Iran: The Question of Illegitimacy Is Bigger than that of Electoral Fraud

by Al Giordano - June 13, 2009 at The Field

Iran: The Question of Illegitimacy Is Bigger than that of Electoral Fraud



The videos and links in The Field entry below this one demonstrate that there are indeed massive protests underway in Iran, and not only in its capital of Tehran, sparked by official claims that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won a supposed landslide victory in yesterday's presidential election.

Today has, correspondingly, been one of the blogosphere's best moments in a while. In the English-language world, much credit goes to DKos blogger Clifflyon, who has been translating breaking report after breaking report from the original Farsi of Peiknet.com, and to Andrew Sullivan, among others, for unfolding the rapid-fire events of the past day.

While it is certainly plausible that Ahmadinejad's supposed victory is merely an invention based on cooked numbers, I'm more than a bit concerned that the focus by some media on bloggers on proving the presence or absence of electoral fraud is misplaced as a matter of strategy and tactics.

We know from the 2000 Bush-Gore post-electoral fiasco in Florida and, more recently, from Mexico's 2006 election swindle (one in which 1.5 million votes were either stolen or invented to give Felipe Calderon a narrow victory) that even the most solid proof of fraud does not at all guarantee a change in the eventual result. Since elections are controlled by State apparatus, the State, in the end, controls all data and process upon which any debate about fraud will be based. Additional frauds can be wrapped around original frauds so rapidly that it leaves everybody dizzy and, in the end, fatigued and disheartened. It can go on for weeks, if people misplace their hopes on the rulings of courts or councils

.... more at the link
http://narcosphere.narconews.com/thefield

mousavi1388's photostream
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mousavi1388/
(constantly updated)

He was being beaten by one group of demonstrators and was saved by another group - those shown in the photo above.

That photo is one of a series that was posted elsewhere. Looking at the videos and photos, it seems that the vast majority of protesters were trying to be peaceful, which would be very difficult for people who had been cheated as they had.

Interesting that those fight to change theregime are the ones helping an injured policeman.