liberal attituted towards the Iraq war was directly responsible for Al Qaeda in Iraq getting a boost. it has been proven that when Democrat politicians criticized the Iraq War, America’s enemies in Iraq felt empowered.
What do you think a statement like Dick Durbin’s (Democratic Senator of Illinois) claiming that American troops were like the Russian gulags or the Nazis SS do to American military moral and to our enemies moral?
What do you think it does to American troops moral when they hear Senator Kerry and now President Obama say that our troops are going in the dead of night, breaking into homes, terrifying women and children in Iraq and mistreating them.
What do you think it did to the American troops moral versus our enemeis moral when Murtha came out with the Haditha lie, eh?
Derek, don’t you DARE come in here crying about Conservative attitude endangering the Iranian movement. Liberal attitude about Iraq caused the death of American soldiers in Iraq.
Liberals are such immense hypocrites. For 8 years they have done everything possible for the United States of America to fail at anything and everything so they could get a Democrat President in power and now they are crying about Conservative attitude? You are the one that needs therapy, liar, traitor.
Jun 16, 2009 - 9:01 am 64. Derek:Here we go again, whining about 8 years ago. Get a goddamn therapist if you’re so butthurt over it.
Meanwhile, this link performs a crude (but effective if enough people do it) denial of service attack on the Iranian censor’s government website (it continually reboots the page every 2 seconds):
http://www.pagereboot.com/?url=http://www.farhang.gov.ir/&refresh=2
leave it up and running.
So in between bitching and moaning about “teh libruls,” help out.
Jun 16, 2009 - 10:20 am 65. CJ:64. Derek:
Here we go again, whining about 8 years ago. Get a goddamn therapist if you’re so butthurt over it.
================================================================
I wonder Derek, can the American soldiers who died because of the Liberal attitude and anti-American attitude under President Bush seek therapy?
Get a clue. Don’t be so dense. i am not complaning about the last 8 years. i am pointing out at your sad hypocrisy. How DARE you cry about your belief that Conservative attitude is undermining the Iranian opposition when for the past 8 years individuals like do did everything in their power to undermine the Iraq War costing the life of countless American soldiers.
Sorry, Derek, the only one that needs therapy is you.
Jun 16, 2009 - 10:54 am 66. Derek:@65
I just need you to stop bitching. Take off your skirt grow a pair and stop whining about things that have nothing to do with Iran. You’re like a jaded girlfriend.
Jun 16, 2009 - 11:32 am 67. Tamahome Jenkins:At least the Iranians fake democracy. Our leading ally in the Middle East (Saudi Arabia) is unapologetically authoritarian. Don’t you people get it? It’s about money and power. The U.S. has turned its back on democratic revolutions in the past because the money wasn’t right.
What Obama is doing right now is the smart thing to do; keep his mouth shut and wait and see who wins. After all, that’s what every post World War II president has done…
Jun 16, 2009 - 12:57 pm 68. Hotpatch 6:And we are feeling bad about the poor suffering Iranians because? Are these the same people that held our diplomats for 444 days while the White Knight of the Left, Dunce Carter, wrung his hands in anguish? The same Iranians that gleefully cry “Death to America” at every opportunity? The same Iranians that lost control of their bowels every time that Idiot Ayatollah Khomeini opened his mouth? The same Iranians who can’t wait to get a nuke or two to let loose on Israel? The same Iranians that could not wait to elect Mahmoud the Short? These people are idiots, and if one or two of the Mullahs-in-Charge decide to winnow their numbers, we should applaud. The best that can come from this so-called revolution is another crop of bloodthirsty Shias who can’t wait to kill the next batch of infidels. Nothing but a bunch of Muslim savages.
Jun 16, 2009 - 2:18 pm 69. SteveB/Colorado:#41 Paul of Alexandria: “Ah you’re one of those pinko liberals…..” Nice try, but I’m a life long conservative Republican.
#42 Marc Malone: “Solutions?……Get some Muslim nations to call for a re-vote…..” On the surface, a good idea. But what influence will Sunni Muslim nations have on Shiite Iran?
#44 Snakeeater: “How’s that working out there moron?” Actually, how is Obama as president working out for YOU? I’ll refrain from calling you a name in return. After all, that’s the Christian way.
#65 CJ (to Derek): “individuals like you did everything in their power to undermine the Iraq war costing the life of countless American soldiers.” Hmmm. Well, it wasn’t a liberal government that sent American soldiers into combat without body armor. There was plenty of money for no-bid contracts for the likes of Halliburton while soldiers & their families had to buy their own body armor.
