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Bon Jovi Isn’t Giving Up on Iran’s Green Revolution — and Neither Should You
The rocker's timely cover of "Stand by Me" is a reminder that Iranians still need us to stand by them.
The struggle of the Iranian people is a quintessential liberal cause. The Iranian people are nonviolently protesting their unjust suppression of every type of right a human deserves, yet unlike Darfur or Africans suffering from AIDS, Hollywood has been almost silent on their behalf. Jon Bon Jovi is the one exception, having recorded a version of “Stand by Me” in English and Farsi with Iranian musicians to express his support of them. The Green Revolution, like all similar revolutions, lives on morale. Bon Jovi needs to be praised by all quarters for his contribution to this most essential element, and if the music can make its way to the Iranian people, I believe people will be surprised by the effect it has.
The technologically proficient Iranian population will make their own videos, playing the music in the background with images of the mixture of pain and hope that defines Iran today. It will be played in their homes as a form of protest and it will be played at rallies and demonstrations. It will be impossible for the regime to silence the music if each Iranian plays it loudly on their cell phones, laptops, portable music players, or even from speakers in their homes. The comfort they will feel as they walk down the street, fighting back the tears as they think of their loved ones being detained and beaten, while faintly hearing the music from another Iranian passing by will be immense. The rest of Hollywood needs to follow Bon Jovi’s lead, making awareness ads, fundraising for humanitarian aid if avenues to get it to the Iranians can be found (star power has a way of making things happen), and making similar videos so that Iranians can know that our short attention span hasn’t caused our ears to turn away from their voices.
The numbers of the demonstrators have indeed decreased, but it would be wrong to dismiss the intensity of the ongoing unrest. This uprising is very much still alive, although the protests are more scattered rather than in one large mass. No one should have expected the gatherings of hundreds of thousands, millions even, to continue indefinitely, particularly when the international community puts far more pressure on the coup plotters in Honduras than Ahmadinejad and Khamenei, but such crowds will assemble again in reaction to provocation or encouragement. The Green Revolution has not died but has entered a new phase, where the entire country will experience ongoing, smaller demonstrations that sometimes will quickly grow and crescendo into a giant mass, threatening the regime’s survival more and more each time it happens.
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Ryan Mauro is the founder of WorldThreats.com and the director of intelligence at the Asymmetrical Warfare and Intelligence Center (AWIC). He’s also the national security researcher for the Christian Action Network and a published author. He can be contacted at TDCAnalyst@aol.com.
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30 Comments
1. "progressive"watch:Bon Jovi’s song is one good thing. The efforts being made by Congress are good. The one worst thing is the One,the annointed one,the messiah,the golden laugh.
Jul 3, 2009 - 4:32 am 2. DanO:(I listen as I write)
As long as people like John, Andy and Ritchie, and music and ideas, exist, as well as those who have signed the Nokia protest, (it sounds like that got Senator McCain’s interest, another John to thank)…freedom will triumph…
This is not an idea that originates with me, I have heard it before and maybe it’s been done somewhere:
We should carpet bomb Iran, not with bombs, but cell phones and laptops.
Game over.
Jul 3, 2009 - 4:40 am 3. seansarto:Wow…This is some of the most shameless promotional panty sniffin’, an’ panderin’ puff piece of poof that’ I’ve ever had the notion of my nose bein’ forced into…
Let’s jest put the little puzzle t’gether here…Hmmmm Bo Jove, the New Jerseyian wannabe Springsteen understudy, who’s initial sucess cane from an ablum entitled with the locker-room braggidicio innuendo of “Slippery When Wet”, intends to make money,…Whoa, hold on a scond!…I repeat, intends to make MONEY. PERIOD. As in “Here she comes now singin’ Mony, Mony!”…The By Jove intends to cash in on a song that is not even a topical one but needs to be forcibly strained to greater cause in order to be perceived as such….i.e. add mullah music for effect…Of course, this song is not even his own original idea or song, (Which kinda protects him in the agencies POV…Though, in fact, it would be truly fascinating if he was even capable of writing such a song without alienating the major portion of his market…Like, “Wow!, BeJove, Who Knew!”). So this song, “Stand by Me”, is inherently liable to royalty provisions…And to whom are those royalties endowed to you ask? Why lookee, lookee here! To a man goes by the name of, Ben E. “King”, (Geez, Martha, ain’t we be’n hearin’ plenta talk of the “King of Pop” over the last 2 weeks?..Dare I even suggest the connects? I must be crazy…crazeeee!…not ta just be bobin’ along with the “flow” of it like some booby-headed buoy a sorts!)..Then since we all know how the “Once We Were Kings” crowd is gettin’ their cream off the top of it these days, you can plainly see how pure sycophantery is at its peaks….An’ oh yeah, let’s not forget how the mighty BJove was last seen partyin’ hardy with the Goremeister when the baton went over to W. Bush.
