A "vote of confidence" = sign of trouble; notable moment in human history; Khamenei's problem; Barack's irrelevance

AP:

Khamenei said the government would not buckle to pressures over the election, closing the door to compromise over Mousavi's claim that the vote was rigged and he was the rightful winner.

"On the current situation, I was insisting and will insist on implementation of the law. That means, we will not go one step beyond the law," Khamenei said on state television. "For sure, neither the system nor the people will give in to pressures at any price." He used language that indicated he was referring to domestic pressures.

A "vote of confidence" usually means a baseball manager will be fired within days, if not within hours.

What Khamenei is saying, above, amounts to a vote of confidence for the Supreme Leader system of government.


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A bloody day in Iran. A violent day. The regime is knocking heads without mercy. The people are not backing down. Great danger; great opportunity. Amazing heart rending and heartening stuff. Allahpundit has video clips of individual experiences.

In the second video clip, an Iranian woman invites beating and possible death. In so doing, and with help of a cell phone video camera which would expose the actions of the men who would beat her (and w/the unstated threat of other cell phone video cameras capturing the beating), she cows the men who were just beating her. It's a notable moment in human history: courage and cell phone video used as weaponry.

I’ve toured the weapons in the Tower of London. If there is ever a Tower of Tehran, to memorialize Iranian weapons, the cell phone video camera has a rightful place there.

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The problem, for Khamenei and Ahmadinejad: their legitimacy generates from their claims to piousness and to true faith. Thus, they cannot justify irreligious actions against the people.

The old and/or current communists: in USSR, in Eastern Europe, in China, in Latin America, were/are not hamstrung by morality. The communists strictly lust for power. Repression and murder was/is justified as part of a larger good which is undertaken on behalf of the masses.

Conversely, Khamenei is restrained by the immorality of murdering his own citizens. He cannot argue "larger good", as Islam recognizes such an argument is immoral. Khamenei cannot allow his murderous actions to be known to the largest part of Iranian citizenry. Khamenei is forced to do his murdering in secret, mostly at night, and always covered up by propaganda and lies which deny the truth of his murderous actions.

Many older Iranians get all news from state run TV. If these Iranians come to believe the truth of Khamenei's murders, the Supreme Leader will soon be unsupreme. This is why it is critically important for the President of the United States to speak out strongly, to call murder by it's name, to call a murdered girl in the street by her name: Neda. All effort must be made to get word to older and rural (computerless) Iranians about the truth of Khamenei's actions.

The Office of the President of the United States used to automatically have a respected voice, and consequently a loud voice. Much of the world disagreed with President Bush; yet much of the world nevertheless respected his power, and thus listened when he spoke.

Much has changed in six months. When you say nothing, as Barack does; when everything you say is "on the one hand, on the other hand"; when haughtily you place yourself above the fray, and deign to not compromise your perceived heightened stature via taking stands on the pre-eminent moral questions of our day: you thereby lose the respect of listeners who once respected the Office of President of the United States.