http://www.twitpocalypse.com/

Seriously, who uses 32bit integers for UIDs anymore? Although it's good they kept the sign bit.

I believe he was also alluding to Bush's "Axis of Evil" speech that did more to hurt the pro-liberty movement in Iran that anything the regime could have done.

Ahmadinejad would love nothing more than to have a nice clip of Obama denouncing the election as a fraud, and present it as proof that these demonstrations are a CIA/Mossad-backed coup. The Iranian people's (justified) fears of the American military will be successfully exploited, and they will put down their signs, stop their marching, and rally behind the regime (as they have done in the past).

The left as personified here would love to see Ahamadinejad win if only to have years more of hating America and of course blaming Israel. Iran needs its demons as much as you do.

All of this reminds me in some ways of how the Soviet empire came crashing down. Once in a while people living under repressive regimes will tentatively claim more freedom (Hungary 1956, Czechoslovakia 1968...). When those attempts are crushed, the regime remains in place. Then come leaders with more humanity. Poland's Solidarnosc movement was "crushed", but rather gently. From there things went downhill, from a Stalinist perspective. People in Eastern Europe and later the Soviet Union learned that Moskow was not willing to shed blood for power. This is when the street takes over.

The striking thing about the situation in Iran is the unwillingness of the authorities to use violence. And yes, I do know that 32 people have been killed. That's apparently not enough to cow the populace into submission. Probably things will cool down a little, for some time, like in Poland after General Jaruzelski's coup. But the knowledge that protest is henceforth possible won't go away.

Good for them, I say, and I include both the protesters and the authorities in the word "them". This couldn't have happened in Khomeini's day.

Addressing conditions in Iran
McCain won't quote the Koran
Instead, with demeanor gruff
He insists on language tough.

But chest thumping, with apes effective
In diplomacy is quite defective
For Bush it spurred Hamas, Hezbollah
And nuke building in North Korea.

The long-toothed elder of the GOP
While stickless, just won't speak softly.
He attributes this to abundant guts;
More likely it arises from a little putz.

Good for Twitter, though I don't use it myself...at least with the advent of a "smaller world" the masses don't have to worry about them brown skinned folks coming an making us pray all funny like....Face it the internet has made regular folks able to make contact with our "enemies" which must befuddle our masters..since they no longer can control who our enemies are.

Overthrowing a democratically-elected leader for some oil access and installing and backing a repressive, illegitimate regime?

35 years of angst.

Watching American conservatives cheer on liberal Iranian students who also happen to be Muslim?

Priceless.

One Freeper referred to the protestors as "Patriots". Irony, thy name is conservative.

Whoever becomes the next president in Iran is irrelevant if the theocratic cabal that is really in charge stays on. The protesters need to go Ataturk on their ass. They must stand up and declare these self appointed men of God, are nothing of the sort, and that a Muslims loyalty is to Allah, the Prophet and the Koran and not to those who use Islam to further their own petty will to power.

They sanctioned an election result prematurely. They really underestimated the strength of the opposition to -his name begins with an A_____________. Can't spell it,and don't care to look it up. The point is the people of Iran are speaking out for what they consider a stolen election. President Obama and the other western nations need to stay out of the way. The ayaollahs are already trying to connect the west to the rebellion on the streets. We help the Iranian people best, by staying out of their business. They really look like they are handling this matter quite well.

Sno-cones or corn dogs?