Who's Who In The Iran Elections? If Ahmadinejad Is Bobby Jindal, Then Mousavi Is Susan Collins

Superficial western media has decided that anyone is better than current Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad so they've labeled his opponents all "reformers." The only real reform candidate, from a western perspective, is Mehdi Karroubi, a former speaker of the Majlis (Iran's Parliament). Mohsen Rezaei is even a crazier, more right wing sociopath than Ahmadinejad. He thinks Ahmadinejad is a softy! Mir-Hossein Mousavi, a former prime minister, is a mainstream conservative. So in American terms, think of Ahmadinejad as Bobby Jindal or Eric Cantor; Mohsen Rezaei as Michele Bachmann, Dick Cheney or Ann Coulter; Mir-Hossein Mousavi would be like Susan Collins or Ben Nelson; and Mehdi Karroubi more like... well, not quite Bernie Sanders or Donna Edwards... maybe Pete DeFazio or John Kerry.

It looks like there was a record turn-out, maybe 32 million voters (70-80%). Immediately after counting started both Ahmadinejad and Mousavi claimed victory. Then it all disappeared into a black box-- not unlike Bush's 2000 "victory." Apparently Ahmadinejad is being declared the winner. There are rumors that Mousavi and Karroubi have been taken into custody by the intelligence department (allies of Ahmadinejad). There's certainly going to be a big let down in Iran, especially in Tehran where people are very aware that whatever semblance of democracy there was, was a farce. Sad day for Iran!




UPDATE: Light Rioting

At least a few Tehranis took to the streets to protest the theft of their national elections. Recall that when Bush-Cheney stole the 2000 election the only sound that could be heard was Joe Lieberman congratulating them. And in 2004 when Rove had the elections rigged in Ohio... crickets. No one in Iran believes that Ahmadinejad wound up with 62.6% of the vote. Juan Cole offers some evidence (kind of) that the Iranian election was fixed. Too bad the U.S. lost the ability to take the high moral ground after we just yawned as Bush stole our own elections twice.

Riot police clashed with supporters of presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi in the center of the city Saturday evening after the government declared that he had been defeated in a landslide by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Tear gas and batons were used by police to battle angry crowds, a bus was set on fire and explosions were heard in the distance.

On some streets, the protesters pushed back the riot police. Women wrapped their headscarves around their faces to ward off the tear gas. Stones were thrown at the police.

Mousavi, a former prime minister who waged a heated campaign against Ahmadinejad's bid for reelection, urged his supporters to reject a "governance of lie and dictatorship." He attributed the results to widespread vote fraud and vowed to resist a "dangerous manipulation" of the balloting.

Apparently Mousavi isn't under arrest or in detention (or is he?) and he's calling the election theft "treason." The Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khameni, an Ahmadinejad partisan, blessed the voter fraud and called on everyone to shut up and back the results. Another Ahmadinejad partisan, Iranian Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli-- the Katherine Harris or Ken Blackwell of this election-- charged with counting the votes, dismissed, out of hand, accusations of massive fraud. Ironically, among the biggest winners in this were the far right Israelis and their treacherous AIPAC backers in America who want to "deflect U.S. pressure to endorse the creation of a Palestinian state and freeze the construction of Jewish settlements in the West Bank."