"Oh Dear, How Inconvenient For The White House," June 16, 2009

[Captain_Nemo]

Someone sent me this article today and I was shocked that I didn't know about the debate.....


Oh Dear, How Inconvenient For The White House UK Telegraph

TUESDAY, 16TH JUNE 2009

Excerpt:


"But looking at what has happened over the past few tumultuous days, it seems clear that what has brought these hundreds of thousands of people onto the streets – some estimates put the number at between one and two million – and in an act of awesome courage defy the might of the Iranian state and the feared basiji is the passionate desire for freedom. Particularly among the women.

It was no small matter that the election campaign suddenly took off when the lacklustre Mousavi held up a picture of his wife, Zahra Rahnavard. For it is Rahnavard, not Mousavi, who is the galvanising element, the icon for the Iranians of freedom and reform. Holding a PhD in political science, a writer and sculptor and a political adviser to the former president Mohammad Khatami, she promised to eliminate discrimination against women, abolish the ‘morality police’ and ‘help the youth to think freely'. ‘Getting rid of discrimination and demanding equal rights with men is the number one priority for women in Tehran’, she has said. And when Ahmadinejad, rattled by her popularity, used a televised debate between the candidates to query the legitimacy of her doctorate, her response was to threaten to sue him, and to accuse him of lying, debasing women and abusing his office. ‘I will not relax until I teach him a lesson,’ she said.

That electrifying display of resistance to the regime – and by a woman, no less -- brought young women in their droves to the polling booths and onto the streets. They want an end to the oppression of women. The people want an end to the oppression generally, the dissidents rotting in prison or strung up on cranes, the terror under which they all have to live. And they want an end to the crisis with America and the west. They want an end to being the pariah of the world."

http://www.spectator.co.uk/melaniephillips/3700526/oh-dear-how-inconvenient-for-the-white-house.thtml

[BlooInBloo]

1. Pssst.... It's not about us.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

2. Wow......

The author of that piece sure doesn't like President Obama.

I had no knowledge of Zahra Rahnavard. That's an eye-opener.



Could there be anything more frightening to those vile old clerics and those opportunistic civilian fuckers than a woman who wants to change things and give women all the rights of men?

Interesting that this angle isn't being mentioned, but to lay all the author did on Obama is just an incorrect reading of what he's done so far, in my opinion. She does seem to have a very loaded agenda.

But, that's a very informative article, for the most part. Thank you............

[karynnj]

12. She blasted Blair in September 2004 for not being sufficiently PRO-war

http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?m=200409

Her hatred of Obama is really out of line with the archived articles.

[Tarheel_Dem]

18. There's good reason, according to Wiki....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Phillips

Political views

The BBC has said that Phillips "is regarded as one of the media's leading right-wing voices" and a "controversial" columnist,although she defines herself as a progressive and a defender of liberal democracy. She began her career on the liberal left with the Guardian newspaper, and her gradual drift to the centre-right of the political spectrum has been mirrored by her journalistic career: she now writes for the Daily Mail. She has used her Daily Mail columns and her blog to discuss, amongst other issues, progressive teaching methods, science, Islam, anti-semitism, and Israeli policy; to criticise civil partnerships for same-sex couples; and to support strict anti-drug policies. She has questioned Barack Obama's connections with what, she describes as, "transformational Marxists". She has written "in support" of Geert Wilders, who she says is being criminalised "for telling the truth".

[Tangerine LaBamba]

20. Ahhh........

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

It's eternally a case of eternal vigilance, in every way, isn't it?

Nice catch ................

:toast:

[pinto]

3. Whoa. This author conflates a neutral stance in emerging foriegn policy events into an epic fail.

Obviously an Opinion piece, yet what a piece of crap.

[Captain_Nemo]

4. Neutral stance? You Can't be Neutral on a Moving Train - Howard Zinn

The information in the article about the women is informative. Information we are not getting in the US.

Clearly, the women are are the epicenter of the revolution.

[EFerrari]

10. First, Iran's internal problems are not an embarrassment for Obama.

It's his job to engage whatever regime is in power for the benefit of not only our country but the region where we have so much at stake.

Second, the information about how women are on the forefront of this situation is out there but not in the corporate media. Link and similar venues has been putting it out faithfully on Amy's show, on Mosaic and on Grit TV. You're right that it should be front and center but for that, we'd need a revolution here, too.

