Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

No offense, but this thread hasn’t been about you for quite a while.

No one could have predicted…

If you are still in the gop, you are either an extremist yourself, or in bed with those who are.

It’s a good piece. click on over. but then come back!!

He imagines himself as The Big Bad, Who Is Universally Feared… instead of The Big Jagoff, Who Is Universally Mocked.

The gop is a fucking disgrace.

We need to vote them all out and restore sane Democratic government.

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Shallow, uninformed, and lacking identity

“Cheese and Kraken paired together for the appetizer trial.”

You don’t get rid of your umbrella while it’s still raining.

Found liable for massive fraud, is required to post a massive bond, gets a break, then files a *fraudulent* bond!

Republican speaker of the house Mike Johnson is the bland and smiling face of evil.

Never forget that he train is barreling down on Trump, even as he dances on the tracks.

I’m just a talker, trying to find a channel!

Republicans: The threats are dire, but my tickets are non-refundable!

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

Washington Post’s Catch and Kill, not noticeably better than the Enquirer’s.

Fight for a just cause, love your fellow man, live a good life.

If marriage is the equivalent of selling yourself into slavery, women with self respect should reject the offer.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

Republicans firmly believe having an abortion is a very personal, very private decision between a woman and J.D. Vance.

Cole is on a roll !

Too often we hand the biggest microphones to the cynics and the critics who delight in declaring failure.

You are here: Home / Foreign Affairs / Something Is Going On In Iran: Calls For Second Day of Protests

Something Is Going On In Iran: Calls For Second Day of Protests

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I was out and about and offline most of the day and am just now getting caught up with the day’s news. Apparently there were anti-government protests across Iran today.

And there are now calls for a second day of protests on 30 December 2017.

I honestly am not sure what to make of what is going on. The last time we saw protests like this they led to no actual changes and the organizers manipulated imagery by shooting pictures and videos from multiple angles, using forced perspective, and even using pictures and videos from protests in other parts of the Middle East to try to convince non-Iranians that far more activity of far greater consequence was occurring. I’ll keep tracking this tomorrow and will update if anything significant occurs. These types of popular protests often (usually) don’t go anywhere, but the times when they do they tend to move very fast and catch everyone flat footed. Not least the governments they seek to overturn.

ETA:

I highly recommend this thread by Karim Sadjadpour. Lot of good information in it.

Stay frosty!

 

 

Reader Interactions

38Comments

  1. 1.

    Mary G

    I was hoping you would write something on this. I wish the Republicans would quit encouraging Iranian people and just keep their noses out. One difference I’ve seen with some of the videos on Twitter is that a few older women seem to be there protesting, not just a lot of young men.

  2. 2.

    Gravenstone

    You just know that the underlying antipathy will lead Trump to say something suitably stupid, thus becoming a useful foil for the Mullahs. And with a hollowed out State Department, we’re basically just left as spectators.

  3. 3.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    So count down to Trump McDumb arse to start mouthing off and accidentally boost the Mullahs? Because in a conservatwats black and white world view ALL Muslims = bad.

  5. 5.

    Adam L Silverman

    @Gravenstone: The State Department statement was okay.

  7. 7.

    Adam L Silverman

    I highly recommend this thread, lot of good information in it:

  10. 10.

    Mike J

    Urgh. Ok, I have about 2-3 hours [1] left of coding left on a process that has to run at 9ampst tomorrow, Testing? What’s that? Why am I on a blog? Because a five minute break from thinking can help. Ok. Not thinking. Lalala.

    [1] If my first guess of how it works is right about 1 hour. I usually plan for being very wrong.

  21. 21.

    CarolDuhart2

    I’m here, at least. Terribly cold here, without wind. First day of retirement is going to be so quiet and dull, grocery shopping is the only thing I want to do. Planning to hole up for the cold and frozen week ahead and luxuriate in the fact I don’t have to go anywhere I do’n’t want to go anymore.

    Cat doesn’t realize yet she has a new full-time roommate in me, and the long uninterrupted hours of sleeping on my bed will now cease.

  22. 22.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @CarolDuhart2:

    Congratulations on your retirement. Enjoy! I retired four years ago. As a naturally indolent person, I found that my worst enemy was lack of structure to the day, so I’ve forced myself to make “appointments” for various projects that will take me out of the house. But I do love being able to turn over and go back to sleep when I want to :-)

  23. 23.

    OzarkHillbilly

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    But I do love being able to turn over and go back to sleep when I want to

    I’m jealous. I can’t even do that at 1 AM. Insomnia is like that :-(

  24. 24.

    patrick II

    @SiubhanDuinne:

    I retired some time back and also missed some structure. So, I started taking some courses at the local junior college. It is interesting talking to people of another generation. I mentioned to my wife that one of the courses I was looking at this coming semester was “women’s studies”. She says she thinks that would be a very good idea. I think she’s trying to tell me something.

  26. 26.

    SiubhanDuinne

    @patrick II:
    That’s great! I’ve taken a couple of courses as well, and during various political campaigns have volunteered on the voter protection/poll-watching side of things. Expect to be far more involved in getting folks registered and to the polls for the 2018 primaries, midterms and runoffs. I spend two or three afternoons a week at the library working on a writing project, and I’m about to start administering my late cousin’s estate, which will take some time. Would love to carve out more time for classes, but that will probably have to wait until 2019. Have fun with “Women’s Studies — this is a most interesting time to take such a course!

