Thursday, June 11, 2009

The Iranian elections

Yes, they're meaningful. And even though the President of Iran doesn't have much statutory power, the election of Mousavi would signify a huge cultural shift, and would be a message to the mullahs that they are out of step with their citizens and that their power might be just a bit more weak than they thought. In a dictatorship, the most difficult thing is gauging political instability. The defeat of the dictators' preferred candidate would be something of a wake-up call that things are changing. And this is not to mention the benefits to Obama politically.
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The Man, The Myth, The Bio

East Bay, California, United States
Problem: I have lots of opinions on politics and culture that I need to vent. If I do not do this I will wind up muttering to myself, and that's only like one or two steps away from being a hobo. Solution: I write two blogs. A political blog that has some evident sympathies (pro-Obama, mostly liberal though I dissent on some issues, like guns and trade) and a culture blog that does, well, cultural essays in a more long-form manner. My particular thing is taking overrated things (movies, mostly, but other things too) down a peg and putting underrated things up a peg. I'm sort of the court of last resort, and I tend to focus on more obscure cultural phenomena.