This column should be entitled “Hastily cobbled together Monday.”
The Sacramento Queen is visiting, and I am typing fast and furious so as not to lose any precious time with her.
In sports news, Brazil overcame a 2-0 deficit to defeat the USA 3-2 in some soccer match of some sorts that I could care less about. Had the USA won, more Americans would watch soccer. That would be tragic.
In real sports news, my kickball league has restarted. I am on the gold team, although our jerseys look the same as the yellow team. Thank heavens I am not on the pink team again. Our team name is the “Sugar Coated Ballerz.” We overcame a 3-1 deficit with a furious rally late to tie the game 3-3. We almost pulled out the win, but it was not to be. I went 0 for 1, and made a good double play in the field that helped preserve the tie. I think I jammed my finger. Luckily I have 3 weeks to recover before I play again.
This past Sunday I attended the annual Republican Jewish Coalition bash at the Loews Hotel in Santa Monica. It was a fabulous event that I will cover in the coming days ahead.
Ok, now for the main event. Yes, I confess that I was flip and glib and other words that sound like that when it came to the situation in Iran. I compared the violence to what happened in Los Angeles after the Lakers won the championship.
Yet things are getting serious, not just in Iran, but in Los Angeles.
I live near the Federal Building. I am used to seeing protesters. I have even taken part in rallies there. However, in my 15 years living in this town, I have never seen anything like THIS.
There are about 100,000 Persians living in Westwood (my area of LA near UCLA), and it seems like every single one of them are out protesting against the Iranian regime.
These people are serious. They are angry. They are also hopeful.
An expression one Persian person taught me is that “A Persian is a Persian is a Persian.” What this means is that whether Jewish, Muslim, or another religion, Persians in the United States are united on issues concerning Iran, and have a cultural bond with each other that outweighs religious differences.
The Persian community sees that this is the best chance in 30 years to topple the Mullahs, and they know that time is running out.
The Mullahs were given a gift when Michael Jackson died, saturating news coverage and distracting the media from the crackdown in Iran.
Armagedonijad is no dummy. He used the 24-48 hours that the media was preoccupied with pop culture to kill many more dissidents.
Yet the Persian community in Los Angeles wants change. They want real change, not the change blathered about in campaign slogans. They want, to use a phrase popular with our last Republcian President, regime change.
I will have much more coverage in the coming days regarding Iran. Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, running for Governor of California (who was at the RJC bash) has a bombshell announcement on Iran this morning. I will say more after his announcement is public.
Until then, I want the people of Iran to understand that the people of Los Angeles are with you. We do not hate Persians. We hate the Mullahs.
I do not expect human rights groups to do anything to stop the crackdown. After all, unless America or Israel is involved, the U.N. has no interest.
Yet if we get an ounce of presidential leadership from a very timid American administration, Iran in 2009 could resemble Eastern Europe in 1989.
From Iran to Los Angeles, the people are speaking loud and clear. The Mullahs’ days are numbered. Bullets and bombs will not triumph over human desires and human dignity.
I have never been more proud to be associated with Los Angeles.
Together, we can liberate Iran, without firing a single shot.
Of course, if need be, I am still a Neocon ready to see the Mullahs blown to kingdom come.
eric
Oh, here we go again. Obama is “timid.” Yeah, right. Neocons never learn. So, what would you have him do? Meddle in Iran’s affairs? Pull another 1953 all over again? ISN’T THAT WHAT LED TO THE MULLAHS IN THE FIRST PLACE??? Do you guys EVER learn?
And the Poizner thing is all over the news. he’s ordering an investigation to make sure none of the California insurance companies are holding Iranian investments, which is against the law anyway. Yay for him. He’s doing his job. Should we give him a medal?
Obama is doing the right thing. The best thing the US can do rigt now is STAY OUT of this situation. We are NOT the world’s police. We do NOT own the fate of every person on the face of the planet. We are NOT the judge and jury of every crime on the Earth. We are NOT always right and we do NOT always do the right thing. If we hadn’t meddled in Iran’s affairs in the first place, Iran would probably NOT be a theocracy today. I know conservatives hate and despise learning, knowledge and erudition, but just this once, just the one time, could you conservatives possibly try to think before shooting off at the mouth?
JMJ
If Obama doesnt get his chance to negotiate with Irans present regime he wont have the chance to look like the hero that can turn radical theocracies around with his smooth brand of BS he said would work during the campaign.
He should be interested in ousting these a$$hats for the simple reason that it would a lot easier to get them to come to some terms.
Ya know, its not that bad an idea to tell a more peaceful Iranian regime that they dont need nukes but should India present a threat to them we’ll watch their back.
We must get involved. The present government there cannot be allowed to have these weapons.
PERIOD
Oh, c’mon, Micky! How the heck is Obama gonna be any more successful with his “smooth brand of BS” than any of his predecessors? Reagan was the master of smooth BS, and he got nowhere with them. Clinton was “BS” defined – he got nowhere. GWB was anything but the opposite and he got nowhere.
Do you neocons have any new ideas? I haven’t heard any.
JMJ
Four of the most powerful men on this planet in their time have failed to impress the Islamocrats that rule the Persians. Talk, whether it be soft and smooth or loud and tough, doesn’t mean anything to these people, if you want to call them people. The Mullah has demonstrated time and again they respect nothing and understand only physical force. We see this in the streets of Iranian cities. You will bow to their power or die. Their power being weapons. These individuals are common criminals and deserve to be treated as such.
Talk has not worked so what is left? First we take a stand. We stand firm, no give, no way out, no bull. By “we” I mean the Free World. Not just the U.S. not just the Persians “EVERYBODY”. This is a GLOBAL problem. We can take an economic stand, a political stand, a military stand, a lemonade stand but we have got to stand for something.
Doing nothing is a mistake. We will pay for this mistake many times over.
Sadly, doing nothing will prevail. The Free World lacks leadership and confiction. The Persians are paying today, we will all pay tomorrow.
Toma
The arbitrary statement that I hate education, learning and knowledge because I disagree with a point of view leads me to believe the writer is not to be taken seriously. At all.
Toma
Why such a slow reaction to Iran when Obama called what happened in Honduras Illegal? It only took him a matter of hours to make his opinion known to the world about the coup in Honduras. He is just trying to hide the fact he is not an American by birth and by denouncing the results in Iran he would be exposing himself. Next time dont be so gullible jerzymcjones hasnt history shown you a lesson of what appeasment does? I refuse to believe my country is that stupid. Obama has failed to stand with his islamic brothers if he was a muslim at one time and if he turned his back on them why wouldnt he do it to the people he is supposed to represent? The world witnessed the massacre of Iran’s democratic dissadents in the countyy’s own version of tienamen square but because of the death of Michael Jackson the issue was eclipsed. How convienient of the mainstream media. Let that child molesting freakshow rot and repot the real news. Thank God for social networking sites that is the life blood of the resistance to globalization because the truth cannot be suppresed. The only way to get spread the word of the disastisfaction of the current state of things is at a one on one dialouge between everyday citizens that choose to drown out the boob tube for a minute and talk about what really matters.