Jun 16, 2009 - 3:09 pm 70. Oscar the Grump:#66 Drek
Jun 16, 2009 - 3:27 pm 71. Carol:We saw how well the liberal movement did under Jimmy Carter with the American Embassy staff held prisoner for over fourhundred days. The day Ronald Reagan was sworn in the staff were returned. Why do you suppose that happened?
We have not just a Jimmy in office right now, we have somebody who makes exactly the wrong move at the right time to hurt the USA. I think the best way you can get over it is just to get bent.
Once again Obama chooses the wrong path.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090616/ap_on_go_pr_wh/us_us_iran
Can we impeach him yet?
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:05 pm 72. PatriotUSA:To Derek:
By your commmnets it is YOU that needs the therapy, or long past it. You want to insult us all, go ahead. So typical.
You mention help out? Sorry it is the Carter like Obama that is undemining this country,
Jun 16, 2009 - 5:23 pm 73. berto de los santos:Derek. You confuse whining about Bush’s treatment with your stupidity, comments and the ususal liberal BS we have heard before, in 1979.
I would suggest you grow a pair but that is a lost cause.
Obama was only tough to Israels Prime Minister, I would say arrogantly dictating and demanding. But to Irael’s enemies he is open for dialogue and even playing down electoral fraud in Iran, by saying that the 2 candidates are much of the same anyway. Completely ignoring that it is not about the profiles of the candidates, but about the choice of the people. Would he like us to say that he is a good president because he is not much different from John McCain anyway?
Jun 16, 2009 - 7:14 pm 74. SteveB/Colorado:#72 PatriotUSA (to Derek): “I would suggest you grow a pair, but that is a lost cause.” So Patriot, are you locked and loaded; ready to be air-dropped into Tehran? If not, where’s your “pair?”
Jun 16, 2009 - 7:39 pm 75. Derek:He’s obviously too old for that. Probably one of those people too young for vietnam, too old for the war on terror, but wants to send everyone else off to war.
Armchair generals.
Jun 17, 2009 - 12:31 am 76. Chuck Pelto:TO: SteveB/Colorado & Derek
RE: Heh
I’m suddenly reminded of an old Beer-Drinking Song….
The first thing we pray for;
We pray for a beer.
Beautiful. Glorious. Wonderful. Beer
If we have one;
Why can’t we have ten?
Lord, open a brewery;
Cause Rangers are men.
The verses goe through whiskey, women and such and end with….
The last thing we pray for;
We pray for a war.
Beautiful. Glorious. Wonderful. War
If we have one;
Why can’t we have ten?
Lord, Drop us on Moscow;
Cause Rangers are men.
It was the late 1970s and we were going through that ’spa’ operated by the US Army at Benning School for Boys….the US Army Ranger Course.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[Thanks for the memorieeeeeeesssss..... -- Bob Hope]
P.S. A REAL ‘Hope’….not this lying Muslim who is, based on my knowledge, born in Kenya….and ineligible to be President of the United States…..
Jun 17, 2009 - 6:07 am 77. Chuck Pelto:P.S. SteveB/Colorado….
…..just because YOU’RE ‘gutless’ doesn’t mean there are no REAL men in this world….
Jun 17, 2009 - 6:08 am 78. Bohemond:Derek: “Hmmm. Well, it wasn’t a liberal government that sent American soldiers into combat without body armor. There was plenty of money for no-bid contracts for the likes of Halliburton while soldiers & their families had to buy their own body armor.”
Sorry, old chap, this isn’t HuffPo; you can’t get away with peddling propaganda fabrications here.
All US combat troops sent to Iraq were equipped with at least the Personnel Armor System for Ground Troops (PASGT), which had been in use since before the Gulf War. In spring 2003, the Army and Marine Corps had *just* started replacing PASGT with the Interceptor body armor, which was lighter and (supposedly) more effective. However, in the real world without pixie dust it takes a long time to manufacture, ship and issue hundreds of thousands of vests down a logistics chain halfway around the world; in March 2003 just 45,000 full Interceptor systems with the Small Arms Protective Inserts (SAPI) had even been produced, and only around 12,000 issued, mostly to Special Forces.
Even so, Interceptor/SAPI proved to be less effective than desired, and so an improved ESAPI upgrade was developed- beginning in 2004. The first sets didn’t reach Iraq and Afghanistan until March 2005.
Are you suggesting that an army should never go to war until it’s upgraded all its gear to the latest and greatest? Never happen: there’s always another upgrade in the pipeline.
