Month: July 2009

Julian Sanchez expected to turn on Obama long ago but hasn't:

His new promise to himself:

I feel exactly the same way. But the saner foreign policy and return of the rule of law keeps me going. And the simple fact of what hasn't happened yet – a second Great Depression. For me, it will come down to entitlement spending and getting out of Iraq. If he cannot make real headway on either, and I fear he won't, he's in trouble.

(Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty.)

— AS

John Bolton on Fred Hiatt's op-ed page today writes:

Ackerman pounces:

Yes, the Israeli bombs will only kill the bad Iranians. When patriotic Iranians of the opposition see Israeli F-16s raining death from above on Iranian targets, Bolton actually expects them to think, “Boom shack-a-lacka! Here come our Israeli liberators! Let them bomb whatever they like, since even though Mir Hussein Moussavi supports a nuclear program as part of a consensus opinion, I believe Israeli propaganda that says it has our best interests at heart! That’ll show Mahmoud Ahmadinejad! Did you hear that, Aunt Marjam? Aunt Marjam…?”

If there’s one thing that a Bush official should understand, it’s that people under attack from a foreign enemy don’t rush to embrace their more moderate leaders.

— CB

A reader writes:

I thought you might want to do a post on the Jadugaran ("magicians"), an Iranian rap crew. One of their members, Deev ("devil/bad spirit") is pretty well known individually.  I think his most famous track is "Dasta Balah (Hands in the Air)," which expresses frustration over life in Iran – Islamic rule, unemployment, rampant heroin addiction, etc – and encourages people to get together to question authority. Another track, "Tasavvor," has a really slick looking video. I think that most of the people involved in these projects are now based in California but grew up in Iran. I read somewhere that Deev's website was blocked in Iran, so he's on the radar – inside the country and out.

Another popular Persian rapper is Hichkas, who Jason Jones profiled in his "Behind The Veil" series for The Daily Show. (Check out one of his music videos here.) He was also featured in a BBC Persian piece on underground music in Iran – a country that officially banned Western music in 1979:

Even in Europe I have heard people listening to [Hichkas]. … Recently, London-based Iranian rapper Reveal went to Iran and the two recorded a track together. … At first [Persian] rapping was really bad – the Persian language does not really sit well on those beats. But in the last five years, lots of underground bands have started experimenting – they have really funny voices, and they try to copy the African-American style of voice.

What is also exciting is the emergence of female rappers – which will particularly upset Ahmedinajad. Two rappers, Salomi and Mani, have interestingly had their pictures put on the internet – without the hijab. That could be quite dangerous for them. … I recently spoke to another female rapper, Nazila, who left home in Iran. She is looking for a group to help her write a song about why girls in Iran run away from home, and the violence and unfairness towards women.

Watch a recent interview with Nazila here. Another prominent female rapper, Farinaz, is featured in the clip embedded above. Iranian-American rapper Weapon X recently made a video tribute for the victims of the civil uprising. This viral video by another Iranian-American has 1.1 million views on YouTube. More popular rap videos here, here, here, and here. (Also, in case you missed it on Monday, we posted a Mental Health Break of a rapping Ahmadinejad.) Any other recommendations?

— CB

Or what the leaders of this foul coup in Iran is doing to them:

He came to my shop around 10.30am. You could tell straight away that he had just been released. His face was bruised all over. His teeth were broken and he could hardly open his eyes. He was not even into politics. He was just an ordinary 18-year-old in the last year of school. Before the election he came to me and asked how he should vote. He looks up to me. His father is an Ahmadinejad supporter.

He had gone home directly after his release, but his father did not let him in. He didn't mention he had been raped. At first, he didn't tell me either. It was the doctor who first noticed it and told me. When he came to my shop he collapsed in a chair. He said he had nowhere to go and asked if he could stay with me. I called a friend of mine who is a doctor to come home and see him. Then I brought him home.

His shoulder blades and arms were wounded. There were some slashes on the face. No bone fractures, but he was bruised all over the body. I wanted to take some photos but he did not let me. The doctor said only four of his teeth were intact, the rest were broken. You could hardly understand what he said. Then the doctor told me what had happened.

He had suffered rupture of the rectum and the doctor feared colonic bleeding. He suggested we take him to the hospital immediately. They registered him under a false name and with somebody else's insurance. The nurses were crying. Two of them asked what sort of beast had beaten him up like that. He was a broken man. He told us not to waste our money on him, and that he would kill himself.

The rest of his story is here. The Guardian's vital attempt to get a record of those now detained, tortured or murdered is here. Do what you can.

— AS

Lara Setrakian tweets:

Andrew recently stated, "The Tehran regime does not have a record of waterboarding." Could this then be a new development? If so, Ahmadinejad will clearly want to invoke the "Americans did it first!" argument. Sadly, he would be right – regardless of the fact that Iran's torture record is far more brutal and far less justifiable than Cheney's. But he and Yoo have blurred the bright line forever.

— CB

I wish I knew that the answer was categorically not. But we've learned the hard way that the Obama Department of Justice can defend things it doesn't allegedly believe in, using arguments from the far right of the Bush administration. Well, as Chris Good explains, we may soon find out:

— AS

India legalizes gay sex. I think that liberates more gay men and women in one fell swoop than ever before in human history. It's not equality, of course. And homophobia is still rife. But it's a big, big deal if you care about human rights and human dignity:

A bench of Chief Justice Ajit Prakash Shah and Justice S Muralidhar said that if not amended, section 377 of the IPC would violate Article 21 of the Indian constitution, which states that every citizen has equal opportunity of life and is equal before law. The court said that this judgement will hold till Parliament chooses to amend the law. "In our view Indian Constitutional law does not permit the statutory criminal law to be held captive by the popular misconception of who the LGBTs (lesbian gay bisexual transgender) are… It cannot be forgotten that discrimination is antithesis of equality and that it is the recognition of equality which will foster dignity of every individual," the bench said in its 105-page judgement.

— AS.

Some footage from my Aspen chat with Ta-Nehisi on blogging:

— AS

A reader writes:

Do you really not get why the Republican Base could be livid at Monica Lewinsky using the flag for a prop at one photo shoot and yet not be distressed even a little bit when Sarah Palin literally wraps herself in one for another? For them, it has to do with "respecting" the flag and what it stands for. While Lewinsky was (in their eyes) showing disrespect at best and contempt at worst for both the flag and those that revere it, Palin wrapping herself in it is literally displaying almost fetishistic worship. That's why to them the fact that she may have made an inadvertent faux pas because she did not understand all of the arcane rules about how the flag is to be handled is not only not a big deal, it's actually sort of charming.

Remember that these people see the flag as a symbol not just of America but of their particular ideology. It's the difference between a Jew using an Israeli Flag as a tent and an Arab using an Israeli Flag as a floor mat. That's how the far right sees the difference between, say, Palin and Michelle Obama.

Bainbridge sees the retail giant's embrace of employer mandates as part of a long history of sucking at the government teat:

— AS