Saturday June 13, 2009

I've Been Thinking:

Both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi are claiming victory in Iran.

But what they say has as little import as the over 70% of the 46 million registered Iranians who came out to voter.
In Iran, only the Supreme Leader's vote counts.
The declaration naming the actual winner will take place sometime on Saturday.

This election was a huge growth experience for Iran.
It lent passion to politics.
It allowed the masses to give expression to their feelings and frustrations.
It allowed the people to voice their ideas about how Iran should behave internally and externally.

Iran is run by its religious council.
As observers we cannot and should not make the mistake of thinking that Iran is a democracy.
The language of democracy is being used in Iran today - words like voting and polls and opinion - but words alone are the trappings of democracy, not its essence.
In order to even receive permission run for office, the four candidates had to be vetted by the committee of The Supreme Leader. Hundreds were rejected.
The four candidates are all extremists and the only significant difference between them is the level of aggressiveness they use in discussing Israel and the West.

Everything in Iran is controlled by the religious council and The Supreme Leader controls and chairs the council.
They have the first say and the last say on everything that happens in Iran.
The role of the president is to serve as the mouthpiece of the religious council.

Read my new book THUGS. It's easy. Just click.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=halpern%2C+micah