"This Will Kill That." Intellectual Abuse and the Iran Protests

Ah, the internet. It's a beautiful thing, opening lines of communication, facilitating debate, fueling social and political movements. Granted, the internet has not yet, with a few notable exceptions like WITNESS, demonstrated that it has the capacity to shift human development with the earth shattering impact of Johannes Gutenberg's moveable type and mechanical printing press (clearly the potential is there), but it is proving useful, albeit woefully underutilized in the capacities I mentioned above (the video feed above, and other internet outlets serving as conduits between the protesters in Iran and the outside world, this revolt in Iran may be the beginning of the fulfillment of the internet's true potential). The down side is that any dingdong with an opinion now has a forum on which to stand and pontificate, declaring their absolute truths.

I count myself among them.

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about people expressing themselves. It is also my hope that we bloggers and podcasters will take our place as the new media that fully supplants and erases the current fourth estate, which is comprised entirely of corporate media whores who will tell whatever story their pimps order them to tell. Truth is not a commodity that is valued in their realm. The only purpose of the MSM for me is that it can serve as a jumping off point for looking at a story more deeply, and immediately eliminating the lie angles.

Shtuey's First Law of Media Perception: If it's coming out of the mouth of an MSM talking head assume it is a lie.

The problem with the blogosphere is obvious. Bloggers have a tendency to pass off opinion as fact without presenting research to back them up, and often basing these opinions on the very pimps and whores that you and I all know are big fat liars, or worse, are producing analysis of international events out of their own heads, based on the memes of their own political agenda. All too often these bloggers are operating without background, or facts, and are merely reacting like the same knee jerkers dominating the airwaves, taking their marching orders from the likes of Daily Krap or an Axelrove or Karlrod.

The revolt in Iran is a perfect example.

First, it must be accepted that what is going on there is in fact a legitimate revolt. What began as a demand for free elections between two mullah backed shills has turned into the call for the ousting of Ayatollah Khameini, the destruction of the secret police, reforming of the Iranian constitution, and a breaking down of the socioreligious dictums that have been choking off free expression in Iran. Anyone who fails to see this, well, you're operating at a level of stupid that may be too hard to fix.

Young men and women are dancing together in the streets. They are holding hands. They are dancing to pop music. While this seems like a matter of course in America and elsewhere, it is forbidden in Iran. Young women are in the streets screaming to be able to literally let their hair down. But so many are reading the tea leaves wrong. Here are three examples I found strolling through the internet while researching this story.

Let's start with Debbie Schlussel, who made a splash with stories exposing radical Islam in America, but when it comes to the events in Iran, she has clearly made up her mind about the situation. Rather than take a good look at how the events there are unfolding, she dips into her well of hate and presents this:

I said this last week, and I repeat it now: Mir-Hossein Mousavi is an extremist with nicer language. He's no different from Ahmadinejad, and no better. As I noted last week, if anything, he's worse because Moussavi is Ahmadinejad with lipstick on. He doesn't say what he thinks, whereas Ahmadinejad does and makes it much harder to negotiate with. This is the same old dynamic in the Middle East over and over again.

But ignorant fools with zero critical thinking skills--who prefer slogans and gushing over "democracy" over reality--continue to go with the "Iranians uprising for freedom" false narrative.

Her next post is even better:

One other thing I need to add to all of you stupid, clueless people all over the American right and left and the rest of the West who are putting green icons on your website, your facebook and twitter pictures, etc.:

I'm laughing at you, along with the Islamic world. You've voluntarily colored yourself with allegiance to them. It would be hilarious, if it wasn't so sad and boneheaded. By projecting "democracy," "freedom," and a "free Iran" onto Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who reflects none of these and taking up his green stuff, you're actually saying you are with the Muslim world. That's what green means, but apparently you don't know . . . and more importantly, don't care.