C’mon Franken-man ..I’d be glad ta rip ya a new one.
By Jove I think I’ve got it, Watson!
“Americans”, after bein’ harried an’ hounded an’ harassed so much through the years are ready ta give up jest about anythin’ an’ e’rythin’ jest fer a day off!
Obama, don’t even bother with yer little “Skip-Ta-My-Lou” across my countryside…I jest summed it all up fer ya succintly.
Heck I’m in China,…Witness to where if a man or woman feels like jest lyin’ down on the job they jest goes an’ does it…Right there in the streets if they wants to…You want to talk about “freedom” of sumethin’? “Fastest Growing Economy in the World”? An’ I ain’t espousin’ “Communisim” here…’Cause that it ain’t..Not by a long margin..They shooo a bum of his lot jest as much as Guiliani ever would an’ could…It’s jest this is the place that’s figured out how ta sucker an’ con the US outta its own. An’ somehow it’s been made patriotically “American” to be impressed by the humbuggery of it.
Jul 3, 2009 - 5:10 am 4. seansarto:Now let’s all go sing “Freebird” in Swahili.
Jul 3, 2009 - 5:17 am 5. seansarto:Actually I should start teachin’ the Chinese how ta play it…an’ beat these jokers on the run.
Jul 3, 2009 - 5:21 am 6. RunningDogLackey:Does this mean you don’t want us to BOMB Iran anymore? Or are Iranians only our “brothers and sisters” on alternating weekdays? Conservative foreign policy is SO conflicted sometimes. Next thing you know, you’ll be listening to Bono albums while you praise France.
Jul 3, 2009 - 6:09 am 7. Morton Doodslag:Sentimentality is clouding your mind. There is no sign the Iranians (or any other Muslims, for that matter) have had it with the horribleness of their Islam.
Until then, until their “protests” cease adopting green as their badge — the color of Islamic purity — or assuming the classic Jihad battle cry “Allahuakbar” (not in “mockery” of the Mullahs as we’re assured by our credulous media, but in pure re-affirmation of their dedication to the Islamic cause of Jihad), then I will not stand with them in any way.
We must be bolder against the ongoing depredations of Islam. wE must tell Muslims the truth. We must tell them that the misery they’re afflicted with across the globe is not because of the Jews, or the “infidels”, or “The Great Satan”, but because of Islam itself. In essence you are calling for us to support another Islamic revolution in Iran which will simply be a sordid continuation of the earlier monstrosity in the “Islamic Revolution”. These aren’t pro Western pro Democracy agitators in Iran. They are like communist “counter-revolutionaries” who believe a re-affirmation of the tenets of communism will fix what ails them. The answer for Iran, or any other Islamic cesspool, isn’t more Islam. Nor is is some dreamy gauzy musical recording by an aging 80’s pop star. The answer for Iran, the answer for the world is LESS ISLAM — the sooner the better. lies, distortions, dreamy false constructs or magical thinking won’t destroy this nightmare for Iranians or the world.
Jul 3, 2009 - 6:29 am 8. antaine:seansarto,
Of course he intends to make money from his song, as much as Elton John’s for Diana and numerous collaborative works for various causes that have been commonly done since the 80s.
The difference is, it’s a celeb/musician supporting people fighting for their freedom when the US President is reluctant to back them too much.
And conservative foreign policy, runningdoglackey, is only conflicted to the Leftists who like to morally muddle things. I’ll sum it up for you: democracy=good=support deomocratic movements. dictatorship=bad=work to undermine dictators.
So Iranianprotesters=good, Iranianregime=bad. And that is what we’ve been saying since this broke out, and the last half from 1979. To extend the example, Honduran president circumventing constitution and trying to suspend courts and congress = bad, Hondurans enforcing their constitution and not allowing a would-be dictator to start a foreign(Chavez)-funded coup = good.
Is that consistent enough and simple enough for you to understand, or shall I break out the sock-puppets?
Jul 3, 2009 - 7:00 am 9. wadosy:bon jovi doesnt understand:
we gots to bomb iran to plug up the hole in the neocon curtain.
Jul 3, 2009 - 7:19 am 10. susan:it would all make sense if you forget that Bon Jovi was among the cheer crowd at the obama incoronation.
I liked him a lot, but I cannot stand the celebrities right to stupidity.
He has been cheering for the guy and now they complain? screw them.
Jul 3, 2009 - 8:43 am 11. David W. Lincoln:Rome wasn’t built in a day, and it will take time for the oppressors to be dislodged.
Given that EU ambassadors to Iran are being withdrawn, the stakes, high as they are, are being ratcheted even higher.
