Re: Iranian election. I 100% support the protesters and show solidarity with the Iranian people in their quest for democracy. However, I have read some neoconservative arguments in the past few days condemning Obama's "tepid" response and calling for greater American intervention in Iran. And I really feel like banging my head against the wall. Things like Krauthammer's column on Iran in the Washington Post and Mike Pence's resolution in the House show how remarkably unnuanced neoconservative foreign policy is.

I feel that the assumption that these Iranian protesters are pro-America, secular revolutionaries who are desperate for the U.S. to intervene is inaccurate. Most of the protesters belong to well-educated elites who are just as outraged by past U.S. intervention in Iran as Ahmadinejad's supporters. Some are still feeling the effects of chemical traces from the dual use technology and chemical weapons during the Iran-Iraq War, and most all students in Iran know about the CIA-orchestrated coup of Mossadegh. On top of that, most of the protesters are looking to reform the Islamic Republic and return it to its basic 1979 Revolution principles, not to topple it. So to depict these people as pro-Western secular revolutionaries who want the Muslim clerics overthrown is a stretch.

I think Obama's balanced approach has been appropriate. He is correct to condemn violence and suppression by the Iranian government (we should do so), but any more overly enthusiastic support of the protesters and depictions of them as wanting American support for their cause would likely empower the clerical regime, NOT the protesters. The mullahs would like nothing more than to use American confrontational words to delegitimize the concerns of the Iran reform movement and to justify even harsher suppression of dissent. Moreover, as I stated in the previous paragraph, the American cheer leading, no matter how genuinely benevolent, would likely be viewed just as suspiciously by the reformers and could potentially cause rifts in their movement and their quest for change.

In short, I think it is important for us lay people to show solidarity with the Iranian protesters, but let's not get too carried away with the U.S. interventionism. Obama may be better-liked in the Muslim world than past Presidents, but the U.S. really does not have that much credibility in the region as of yet. We cannot risk making the reformers in Iran look like American puppets.

Holy shit!

Best comeback AND the best sports game I have watched in awhile. To make up a 7-point deficit in the 7th and 8th inning and then to win it in the bottom of the 9th is just incredible. I actually thought for sure that we would lose after Dice-K struggled so much for most of the game.

The Red Sox always surprise me in the end. Ortiz is mostly on point when we look as though we are sucking badly (otherwise he is very inconsistent), but um... good thing he and J.D. redeemed us that late in the game with their homes.

My friend Tim and I started a webcomic a long time ago, but we didn't make any new strips for nearly two years. Well, now we are back! If you want to read our webcomic, visit suburb_vacation or add us as a friend if you like.


( A sample of some of our strips... )

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