Thursday
This is an amazing example of one those archetypal political processes, which happens when a regime that still commands the present nevertheless manages to lose all control of the future:
One of the most fascinating aspects of the current phase of the Iranian revolution is that many of those arrested knew it was coming, had the opportunity to hide, but chose to go to jail. They viewed their arrest as a badge of honor, and (not to make light of the horrors of Iranian jails) perhaps even a good career move. They expect the regime to fall, and they are building up credits for the next government.
Recently a posting of mine here about an SD card was honoured by a re-run in the comments of the Four Yorkshiremen sketch, where they take it in turns to boast with ever greater ferocity about the awfulness of their childhoods, or in this case about the vast expense and extreme non-capaciousness of their very first hard discs. You mean you had a hard disc? - We dreamed of having a hard disc, etc.
Soon, Iran will be entertained with similar jokery, in which Four Iranian Ex-Oppositionists indulge in similarly competitive boasting about their hellish sufferings under the previous regime, thereby justifying their subsequent social and political elevation.
Sadly, they may not need to exaggerate.
This reminds me of a 'Yes, Prime Minister' episode, where the PM points out it's almost mandatory for new leaders of ex-colonies to have been jailed first! In America, it's the other way round- first the term in congress, and then the term in prison!
Posted by Nuke Gray at February 11, 2010 02:05 AM
If any of them are headed to Evin, they better make certain they like sodomy first. Any young guy going in there is going to come out with a size 48 anal orifice and quite probably no teeth.
Posted by mac at February 11, 2010 03:43 AM
This is dangerous in terms of timing, I think. If you get it wrong, you could end up doing the Nelson Mandela 27 years in prison thing.
Posted by Michael Jennings at February 11, 2010 10:03 AM
Iran is slowly inching towards becoming the North Korea of the middle east.(Link) though I don't see it getting that far as the middle classes have had their taste of western decadence and understandably want more. Dinnerjacket will find that he can't simply put that genie back in its bottle.
I had heard that the Iranian State will be building its own national intranet, which will look like the internet but with the kind of censorship and tight control that makes the great firewall look like a flimsy picket fence in comparison.
I still say the best way to deal with Iran is to publicly warn them that the population has 30 days to leave the country, after which we will be providing them with as many nukes as they want. DinnerJacket would be dead within a week and the mullahs would be hanging by their beards. We wouldn't need to fire a shot.
Posted by mandrill at February 11, 2010 11:41 AM
There are two main points to remember about Iran.
Firstly with those Shia who are "hasteners" (i.e. believe it is their religious duty to hasten the comming forth of the hidden Iman) no peaceful coexistance is possible - they are committed to bringing fire and death to the whole world (by nuclear or any other means).
Unfortunately "hasteners" include not just the President of the current regime - but also the Supreme Leader.
Secondly, it should be remembered that just because someone is not a hastener it does not mean that they are nice (or that they are not very nasty and hostile indeed).
After all the main person in the Iranian revolution of 31 years ago was NOT a hastener - in fact he ordered that if someone was proved to be a hastener they should be executed.
It is a bit like set theory - all the hasteners are foes, but not all foes are hasteners.
Posted by Paul Marks at February 11, 2010 11:44 AM
It sounds a bit like the way the Bolsheviks viewed being arrested and exiled by the Tsarist regime.
I am not sure this is entirely a comfortable analogy.
Posted by Andrew Duffin at February 11, 2010 12:04 PM
