Althouse: "I am the absolute winner of the election by a very large margin."

June 12, 2009

"I am the absolute winner of the election by a very large margin."

"It is our duty to defend people’s votes. There is no turning back."

Says Mir Hussein Moussavi, who — one hopes — has ousted Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

17 comments:

Roger J. said...: i do hope that westerners who think who won the the election for president of iran will sway the mullahs who actually run iran.; 6/12/09, 5:19 PM
mccullough said...: This passage was amusing:

"Just after 8 a.m., a set of brown curtains opened and the leader emerged, a gaunt 69-year-old with clunky glasses and a long white beard, with a black turban on his head and a black clerical gown draped around him. The journalists, mostly Iranians, gasped and then chanted a religious blessing."

Iranian journalists aren't any different than American journalists.; 6/12/09, 5:44 PM
Palladian said...: "Iranian journalists aren't any different than American journalists."

Did they ask Moussavi what most enchanted him?; 6/12/09, 5:51 PM
AllenS said...: I'll bet quite a few got a tingle down their leg.; 6/12/09, 5:52 PM
Daryl said...: One radical Islamist stooge of the Guardian Council goes out; another goes in.

Iran does not have free elections, because the regime decides who is allowed to run. The regime uses these elections to distract people from the fact that they don't really have a choice when it comes to the most important issues.; 6/12/09, 5:52 PM
mccullough said...: Palladian

It was actually the ayatollah casting his ballot.; 6/12/09, 5:53 PM
Palladian said...: Oh, they were praying for Khamenei.

Hey, Obama does have a turban.; 6/12/09, 5:54 PM
mccullough said...: Daryl,

The 86 mullahs are sort of just Super Delegates without regular delegates without primary voters.

They're probably what the founders were hoping the electoral college would be.; 6/12/09, 5:56 PM
veni vidi vici said...: The Iranian presidency is like a modified Stroh's beer:

"From one douchebag to another..."; 6/12/09, 6:12 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: On the other hand, State media declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad the winner of Iran's election but challenger Mirhossein Mousavi alleged irregularities and claimed victory for himself.; 6/12/09, 7:13 PM
Anonymous said...: How moderate can the new guy be if the mullahs approved him? Nothing was different under Khatami.

If anything, it's more dangerous to the world to have a nice guy than a wack job, if the policies remain the same.; 6/12/09, 9:51 PM
Once written, twice... said...: Boy, it seems a lot of people on this forum have a stake in Iran not becoming a more moderate political society!

Mousavi has been running on a much more moderate vision for Iran. To me that makes a difference. If he won the election then it says that most Iranians want a more moderate Iran. I would ask those who seem to be threatened by this "that is a bad thing because?"; 6/12/09, 10:54 PM
Peter Hoh said...: I wonder if Norm Coleman's legal team is advising Ahmadinejad on how to delay the inevitable.; 6/13/09, 12:01 AM
traditionalguy said...: L E Lee...The moderate Iranian people are in a Police State with an evil tyrant making all the decisions. But you are correct that it is encouraging that the people want moderation from the evil tyrant over their police state. It's sort of a warm fuzzy feeling that gives Hope to all the people of the world who are soon to be vaporized by Iran's Obama approved Atomic weapons.; 6/13/09, 10:03 AM
Derek Kite said...: L.E.Lee: You have described what I heard called the Beijing Consensus.

Where it works, it works well, in the 'trains run on time' sense.

Where it doesn't work, there is fake elections, fake choice, where the real power center remains regardless of the opinions of the ruled.

Derek; 6/13/09, 2:05 PM
Peter Hoh said...: Obama gets the blame for Iran having nukes? Only if you pretend that Iran's nuclear program began in January, 2009.; 6/13/09, 3:05 PM
Anonymous said...: You must wonder if the Iranian election was run by the St. Louis, MO election commission.

But, can anybody explain why we should give a shit? We've been told it's quite evil to impose our value (I bet Nelson Mandela is happy we didn't believe that back during apartheid) and if Iran wants to keep Pres. Bob in charge, fine.

Serves the lot of them right.; 6/14/09, 8:01 PM