Newsflash Debbie: Mousavi is quickly becoming a moot point. People are putting those symbols on their websites because they don't know what else to do. They are probably too young to remember watching George HW Assface sit on his thumb and spin while the PROC gunned down students in Tiennamen Square. They probably still think this country should stand for something, and speak out when people are being gunned down by the government that has them in chains. But Tiennanmen Square was just another false narrative protest, right Debbie?

Debbie hates Muslims so much (there are really no reasons for a Jew to appreciate anything Islam offers as much of it is predicated on killing us) that she is not even paying attention to what is happening on the streets in Iran. This movement stopped being about Mousavi a few days ago. But she's so busy foaming at the mouth that she doesn't see it. Mousavi is still a focal point because the youth of Iran are conditioned into watching what they must say, but the undercurrent of changing the regime is coming to the fore, and quickly. And here's another point that Schlussel is missing in her grand mal seizure, really this has never been about Mousavi.

The people in Iran must actually believe in democracy. They voted, but did not get the result that should have been had the votes been counted and the elections fair. The fact that both candidates are puppets is a completely separate issue. The people took to the streets because they want their votes to count. Nah, let's not support that notion. That's just crazy talk, right Debbie? Of course, when our elections are stolen by corrupt ass faces Americans just sit back and watch cable. Hooray! Seems like everyone else in the world is more keen on sticking their necks out for freedom than we are. Remember the Orange Revolution, Tiennanmen Square, the Cedar Revolution? People put their lives on the line against far more overtly oppressive regimes than ours. We like to scratch our rears. The closest we got was the tea parties and we couldn't even sustain that more than a day. How long has this been going on in Iran? We are short attention span theater.

Wake up!

Elections in America are no more free than they are in Iran. The landed interests pick the candidates, both of whom represent the same agenda. The only difference is the list of beneficiaries who receive our stolen tax dollars, whose ass is going to be kissed on the world stage, and who is going to be cursed. Marack chooses to kiss Muslim ass and curse Israel. Bush chose to kiss OPEC ass and tie Israel's hands. But Schlussel blindly follows the Republican Party which is historically very much responsible for strengthening the very Islamic regimes she rails against, right along with the Democrap Party. But being a rabid ideologue partisan she can't see that. It's Republicans good and liberals bad in Debbie land.

NEWSFLASH DEBBIE: BOTH CAMPS SUCK

The United States is directly responsible for there being an Islamic theocracy in power in Iran in the first place. Unfortunately, Schlussel's partisan myopia makes her blind to this while she rails against those who support the Iranian protesters.

Is it foolish to back a movement that wants to replace one mullah puppet with another? Yes. But that is not what is happening in Iran, and Ms. Schlussel will have blood on her hands too if the government begins openly massacring these people, which is most likely going to be what happens if foreign heads of state do not start speaking out. What will also happen is that the best hope of bringing Iran to the tipping point of dismantling the theocracy will be lost, and will most likely not come again. If you think the repression of Iranian society is bad now, just wait until this is all over.

She is also forgetting that liberals already back Hamas against Israel. She can't seem to keep all this straight.

Take a look in the mirror Debbie. You have seen the sheep, and it is you.

Remember your Archimedes. With the proper lever and placed fulcrum, you can move anything. Not applying a lever to the Iranian street is just plain stupid. These protests that you call fake are being put down with very real bullets, and real people are shedding real blood and are really dying. There is nothing faux about that. Pull your head out of your ass. If you're going to let your hate of Islam blind you to what is really happening, and what could actually be accomplished in Iran, then you should stop writing on this issue because you look like an idiot, like our next entrant in obtuseness: Wonkette.

Wonkette is a liberal zombie blog that divides issues into black and white along liberal zombie lines. While railing against Bill Krystol, whom the blog sees as a rabid Jew lover manipulating American foreign policy to do Israel's bidding (how very original), and his stance on Marack's immoral silence on Iran, Jim Newell writes this little gem of stupid:

Jesus, who knows? Maybe if the “dissidents” actually declare war on the government and organize themselves into a formidable opponent seeking Western alliances, then Obama could say, “Yeah sure, go for it fellas.” Or maybe not. Foreign policy is very hard! But it’s not unreasonable to suggest that publicly siding with those protesters in a big, bold way and renouncing the “sham government” would (a) get all of those protesters labeled as American spies somehow and slaughtered en masse and (b) screw up potential U.S.-Iran negotiations in the future.