  27. 27.

    CarolDuhart2

    I’ve been asked to work on voter ID issues. No word on when that will commence-probably sometime this spring. I also have 3 blogs I can now get some content onto.

    But just being able to have basically a four day weekend with no rush this weekend feels great. No more calling in, excuses or anything.

    Reduced income has been googling for transfer payments, and it looks like I will qualify for heat, food, and senior employment.

  28. 28.

    CarolDuhart2

    Taking courses sounds great. I hope I can find some free or very cheap ones eventually-especially cheap or free writing ones.

    If I were an Iranian who was disgruntled, I would be suspicious of an immediate demand for regime change. That’s the first thing the opposition to change would want-unprepared revolutionaries who have no idea and understanding about how tumultous change can be. That path leads to mindless violence and ultimately terrorism. Revolution is really a last resort after a real attempt to make changes in the system.

    Remember the Founding Fathers did not start out with a demand for revolution, but a demand for representation and reform. It was only after the system proved non-responsive and even hostile, that revolution was on the table. And by then, everyone else could see it too.

  29. 29.

    p.a.

    Dead thread? Anyhooo… living through an age when we will see what effects different types of modern communication will have on protest/change movements. Not much difference between 18th century handbills and broadsides and 20th c samizdat, but airwaves changed things for sure. Hitler on the radio. VoA. Rwandan radio. Fox News/hate radio. Now intertubes; Arab Spring, BLM, white supremacists in US and Europe. How will the current events in Iran play out, and will effective use of tech make a difference for the forces of change or of oppression? Chinese gvt seems to be succeeding at channelling info into acceptable applications, but if their economy slips sharply, what happens? Looking at Fox News/hate radio, it doesn’t require gvt resources to be effective info manipulator (but do Fox’s crap demographics counter this argument?)

  30. 30.

    Cheryl Rofer

    Other good people to follow are Suzanne Maloney

    and Golnaz Esfandiari.

  31. 31.

    mike in dc

    There have been demands for change for decades in Iran. All have gone unheeded or resisted by the theocrats. The more brutal the crackdowns are, the more brutal the revolution will ultimately be. The people who protested the Shah now have grandchildren of college age. Pretty sure a lot of them don’t want their great-grandchildren to live under the mullahs.

  32. 32.

    Cheryl Rofer

    What I’m reading in the expert commentary is that this isn’t likely to be a revolution. It started as a protest against unfavorable economic conditions not improving as much as the Iranian people were told they would with the nuclear agreement. There is a political edge, but mostly dissatisfaction with economic conditions. Most likely outcome is that the government will put down the demonstrations and they will subside.

    Some speculation that the IRGC started the demonstrations to get back at Rouhani, who they think is too “liberal.”

    Iranians are well aware how the “Arab Awakening” has gone and will be cautious about going too far.

    Sarah Sanders tweeted in support of the demonstrators last night, and then Trump cut and pasted the same message into a tweet. American support will put some Iranians off the demonstrations and can ultimately undermine the demonstrators. It would be better if the US administration let it go after those messages.

  33. 33.

    woodrowfan

    @CarolDuhart2: Sounds nice! My wife is one year and 1 day away from retirement. (if she takes it, I bet she will)> I just started a new career a few years ago so I’m not there. But it sure looks tempting sometimes…. :) I hope your retirement is long, happy, and healthy..

  34. 34.

    Kristine

    @CarolDuhart2: Congratulations! I’m in Year 4, and still relishing the fact that I don’t have to return to That Place ever again.

    That said, busy enough that I wonder how I found time to fit in the day job. Signed up to be an election judge in 2018, too. Also rejoined Sierra Club and worked with the state level lobbying team. Definitely stepping out of my introvert comfort zone, but it is rewarding and educationsl.

  35. 35.

    Another Scott

    @Kristine: (Probably told here before:)

    My dad joked after he retired that he needed to get a part-time job so that he would have some free time.

    J and I are still a few years away (at a minimum), but there are days / weeks / months at work when it seems like paradise off in the distance, calling to us… (sigh)

    Enjoy your retirement, everyone.

    Cheers,
    Scott.

  36. 36.

    Kristine

    @Another Scott: It can be a great time to get in touch with things you love and enjoy. And sometimes, you surprise yourself. I was never much of a gardener, but that changed over the last few years. Now I’m looking into signing up for a Master Gardener program, which includes volunteer work in state parks and/or other outdoor spaces.

  37. 37.

    No One You Know

    I’m hanging in the zone–too young to retire, too long unemployed to easily get back. After 6 months of the soul-sucking job search process, I put my energy into the novel. Grateful every day to the spousal unit!

    Looking forward to having enough edited and together for my first writers group reading in January.

  38. 38.

    Uncle Omar

    @Cheryl Rofer: Let’s just hope that the CIA isn’t involved in this. They did Mossadegh as a favor to Churchill and British Petroleum in the 50’s and we’re still paying for that. If Trump opens his mouth–or his twitler–the mullahs will hearken back to the good old days of Allen Dulles and Kermit Roosevelt and it will be another 100 years before Iran can get rid of the theocrats.

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