Jul 3, 2009 - 9:49 am 12. flickervertigo:i love it.
you guys cant admit that peak oil exists, so you have to censor comments about peak oil, which would indicate that you recognize that peak oil was the neocons’ motive to stage 9/11 once they were installed into the government.
perfect
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:13 am 13. flickervertigo:so, once again, just to summarize…
you guys had to do 9/11 to get your PNAC project underway, and the goal of that project is to secure israel from sea level rise, which explains israel’s giving up gaza while continuing to expand into the high ground of the west bank.
and this land acquisition project must be accomplished before your american armies run out of gas and america collapses because of peak oil and looters who see the peak oil handwriting on the wall.
so now you have to attempt to stifle knowledge of peak oil, you have to crash the global economy in an attempt to destroy demand for oil, and you have to fine tune your economy crashing activities lest you cause the collapse of america before israel’s secure.
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:22 am 14. "progressive"watch:flickervertigo don’t talk in leftagauge use the English language.
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:30 am 15. flickervertigo:if everything had gone according to plan, not only would you have secured israel, you would also have achieved “benevolent global hegemony”…
and we can only wonder how many people your attempted benevolence will kill, seeing as how the project’s just getting started and you’ve already killed hundreds of thousands.
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:32 am 16. flickervertigo:the only thing left to do, really, is loot.
ukraine is wobbling, poland is signing gas deals with russia and qatar, the pop star running georgia is wearing out his welcome, the iraqis wont give their oil away, the color revolution in iran failed, afghanistan is a drug profit center, pakistan still has its samson option (assuming that pakistan is entitled to a samson option if the israelis are), and india is the normal basket case.
doesnt look too red hot for the PNAC project.
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:40 am 17. Fix error:I like Bon Jovi!
Jul 3, 2009 - 10:55 am 18. flickervertigo:the shawn colvin version of “riding shotgun down the avalanche” is in the upper right corner…
Jul 3, 2009 - 11:05 am 19. David W. Lincoln:flickervertigo, why not read, and watch, “Not without my daughter”
First of all, don’t make up your mind about either until the end. Okay?
Jul 3, 2009 - 12:14 pm 20. Blarty Blarckleblart:The song is a nice gesture, but if Mr. Bon Jovi really wants to help he should go to Iran and rock Khamenei and Ahmadinejad’s faces simply by looking at them. Which he can do.
Jul 3, 2009 - 12:38 pm 21. paul_unalaska:I’m with Seanartso on this one – what a fluff piece!
Praising the worm-like effort of a middle aged hair band ’singer’? And doing cover no less! Wow, maybe he and the atrocious band that picked up in the 90’s where Bon Jovi led, Goo Goo Dolls can do a cover of ‘We Are the World’.
Apparently Giovanni’s (his real name.. sad excuse for a fellow paison) arena football team isn’t making enough dividends and is doing this for ‘The Greater Good’ (thank you ala ‘Hot Fuzz’).
Jon, with his big, feathery hair who helped ruin MTV’s Headbanger’s Ball eons ago. Now he’s pimping supposed do-gooderism for the unfortunates?
Hmmmm, why not sell all but one of the houses you own and provide that money to these poor souls? What a joke..
Better yet, Jon should have 100% of the proceeds from his next album bequethed to these folks. This way were inundated with great, lyrical works such as, ‘Have A Nice Day’, ‘Dead or Alive’ and myriad of other garbage this poser/ opportunist has released.
Oh well, never underestimate people’s bad taste in music, bloviated admiration of celebs. Mr. Mauro, you’ve succumbed to being in the latter camp.
Jul 3, 2009 - 2:26 pm 22. PS3:I’m not sure what Jon Bon Jovi’s motives truly are but I can’t agree it has anything to do with money, he sure has enough of that already.
Jul 3, 2009 - 3:38 pm 23. seansarto:Consolidation.
A pop star, as much as a politician,(at least these days), needs to remain relevant in order to avoid becoming a one-hit wonder…That’s their currency…You can put a money value on it, in life and in death, (see Michael Jackson)Thus there is an inherent fiduciary motive to invest their interests into politics…….if not to create such relevancy, (see U2 and Springsteen’s participation in Obama’s inauguration, hocking their new albums), then to have first shot and a wider scope of information concerning such relevant opportunities where they may occur. Insider trading. Wall Street 101.
Jul 3, 2009 - 5:33 pm 24. seansarto:The fanatical, meglo-maniacal prone pop stars will tack that course with moral impunity…Rational ones see the enmity in the trade-off an’ take their bows to the bargain bin…They say to themselves…”America was good to me…I got a little sumethin”….They don’t demand more…They aren’t in it for “e’rything”.
It’s called decency..It is a choice ..an’ the US oughta give you a good place to make it….it oughta give you a reason to it.
