But When A Long Train of Abuses and Usurpations ...

...Evince a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government and to provider new guards to their future security. Isn't this all that the Iranians are trying to do?

That statement from the Declaration of Independence reflects the belief that led our own revolution. Something we hold to be unquestionably true. And yet, is our government supporting the Iranian people as they try to do the same? The people are, the government appears to be doing a pretty piss poor job of it.

Obama doesn't want to "meddle". What a fabulous foreign policy. We'll meddle in the affairs of our allies (Israel anyone?) but not meddle in the affairs of those we really need to influence. I'm not calling for a military overthrow of Iran's government. Far from that. But I would have really liked for us to lead the outcry against the violence perpetrated against the protesters. Instead, we came in at least fourth on that cry. Not much of a world leader are we?

I'm sure you've heard about Neda by now. The woman who was killed during the protest. Killed because she dared to voice a dissenting opinion. Killed by her government for her disagreement. There is a video of Neda being killed but I do not include that. Instead, I have included a video of a tribute to her. Although people are being killed, Neda being the face of it, Obama is still pretty timid in his condemnation. He started out saying, you should be nicer to your protesters. He advanced to saying, you probably shouldn't kill them like that. And he has finally reached the point of saying, you really need to stop it. Wow. Such strong words. Way to go Obama.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMJ48Oe3nRw

But after a long train of abuses and usurpations, the Iranian people are trying to exercise their right to throw off the government, and I hope they get what the want and what they need. They are certainly paying a price for it. I saw an expert on the news today, I didn't catch his name but I did notice he was good looking, and he said that the protest, which started with the youth, is bringing the elders from their homes. These elders are now acting as human shields to protect the protesting youth from the violence. He also said that he expects an economic protest that may effectively shut the country down. If the people, and especially the unions, stop working in protest there will be no choice but to listen. As the gentleman put it, you can't fire bullets at an empty economy.

The stance taken against the protest is standard operating procedure for any tyrannical government. And yet, their attempts to violently suppress a peaceful protest does not make the protest go away. It does not frighten the people more than it motivates them. To display the very behavior that the protesters are out there to change, is not going to work.

I will be praying for the people of Iran. Their safety and realization of the dreams of Democracy. May God be with them all.

A Universal Belief in Free Speech?

I've been out of the country for a few weeks so am late in posting my response to President Obama stating that there is a Universal Belief in free speech as he responded to the protests in Iran over their elections.

Free speech may be a truth we hold to be self-evident, but it is not a universal belief. It is what separates us from so many other countries. Iran doesn't believe in the freedom of the people. Pretty much everybody except Obama is aware of this. Iran will deal with these protests very differently than we would, mainly because they don't believe in freedom of speech or the right of the people to protests. This is, I'm convinced, exactly why they are now forbidding foreign press from covering the protests.

The freedom of the people to worship as they choose, speak out against their government, and peaceably assemble in protest is a right of people in a free nation where the government is run by the people. It is not a right in a Theocracy and it is not a right in a Dictatorship. Just ask anybody speaking out against Hugo Chavez what kind of rights of free speech they have.

Stating the freedom of speech and the ability to protest is a universal belief was naive at best and downright stupid at worst. Does Obama really believe that? Does he really believe that all countries agree that the people have a right to speak out? Did he believe that Saddam Hussein felt that way? If so, I guess it would explain why he thinks we're so arrogant for trying to intervene. We do believe that everybody has the right to speak, but not everybody is allowed that right. Some are imprisoned. Some are executed. Some are bankrupted. The whole tragedy of so many countries is that it is not a universal belief.

With legislation regarding hate speech, and the increasing prominence of political correctness, we don't even have the full rights of free speech here anymore. And who is a great component of limiting what we can say and to whom? Obama. Not offending somebody has become more important than our right to say what we like. It's kind of strange because though our Constitution does say we have the right to free speech, it does not say anywhere that I can find that we have a right to not be offended. If what I say offends you, well then, you have the right to say something that offends me but you do not have the right to silence me because you are offended. And you may have the right to speak, but you do not have a right to be heard. Basically, nobody has to listen. And Congress and the White House prove that quite well by not listening to a word we say. So how then, can Obama say that the right of the people to speak is a Universal Belief? Is it because he sees the world as he thinks it should be instead of how it actually is? Possibly.

And I won't even get started on how Achmadinijad was polling behind and ended up winning 2 to 1.