The Dish

An Iranian reader reacts to news of two executed protesters:

Arash Rahmanipour was first seen in the show trials admitting to being a member of a made up/never heard of Monarchist group. He had been under unbelievable pressure to confess to this silly story of being part of a terrorist plot, he refused, so they arrested his pregnant sister and sat her in front of him and told him she wont be released until he confesses. So he does and they execute him this morning along side Mohammaed Reza Alizamani, who was arrested on unrelated charges back in March!!! but they accused him of taking part in Ashoura protests (while he was actually in jail!!)

You see the strategy is an obvious one: start with the people who are the weakest links, some obscure monarchist group and not directly related to the reformist/Mousavi's camp or the greens, that way it would make it harder politically for Mousavi or Karoubi to defend them. Then they will advance. This is, in their mind, also the best way to send a message about Feb 11th that if you are arrested on that day, you could be executed. The combination of desperation and cruelty.

Auckland, New Zealand, 6.11 pm

First a revolt against Palin for supporting McCain's reelection, now this:

[A]ccording to Tea Party insiders, the [$549] tickets for the Palin banquet aren't selling—and some conservative activists who have already paid to attend are now demanding refunds. With the controversial event shaping up to be a potential flop, some Tea Partiers are urging Palin to cancel her speech to avoid a humiliating public relations disaster. […] Palin will be paid $115,000 to address the attendees—as they dine on steak or lobster. To some Tea Partiers, this lavish affair sounds suspiciously like an exclusive GOP fundraiser and a betrayal of their grassroots movement.

Liz Cheney's outfit releases another attack on the administration, this one scheduled to air on FNC and MSNBC:

Democracy Arsenal thoroughly fisks the propaganda.

"There was no room on our team for charlatans who believed in sleep deprivation, inducing hypothermia, stress positions, face slapping, forced nudity, water boarding, blaring heavy metal music, or other amateurish, ineffective and ethically flawed tricks," – retired Army Col. Stuart Herrington, a veteran interrogator who ran secret operations in Vietnam, Panama, and the Gulf War.

A remarkable story of survival:

"To understand the State of the Union, we must look not only at where we are and where we’re going but where we’ve been. The situation at this time last year was truly ominous. […] First, we must understand what’s happening at the moment to the economy. Our current problems are not the product of the recovery program that’s only just now getting under way, as some would have you believe; they are the inheritance of decades of tax and tax, and spend and spend. […] The only alternative being offered to this economic program is a return to the policies that gave us a trillion-dollar debt, runaway inflation, runaway interest rates and unemployment," Ronald Reagan, in his first SOTU address.

The attempt by the right to deny their own legacy is brazen even by their recent standards. That commentators should echo this double-standard is just pathetic.

In my view, Obama and the Democrats should have hammered day after day after day at the appalling legacy they were bequeathed; and the media, instead of giving these hypocrties and opportunists a platform, should have demanded at every moment that they also account for their own responsibility for the crisis we are in. That the WSJ would give Karl Rove a platform to inveigh against debt with no acknowledgment of his own role in amassing so much of it in order to bribe seniors and other favored constituencies, just reveals their own abdication of fairness in favor of rank, mindless partisanship

Timothy Kincaid summarizes the final day of testimony. During the cross of the defense’s final witness:

[David] Blankenhorn agreed that same-sex marriage would provide a large number of benefits including more committed relationships, less promiscuity, higher living standards, reduced burden on the state, less prejudice and hate crimes, more scholarship and discussion on the value of marriage, an expansion of the American idea, and less heterosexual marital unhappiness due to gay people heterosexually marrying.

He even agreed that civil unions and domestic partnerships harmfully blur the distinctions of marriage.

But he believes that same-sex marriage will harm the institution of marriage. Boies asked him to indicate in his list of references which scholars make this claim, he included Alan Carlson from the Howard Center (an ultra-conservative think tank) and Maggie Gallagher. (It’s amazing how circular the anti-gay argument is. They all rely on each other for validation of their opinion with little to no actual research.)

Another interesting moment:

[Blankenhorn] admitted that previously to 100 years ago, 83% of societies were polygamous. But Blankenhorn doesn’t think that polygamy violates the rule of two because it is a bunch of separate one-man-one-woman marriages. (This is, I believe, a distinction without a difference. It is the fallback position for those who try and imply that marriage has always been the 1950s nuclear family in the face of incredulous historians.)

Talbot provides more background on Blankenhorn. My own experience of him is that he is a sincere, decent and unprejudiced man, deeply conflicted on this issue. The trial transcripts are here.

Slate readers suggest some strategies:

Seventh runner-up: George W. Bush, Crawford, Texas (as imagined by Michael W. Price): Declare that the U.S. is at war with the forces of Death and Disease. Seek a joint resolution stating the same. Scare up support by telling voters they're all going to die. Have the office of legal counsel draft a memo declaring that the president has the inherent and unfettered authority to protect the nation against the evil "Duo of Demise." Implement the preferred version of health care reform through a secret executive order and pay for it with the 2010 war supplemental. Repeat as needed.