[pinto]

11. The role of women in this movement was all over CNN today. Pretty well done for the MSM.

Christiane Amanpour hosted a number of female Iranian ex-pats today, on the role of women in the events, and a CNN anchor, earlier, had a young Iranian ex-pat blogger on with updates from her internet contacts in Iran.

[EFerrari]

19. I worked all day. Was it? This should be the world's worst kept secret.

The women of Iran may help the whole region in a profound way. :hi:

[JDPriestly]

5. I strongly disagree with Melanie Phillips. Obama is doing the right

thing. He should remain on the sidelines, watch how things develop, let others support the Iranian protesters. This is a watch and see situation because Mousavi is also not to be trusted. Regardless of how progressive his wife may be with regard to women's rights, Mousavi was a powerful figure in the government of Iran in the 1980s. He does not have a progressive record. Obama can be civil to him, but may end up dealing with Ahmadinejhad in spite of these protests. The stakes are too high. Obama is smart to stay neutral on the sidelines.

[karynnj]

9. She never criticized Bush in 2002/2003 or in 2004

She did criticize Blair in September 2004 - for NOT being pro-war enough and explaining that Saddam needed to be removed. http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?m=200409

[EFerrari]

6. Nice right wing cr2p!

[karynnj]

7. Look at her 2002 - 2004 pieces

There was a series of links that gets to all her articles. Starting in September 2002, I looked for a similar warning on Iraq - apparently, she found no reason to caution either Bush or her own Prime Minister on it - I looked through May 2002 - nada. Then I thought maybe she would have commented on the US 2004 election - no, and I looked from December 2003 on.

What I did find was that in September 2004, she blasted Blair on Iraq - for not making the case that Saddam was dangerous! Here is that piece - http://www.melaniephillips.com/articles-new/?m=200409

This is another neo-con. The weird thing looking over all those articles is the complete vitriol she spews against Obama. She really ignored the US in the time periods I looked at them.

[Selatius]

8. If the US interferes too heavily, it might actually backfire in a catastrophic way.

One way could be that the Iranian regime would simply broadbrush the entire protest movement as a puppet of the US after the US starts meddling inside Iran. They would start a propaganda blitz to "prepare the field." Once they get the meme out into the population that the protest movement is nothing more than American-backed dissidents, they can then claim they are defending their national sovereignty from attack by the US.

How would they do that? By doing what China did in 1989. Crushing the protesters with brutal military force:

[nini]

21. exactly

.

[elleng]

13. I will not relax until I teach him a lesson.

:thumbsup:

[Flabbergasted]

14. Is this woman the British equivalent of a neocon? not sure.....

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melanie_Phillips

The BBC has said that Phillips "is regarded as one of the media's leading right-wing voices" and a "controversial" columnist,<4> although she defines herself as a progressive and a defender of liberal democracy.<5> She began her career on the liberal left<3> with the Guardian newspaper, and her gradual drift to the centre-right of the political spectrum has been mirrored by her journalistic career: she now writes for the Daily Mail. She has used her Daily Mail columns and her blog to discuss, amongst other issues, progressive teaching methods,<6> science,<7> Islam,<8> anti-semitism, and Israeli policy;<9> to criticise civil partnerships for same-sex couples;<10> and to support strict anti-drug policies.<11> She has questioned Barack Obama's connections with what, she describes as, "transformational Marxists".<12> She has written "in support" of Geert Wilders, who she says is being criminalised "for telling the truth". <13>

[MADem]

15. This writer is a total asshole. Yes Rahnavard is a galvanizer, but

she has been campaigning with her husband ALL ALONG. She's well known for her flowered scarves under her chador. She's very outspoken. They are a "twofer" couple and most people think she's mellowed him (he was a tough bastard in his youth).

Also, at the debates, Ahmadi (the crazy fucker) held up a FILE -- a big thick thing -- and told Mousavi that it was about his .... HANOOOOOOOOOOOM (wife). He said it like she was an axe murderer.

That pissed people off. That helped switch a lot of votes (that and the fact that Ahmadi sounded mentally ill in parts of his arguments).

UK Telegraph is hardly a liberal bastion. It's only natural that they'd dislike Obama, no matter what he does or does not do. One must consider the source.

[Beacool]

16. Zahra Rahnavard is quite a remarkable woman.

Having the courage to speak up for women's rights and confront Ahmadinejad is nothing but gutsy. I hope that nothing bad happens to her and Mousavi.

:-)

[Number23]

17. I'm all for women being the heart of this resistance and I stand with them

But how in the world anyone can jump to the conclusion that this is somehow an "embarrassment" for Obama is too asinine for words.