I have news for you. If the world does not stand up and find a way to move the lever those people are dead, whether they are labeled American spies or not. These are walking dead people if this movement fails. As far as screwing up potential U.S.-Iran negotiations, since you are not aware, the Khameini government thinks Marack is an evil, lying sack of shit and has already laughed his skinny ass away. There are not going to be any negotiations, unless Marack decides to work to strengthen their regime, and further support their nuclear ambitions, which is exactly what he's doing. But I suppose an enemy of Israel is your friend.

One can help bring reform to Iran without invading it. Again, we're the reason the mullahs run Iran, and we never invaded.

This is what I'm talking about. Wonkletteletubby isn't even dealing with facts, just the object of hate for Krystal. Personally, I think they may want to abuse him sexually in some liberal zombie cult ritual.

But it's all okay now. They support our government standing up for the protesters in a completely useless gesture like House Resolution 60, as long as they can put down Ron Paul (I do agree with them that he is an idiot; you don't get Al-Qaida off your back by complying with their demands). Yes, let's give the Iranian people a lip service resolution, that oughta help.

The last entrant in the parade of What the Hell Are You Talking About? is this little bit from a blog called The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. Keep your shields up, lest the stupid rub off on you:

In short, I think Obama’s public stance will have little impact on events in Iran. I suspect he knows this, and that the real reason behind his approach is a desire to preserve open lines of communication to Ahmadinejad et. al. This strikes me as a perfectly sensible idea because the protesters are very unlikely to succeed, but I can only imagine the outcry from certain quarters if the president came out and said something to the effect of “Look, the demonstrations aren’t going to work, and — like it or not — we’re going to have to negotiate with Ahmadinejad after he restores order.”

As I said, I think this is a perfectly sensible approach. But saying so out loud seems absolutely verboten.

No, saying so out loud isn't verboten, it's just fucking stupid. Yes, let's let the protesters piss in the wind because, well, they're not going to succeed, and we sure wouldn't want to make Igogettajob mad because Marack is this close to getting him to like us and abandon Iran's nuclear ambitions. Clearly your sphincter is cutting off the circulation to your brain.

Since the author has not one fucking clue as to how things work over there, let me explain it. Restoring order means torturing and killing the protesters, and their families. It's like the rule of ancient warfare. When a foreign power defeated its enemy it usually laid waste to the city, killing the men, raping and enslaving the women, burning the city and pissing on the ashes. It will be much the same in Iran. If the government massacres these students there should NO negotiations with Iran on any subject.

Don't you love how the lives of these people are so blithely dismissed? Just so we're clear: if the protests are broken a lot of people are going to die. A lot.

The protesters are not likely to succeed...

Don't you just want to slap people sometimes?

We are surrounded by blowhards, zombies, and appeasers. Where is the middle path?

If the revolt fails, and the streets of Iran run red with blood, how many will flock to the condemn Iran banner, when the West will have just as much blood on its hands? If those kids die it will be for one reason and one reason only; because, as usual, the west is more interested in oil and natural gas than freedom; the same reason Marack wants to break Israel (and because he's a jihadi sympathizer).

The path is made that much harder by obtuse dingdong ideologues passing off their opinion as fact.

I don't know whether this movement can bring down the mullahs or not. I do know that without the West standing up it will be a lot harder, if not impossible, to make it happen, and a lot of young Iranians are going to end up dead. How would you feel if you put your life on the line and the world sat back and watched while your compatriots were slaughtered in the streets. Not too fucking happy I would imagine.

A letter from someone involved in the protests was published at JPost. As usual, decide for yourselves what's right, and what you think should be done, not what I or anyone else tells you. That is power.