An Almanack

Duh. Next week’s revelation: Water is Wet. Really.

The Liberal blogosphere has turned Green. TPM and Rachel Maddow have become cheerleaders for what they think is the democratic movement of Iran. Obama and Kos have decided to stay out of the fray, while not criticizing others for commenting on the situation. On the Right Wing, there is talk that this cautious approach is somehow a betrayal of our allies in Iran. Remember how well McCain’s meddling in Georgia worked out.

As someone who grew up in another country (India) awash in conspiracy theories of American involvement in local politics, I believe that the best thing for Americans can do right now to support democracy in Iran is..nothing. Stay out of it. Obama, having lived abroad, understands this. As does Kos, for the same reason. Any whiff of American support for Moussavi will undermine him. The crowds in Teheran, chanting “Allahu Akbar”, will themselves turn against Moussavi if the US voices support for him.

As I write this, the Supreme Leader is giving a sermon in Teheran. Darkly warning against “arrogant Western powers” and asking for “prayer” and “divine guidance”. Even if the US Government stays out of it, if American media is involved, such as through blogs, it will be used against Moussavi and his party. In other words,

Don’t just do something. Stand there.

Besides, we may not really understand what is going on. (more…)

Nobody speaks of Bush anymore. It is Cheney who haunts us as the ghost of errors past. Hard to believe that a little less than half of voters went for Bush in 2000, and then again a slight majority in 2004. Right after 9/11, Bush had the support of 90% of people. Even as he limped out of town, about a third of Americans approved of him. That is after the Iraq debacle, after the Katrina disaster,after the disclosures of torture at Abu Ghraib and elsewhere. Some one must have supported torture back when Bush and Cheney were waterboarding prisoners. Someone other than just Bush must have thought that Brownie was doing a heck of a job in New Orleans.

It is not just evil people who cause great harm to the world. It is well meaning people who try to fit in, somehow contorting their thoughts to fit the conventional wisdom of the day. Many of these same people are now for Obama, fitting into the new CW,forgetting where they stood back in the brief dark age after 9/11. “The Google”, which just happened to come online about the same time, allows us to look up the celebrities among us.
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