So do all liberals and conservatives hate fucking Ahma-nutjob over there in Iran?

[cagesoulman]

Could that be the one freaking issue we all agree on?

[Zynx]

1. I know there is no sensible way a progressive can express any support for Ahmadfucktard.

He's a bigoted, homophobic, war-mongering, fascist nut-job who supports continued oppression of women and media censorship. The fact a liberal could ever express a twinge of support for him or his supporters is beyond me.

[JVS]

9. I don't like him, but I'd rather see him retain control of an organized Iran than see a war zone...

of fragmenting states spreading from Jordan to India If Iran collapses, and Pakistan keeps teetering, that is what the area will be, and that's no good.

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

2. I doubt it

Conservatives love him because they need a enemy. They want Obama to have to deal with him so they can criticize his every move.

And some liberals here seem willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. Why, I have no clue.

[cagesoulman]

6. Yeah, but they hate the guy in principle.

You make a good point, though.

[Warpy]

3. The potential replacements are just about as bad

if you look at the careers that got them where they are.

In addition, the kids wearing green say they have no intention of overturning the council of mullahs. They just want an end to the oppression of youth, especially of women.

In other words, they want their toys and they want to date, but they like their country just fine otherwise.

Whatever shakes out in Iran, we're unlikely to approve of it much more than we approve of President Potato (as he's called by bloggers there).

However, they would likely have moderated years ago had a swaggering fake cowboy not cheated his way into leading our government.

I think we at DU know just how they feel in Iran. They were just a lot clumsier stealing the election there, easier to trace.

[marybourg]

7. I heard at least one say to a PBS reporter

that they want better relations with the US and that they want to join the community of nations.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. I have no particular hatred for Ahmadinejad.

Nor do I think he is evil incarnate, a bogeyman, or really any of our business. I do feel sympathy for the Iranian people, stuck with a vile fundamentalist and now most likely anti-democratic government. The fact that you cannot even type Ahmadinejad's name says a lot about you. Ahmadinejad is no more vile, in my opinion, than quite a few upstanding leaders of the Republican Party and its christian mullahs.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Damned by faint praise

If not being worse than Religion, Inc. is the mark, then that isn't a hard to set of standards to beat. I can't think of a current elected Republican who's on Ahmadinejad's level. Tom Delay's gone. Bush and Cheney are gone.

Ahmadinejad's a mean, abrasive little popinjay, and he thrives on bigotry and serves a deeply ugly theocracy.

When one finds such agreement across the political spectrum, there might be something to it.

He hasn't just done his duty and done what's best for his people, he has aggressively stirred up trouble and enabled extreme tyranny.

[Warren Stupidity]

11. Really? Can't think of one.

How about Grassley Brownback Roberts Bunning McConnel Vitter ... and everyone else in the 100% score for the Christian Coaltion (2008 out of date here: http://www.cc.org/files/3/2008_Scorecard_8_5x14.pdf).

The Dominionists were one USSC vote short of a majority and control over all branches of government when things fell apart for them in 2006.

How about the unelected leadership: Rush Coulter Malkin Beck O'Reilly Hanity etc.? Nothing to see there?

[PurityOfEssence]

12. OK, point taken

That's a pretty formidable list, alright. I guess the delightful demise of some of the serious skunks in the last few years has me a bit more hopeful than I should be.

It's also an open question what they'd do if in Ahmadinejad's position; they might rise to the occasion. Still, these are politicians in a fairly stable political environment, not ones in a post-revolutionary mess like Iran.

You left out Coburn, by the way; he's a scary fuck.

I agree that we only marginally dodged a bullet with the reactionary theocrats of the last 8 years, and I'm also VERY aware that they're not done with us yet. What causes me to comment here is that Ahmadinejad is a bit "special": he really is a rotter. The thread-starter DID come up with a good point: he's someone that both sides of our political divide seem to dislike evenly. The joke is that the reactionary theocrats on our side don't understand how much like him they really are. That's the "fun" of close-mindedness: they just hate "other", regardless how much the other's mindset is the same as theirs.

[Buzz Clik]

5. When he was elected the first time, the neocons refused to talk to him. He was empowered.

Are we willing to empower him further?

[anonymous171]

8. Neocons like him. He's their boogeyman

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

13. Definitely One Issue The Overwhelming Majority From Both Sides Agree On. A Rare Issue.

[cagesoulman]

14. That's what I thought

Greetings and all that, OPERATIONMINDCRIME

[annabanana]

16. Like many RW demagogues, his base of support isn't in the cities...

isn't among the young, or the educated, or the women...


sound familiar?

[WeDidIt]

15. Nope, the neo-cons want him in power

and far left loons think it's great he's still in power.

[LWolf]

17. I don't hate anybody.

I'd rather agree to evolve beyond hate.

[Fumesucker]

18. I don't hate Ahmedinnerjacket..

And I'm pretty far to the left, even on DU.

There's only one person I hate right now but it's entirely personal and has nothing to do with politics at all.

I'm also trying to cleanse myself of that hate but with only limited success at the moment.

[BuyingThyme]

19. For the Pukes, he's just the latest Hitler for them to fear as instructed by Limbaugh et al.

It gets a little more complex with normal people.

[LAGC]

20. He's a conservative, why wouldn't they like him?

Keep women in their place, very religiously devout... what is there not for a conservative to like?

[cagesoulman]

22. He's a frigging Holocaust denier and wants nukes to get at Israel

I figured most of us are against that, even the conservatives who claim to be more pro-Israel than most.

[Hippo_Tron]

21. Nope, the right wingers were actually rooting for him and have said so

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/06/12/right-wing-neocons-rootin_n_214698.html

And even if it makes no difference on foreign policy, the fact is that Moussavi supports women's rights and Ahmadinejad doesn't. That's enough for me...