The fact of the matter is that the combination of armor and advanced emergency medicine has resulted in KIAs constituting the smallest proportion of combat casualties of any war, ever.
What really burns me up is the stinking hypocrisy of liberals who reflexively oppose every single defense appropriation bill- and then issue complaints like this, as if they actually gave a rat’s ass about the troops, when all they really care about is using a political bludgeon against George Bush.
Jun 17, 2009 - 6:44 am 79. SteveB/Colorado:#77 Chuck(le) B.: “just because you’re gutless…..” Oh, I have plenty of guts. I’m just particular about where I use them.
#78 Bohemond: “what burns me up is the stinking hypocrisy of liberals who reflexively oppose every single defense appropriate bill…as if they actually gave a rat’s ass about the troops….”
I guess you’re not aware of the GAO study that came out early this year; I written about it in other threads. GAO reviewed 94 different weapons procurement programs. 66 of the 94 were running a collective $296 billion over the original cost estimates. I can see some minor cost overruns. But $300 billion!!!!
What burns me up, as a fiscal conservative, are the self-proclaimed “tea party” partisans who bemoan bailouts of banks, welfare programs, Obama deficits. But turn a blind eye to defense contractor rip-offs and criticize anyone who objects as being against the troops.
I thought Chrysler should have been liquidated. I oppose bailouts of banks unless there are stringent requirements for repayment of loans. I oppose giving away leases on public lands to energy companies who sit on 67+ million acres of undeveloped leases while criticizing conservationists for being against drilling. I also oppose giving away the store to defense contractors who line their pockets in the name of national security. There is some real “hypocrisy” for you.
Jun 17, 2009 - 9:12 am 80. Chuck Pelto:TO: All
RE: As I Was Saying….
….the only person on God’s green Earth that SteveB/Colorado cares for is his selfish self. And yet he insults those with more courage and less selfishness than his own.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 17, 2009 - 9:43 am 81. SteveB/Colorado:[Greater love hath no man than this....that a man lay down his life for a friend. -- Some Wag, around 2000 years ago.]
#80 Well Chuck. If you have so much “guts,” why aren’t you headed for Tehran instead of flinging insults on an anonymous web site?
Jun 17, 2009 - 11:45 am 82. Chuck Pelto:TO: SteveB/Colorado
RE: Heh
I’ll go in a heartbeat. Get them to call me back to active duty after 27 years in the infantry. I’ll even take a bust down from lieutenant colonel to staff sergeant and lead a squad of mech infantry.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 17, 2009 - 12:46 pm 83. Chuck Pelto:P.S. What did YOU do for the rest of US?
P.S. What’s this about “anonymous web-site”? Never clicked on my name? Are you THAT ‘gutless’?
Jun 17, 2009 - 12:47 pm 84. Chuck Pelto:P.P.S. Sorry about the “THAT gutless” question. It’s blatantly obvious to all that you are. After all. You don’t use your REAL name here, in full…..
Jun 17, 2009 - 12:48 pm 85. Derek:Exactly, too young for vietnam, too old for the war on terror.
What are you, a grenada veteran?
Jun 17, 2009 - 7:04 pm 86. PatriotUSA:To# 74:Steve B Colorado and Derek
Yeah, I am “locked and Loaded” and would go in a heartbeat if asked or needed. My abode is very “locked and loaded” and I try to leave nothing to chance or surprises.
Wrong, No I was not too young for Vietnam and maybe too old for the war against terror and Isamofacism. Depends on your definition of old.
Jun 18, 2009 - 2:15 am 87. Chuck Pelto:By the way, I have had two spinal fusions, eight shoulder surgeries and I would still be willing to go and leave my family behind to serve my country. By the way, thanks for asking, My pair is just fine and they would go with me.
TO: Derek
RE: Weeeeellllll…..
…..not exactly.
I enlisted in 1970.
And what did YOU do during the Great Cold War, Derek?
I suspect that I was jumping C130s before your father learned how to jump a prom date.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
[You haven't lived until you've almost died.]
P.S. Are ALWAYS this ’stupid’?
Jun 18, 2009 - 6:08 am 88. Chuck Pelto:P.P.S. Everyone….
….and I mean EVERYONE is involved in the War on Terror….
….whether they like/admit to it, or not.
[When the shooting starts, you're either a combatant or a pop-up target. -- CBPelto]
Jun 18, 2009 - 3:57 pm 89. TheChosenOne:Has anyone actually verified that the crowds gathering in Tehran are actually representing the majority of Iranians? An independent poll conducted 3 weeks prior to the election and printed in Washington Post indicated that Ahmadinjad was to win by a 2 to 1 margin!!!!!
