We hear you

Allah loser JK. why don’t you quit pretending to be a real journalist and join the Obamessiahs group like Carney..Nobody considers you an objective journailist anymore..you are far left libbie like every other journo on cbs nbc cbs cnn npr etc.

Lose weight..and stop being so partisan..u look like a retarded Obama groupie

God bless them…let’s hope they can keep it up.

I am happy to see Joe Klein and Andrew Sullivan support democracy, freedom, and such as.

I hope that someday they will do the same in this country.

I doubt that this will happen until supporting democracy in this country aligns with supporting the paychecks of Joe Klein and Andrew Sullivan.
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God is great. no argument there. I hope this link lets our friends explore Andrew’s blog.

I can’t help but think that if they thought Democracy was as great as God they wouldn’t be in this situation.

I feel moved to apologize for the rudeness that all too often characterizes the comments section.
Democracy does not come easily to totalitarian regimes. The people are not at fault. Imagine if your family was being shot at and/or killed, their bodies whisked away to unknown locations…would you still risk your life to express your support for freedom as so many are doing in Iran? Yes, God is Great, but he gave us free will, and not all people use that free will to serve others or to work for justice and democracy. The Iranian people are amazingly brave and intelligent and my heart is with their struggle.

My comment was attempting to point out the silliness of proclaiming the greatness of God whilst one is being repressed by a religious dictatorship. Since it is impossible for me to empathize with their situation, I can only comment on how I see things from my vantage point. Since I am a devout Atheist, my belief is that God doesn’t exist and therefore didn’t give us anything. The only people that can free the Iranian people are the Iranian people.

Be it not a wee bit off tack t’ be apologizin’ fer anyone else’s “rudeness”?

A fine lot o’ good it be doin’ fer YOU to be apologizin’ if th’ “perpetrator” be not sorry, don’t ye be thinkin?

Be not democracy be meanin’ everyone be gettin’ t’ speak fer themselves, instead o’ havin’ someone else be speakin’ fer ‘em?

I don’t be thinkin’ hardly any o’ th’ crew be lackin’ actual respect fer th’ struggles o’ th’ Iranian people, an’ I think we be needin’ t’ tread careful in decidin’ wha’ form or sorto o’ culmination those struggles ought t’ be takin’. Support, aye, bu’ beyond tha’, it be up t’ them t’ decide an’ construct their own future. An’ I be suspectin’ it not be wha’ we may be thinkin’ it should be.

Arrgh!

hotbbq –

Thar been many times in history when th’ appeal t’ God were used as a rallyin’ cry t’ overcome repression.

And frequent fer overcomin’ Church-sponsored repression, t’ boot.

Th’ ability t’ be separatin’ God fr’m th’ flawed human institutions established in ‘er name be critical – it be not God’s (if ye be b’lievin in ‘im) fault tha’ people be choosin’ evil – not even church people.

So, an appeal t’ God fer deliverance fr’m church-sponsored evil bein’ carried out in ‘er/’is name be fittin’ fer those who be b’lievin’.

Arrgh!

I think we need some context here for the Allahu Akhbar chanting in North Tehran–it is more revolutionary than religious, I would guess, a reference to the nightly chanting that preceeded the overthrow of the Shah. The Mousavi supporters took up the Allahu Akhbar chant because it was a form of militance that the government couldn’t gainsay. It was also a way of saying that they are not opposed to the 1979 revolution, just to the perversion of that revolution by the Ahmadi-Khameini-RevGuards junta. And it has made opposition safer for the clerics of Qom. In others words, a brilliant tactical move on several levels.

Exact, Joe Klein – thanks fer th’ explanation!

Arrgh!

Going along with JK’s point, I think you can see the historical parallels to something in our own (U.S.) history. It’s quite well documented that African-American slaves used religion as a tool for protest throughout the past 350+ years. In particular, Negro spirituals were used as coded messages during enslavement. “Crossing Over the Jordan,” had, at the very least, two different meanings. One meaning discussed going to heaven, while the other was a coded message about resistance and/or escape. Slave owners, most of who were nominally “good Chrisitans” who were trying to Christianize their slaves, could hardly tell their slaves to stop singing about the desire to go to heaven. Similarly, it’s a little difficult for a religious dictatorship to tell its people to stop adhering to one of the tenets of the religion (declaring that God is Great).
Resistance comes in a variety of forms, and is not just limited to violence. I can’t remember if I’ve suggested this here or at TNC’s blog, but for more info on everyday resistance see James Scott’s “Weapons of the Weak” (Peasants in Indonesia) or Steve Hahn’s “Nation Under Our Feet” (African Americans from slavery to the Great Migration).

The Greens have seemed clever, brave, and intentionally provocative to have used this slogan as an anti-regime slogan, precisely because it was theoretically protected (which is what I meant by “no argument there”).

On the other hand, it must infuriate those in power. I know how I feel that Republicans have tried to usurp the flag and all other symbols of patiotism for their own private use, so that I automatically wonder when I see a flag displayed on a house whether that’s a conservative red neck. A pox on their party. For Kameni to be taunted this way must be enraging him.

“We shall overcome”

(Am repeating this here – didn’t mean to add it to comment 5. I continue to have mixed feelings about the “reply to” feature. fine in real time, but hard to keep track of new comments):

The Greens have seemed clever, brave, and intentionally provocative to have used this slogan as an anti-regime slogan, precisely because it was theoretically protected (which is what I meant by “no argument there”).

On the other hand, it must infuriate those in power. I know how I feel that Republicans have tried to usurp the flag and all other symbols of patiotism for their own private use, so that I automatically wonder when I see a flag displayed on a house whether that’s a conservative red neck. A pox on their party. For Kameni to be taunted this way must be enraging him.
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