Holy Hell

I don't pretend to understand the situation fully in Iran. What I gather, was how undemocratic Iran's recent 'election' was. The Ayatollah perhaps picked the President under the sham of a democratic election. The reaction to this, fueled mostly from Iran's youthful population is understandably one of WTH? But, the backlash from these protests sparked an evil response. The Iranian government has apparently imprisoned protesters, known reformists, those that pose a threat to the well being of tyranny.

What the hell? I am most upset because there is very little we as observers can do (sort of the measures taken by the U.S. in Iraq). If there is change, then it has to be a movement originating from the people of Iran. Hopefully, the extreme measures taken by the government against its own people serves only to undermine it. If true democratic ideals are what the people of Iran want, then I hope they are successful against tyranny.

This also serves as a counterpoint. The U.S. is indeed a free country. One is free to protest, print and publish one's thoughts, criticisms and ideas without fear of false imprisonment or death. We can march in the streets, demanding rights. We can, without fear of reprisal, openly criticize our government. We can sit in our coffee shops, surf the uncensored net and read the gamut of literature. This is what those who died for us, at our country's birth, gave us. Though our British masters were not the tyrannical dictators our history texts made them to be, particularly against the true tyrant, what birthed from our independence was to become the free-est country in the World.