Jul 3, 2009 - 5:55 pm 25. Koblog:Liberals singing for Iran is like a Prius with a “Free Tibet” bumper sticker.
It costs you nothing, makes you feel good and proves you’re a Good Person.
In the end, Tibet and Iran are still under the jack boot of tyrants.
Freedom is won with blood, not celebrity songs and bumper stickers.
Jul 3, 2009 - 6:54 pm 26. seansarto:Any guy or gal who cuts their finger on the job is really sheddin’ blood for some sense of freedom…Truthfully…puttin’ their heart into it…That kind of sacrifice can be made empirical by all means…But if yer on the opportunist side of it, you can equate that blood loss an’ freedom to anythin’ from bad liabilities to macho kinds of martyrs to any other kinda cause fer celebration yer fancies raises ya to…My experience has been that most regular folks might wince some…suck a bit on their losses…possibly put a band-aid on ‘em…then get back ta work…
Jul 3, 2009 - 8:43 pm 27. David W. Lincoln:This, from the other side of “the pond”:
Stop appeasing the ayatollahs
By Daniel Hannan World Last updated: July 3rd, 2009
50 Comments Comment on this article
Last week, Iran committed an act of war against the United Kingdom. How else are we to describe the seizure of our embassy staff? Indeed, such outrages don’t usually occur even in wars. If, say, Venezuela and Colombia were to initiate hostilities tomorrow, we could reasonably assume that diplomatic personnel would be safely evacuated through neutral countries. It happened even during the Second World War, when mutually hostile ideologies sought to extirpate each other.
How did Her Majesty’s Government respond to this unprovoked attack? It called in the Iranian Ambassador for a jolly severe ticking off. There was a time when Britain would have sent gunboats to the Gulf. Oh, hang on: we already have gunboats in the Gulf. The Iranians attacked one of them last year – the deployment of coercive force against uniformed British Servicemen on HMS Cornwall was an even clearer act of war – and, once again, we let them get away with it.
That’s the thing about nasty regimes: concessions embolden them. Do you remember the very first act of the Islamic Revolution thirty years ago? It was the seizure of another embassy, that of the US. The mullahs were deliberate in their choice of target: by signalling their disregard for territorial jurisdiction, they were announcing that they answered to a higher authority than international law.
They got away with it, too. At the same moment, an anti-revolutionary group seized the Iranian legation in London. Our response? To take the building back, our SAS men sliding down its sides like spiders on their threads, and then return it with a cheque covering the damages incurred during the siege. Unsurprisingly, the ayatollahs concluded that they could have it both ways, being accorded the courtesies of a sovereign state without having to reciprocate.
They have comported themselves accordingly ever since, backing militia groups from the Balkans to the Silk Road khanates, arming Hamas and Hezbollah, sponsoring terrorism as far afield as Buenos Aires. All revolutions tend to spill out from behind their boundaries, to seek to replicate themselves abroad. The Iranian Revolution is going the way of the French and Russian Revolutions, disregarding national frontiers, playing by a different set of rules.
Diplomats purr and soothe and mutter about “the dangers of escalation”. But what about the dangers of non-escalation? We tried humouring the mullahs, sending Jack Straw to Teheran every other week. But they showed little sign of softening, seizing our Royal Marines and, later, supplying the insurgent groups shooting at our forces in Basra. If anything, the Iranian regime is becoming more bellicose, more paranoid and more repressive. Oh, and it’s three years away from acquiring the Bomb.
Jul 3, 2009 - 9:33 pm 28. Blarty Blarckleblart:Liberals singing for Iran is like a Prius with a “Free Tibet” bumper sticker.
It costs you nothing, makes you feel good and proves you’re a Good Person.
In the end, Tibet and Iran are still under the jack boot of tyrants.
Freedom is won with blood, not celebrity songs and bumper stickers.
Just like a Hummer with a “Choose Life” bumper sticker. Same exact thing.
Jul 4, 2009 - 9:42 am 29. Gun Shy Tourist:I think that some of the people commenting, as well as the writer are missing a few key points here. Please read this:
http://aroundotown.blogspot.com/2009/06/youre-missing-point-jon-boy.html
Here is an excerpt:
“Jon Bon Jovi also did a concert earlier this year to try and help raise money for Hillary Clinton so that she could pay off her campaign debt, which most likely indicates that he also voted for “change”. Ponder the surrealism of that for a moment.”
You cna read the rest at the above link.
Jul 5, 2009 - 3:12 pm 30. JeanetteLangone:Bon Jovi has always been a good kid. He believes in his country and has a liberal bent,so what..his heart is bigger than all outdoors. You cant fault him..he tries hard to do good , and he succeeds.
Jul 6, 2009 - 5:36 pm