(This one's for you, Eliot)

State of the Union tonight: What do we (as in the royal) think?

Iran. Here I take huge issue with. Besides all the health care and social security privatization, which I believe I have ranted about before (at least the health care privatization). And the pre-cued boos when he talked about how social security would have to be cut "suddenly and severely" (idiot, if you know 50 years ahead of time that you're going to run out of money, it's not like one day you wake up and say, "oh. huh. guess we don't have any more money in SS left. Oops. OK seniors, no more checks." No, instead you see it coming and cut and cut and cut more gradually. idiot.)

IRAN. Let me find the passage of the speech.

"Today, Iran remains the world's primary state sponsor of terror -- pursuing nuclear weapons while depriving its people of the freedom they seek and deserve. We are working with European allies to make clear to the Iranian regime that it must give up its uranium enrichment program and any plutonium re-processing, and end its support for terror. And to the Iranian people, I say tonight: As you stand for your own liberty, America stands with you."

Alright, so in the last 2 elections, Khatami has been elected overwhelmingly. In the 2001 elections, which were deemed the fairest in Iran in quite a long time, 4/5 of the eligible population turned out to vote, and elected him with 80% of the total (out of 10 total candidates!) I think that's saying something...no? What it does NOT say is that if they were fixing the vote, Khatami definitely would NOT have won, as the clerical govt has a very hard time accepting him. In fact, in 1992 he was forced to resign his Nat'l Assembly ministerial position because he was deemed "too permissive." Who was his major voting base? Women, students, moderates, and 'intellectuals'. Hmmmm... sounds like a HORRIFIC guy. Oh, and the fact that he's been trying for years to fix up relations with all these countries? Mmmmm...nope. He's on the Axis. Oh, PLEASE bring back the US' favorite.

Please.

Perhaps if the US weren't constantly villifying Iran, naming them as a country in need of regime change, etc, they wouldn't be looking for nuclear power! JC. If you felt extremely threatened you would want whatever you could get, wouldn't you? Apparently during the Clinton administration diplomats were not even permitted to SPEAK to their Iranian counterparts. Hmmmm, a great relationship-builder. God, why is the US so idiotic?

So, give them their f-nuclear weapons!! And guess what, their younger generation, and the "women and moderates and intellectuals" too, are doing a pretty damn good job of beginning reform. Just wait until these guys get into the government. Do you think things are going to be the same? No!!

JC, Bush. Lay off. Why didn't he mention anything about North Korea? Conspicuously absent...I was waiting for it, but oops, the axis shifted. Huh? That's the one that's crazy enough to USE those nuclear weapons.

Tomorrow I will write a post about the pope, but I've done enough ranting for now.