Just because we want the Rolex Rebels of northern Tehran crack the Iraian regime, doesn’t mean it is good for the majority of Iranians, and they will idly stand by and accept it. Minority getting to rule the majority is what it was in Iraq (during American supported Saddam Regime), it is the case in Lebanon, and now we want it in Iran.
The quiet majority in Iran have neither access to Internet, nor Cell phones, or have time to protest in the streets under the carnival atmosphere that Western Media cheerfully broadcasts. But be advised that these are the same people that shouldered the burden of 8 yrs of war with America’s Saddam with 1 million dead, and they will do so again to protect their rights. They are fiercely nationalistic and believe in Nuclear power; after 8 years of war, they have every right to do so.
Jun 19, 2009 - 2:50 pm 90. Rashputin:“By the way, I have had two spinal fusions, eight shoulder surgeries and I would still be willing to go and leave my family behind to serve my country.”
I enlisted in late 1968 after signing a waiver for the cause of my 4F. There followed a more extensive medical examination which found I was still unfit for military service due to a spinal deformity. I “lost” my draft card and reported to Paris Island where I suffered no small measure of verbal abuse for not having it. I served in Vietnam from late 1969 until the late summer of 1970 when I was wounded. I was in and out of hospitals and rehab for four years, being released from limited duty to full duty in the winter of 1974.
Just after New Years in 1975 I was being considered for an assignment and when my record was being reviewed, it was determined that I was guilty of fraud on my paperwork. I had not only the medical problem the medical records from my more extensive examination had found, but a chronic pain disorder that had been diagnosed in my childhood and that I should have enumerated on my paperwork at Paris Island. This placed the Men’s Department of the US Navy in something of a quandary, one they resolved by refusing my reenlistment making errors on my record moot.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
have a nice day
Jun 19, 2009 - 3:11 pm 91. Chuck Pelto:TO: Rashputin
RE: Service
IMPRESSIVE!
Regards,
Chuck(le)
P.S. I blew my right knee out stepping into a badger hole on an operation. My back problems began LAST year, at the same point my rucksack rested while humping the bush until I got to the point where I rated my own jeep.
All I was doing was bending over and twisting to put a canister of chocolate back on the lower shelf in the food-store room. I’d just extracted the chocolate I needed to make a birthday cake for my mother-in-law. And when I tried to stand up……BANG!!!!! I couldn’t…..
Fortunately, it was correctable by a visit to a chiropractor. My first such ever…..
May have to visit her again. Got a bit of discomfort going on now from doing the ‘gook-squat’ while tending a gardening project my garden club maintains for the city.
Jun 20, 2009 - 8:33 am 92. Rashputin:It’s just never what you expect that screws you up, is it? I hope that rather than thinking it’s impressive that those who want to serve won’t give up until they get to.
I don’t know about paying someone to beat the h**l out of me. I have a friend who swears by chiorpractors but stays in bed more to recover from his vists to one than from the problems he goes for.
Last but not least, if you’re going to tend your garden that way, please don’t buy one of those #%*$&& conical hats that are now hip among college kids.
Take care of your back!
Regards
Jun 20, 2009 - 9:31 am 93. Chuck Pelto:TO: Rashputin
RE: By ‘Impressive’….
….I meant that you got in and later, when the found you out, they didn’t do lots of mean-spirited things to you.
Tylenol, a.k.a., Ranger-Candy, seems to have solved the back issue.
As for the ‘beatings’ at the hands of a chiropractor you comment on, don’t know where you got that from. Mine doesn’t run a torture chamber. But then again considering the lack of a good nights sleep from a sore back, I can imagine your friend MIGHT want to get some good sleep after a ‘back-crack’.
Or maybe I’ve got a masochistic streak I was unaware of.
Regards,
Chuck(le)
Jun 21, 2009 - 10:34 pm 94. Rashputin:[I must have slipped a disk; my pack hurts. -- computer hard drive problems.]
“….I meant that you got in and later, when the found you out, they didn’t do lots of mean-spirited things to you.”
Now I gotcha. Yes, they were actually pretty good about it considering what the JAG office was suggesting. I can’t complain a bit other than having not been able to do 20 or so. All in all, I probably couldn’t have anyway given the state of things at that point.
Chiorpractors come in all flavors, I think the better ones are as you describe and more like a physical trainer/therapy specialist.
Take care, and I’m glad it just took some candy to fix you up. A bad back is, bad.
Regards friend
Jun 22, 2009 - 3:03 pm