Notice that the NYT article only cites an "new unofficial poll" without bothering to name sources? Well take a look at this
... a plurality of Iranians said they would vote for incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
Note that the poll was conducted by independent european and american institutions, and that the results are perfectly consistent with the announced results. I like TYT for its superb "no bullshit" approach to the news, but sometimes their own bias shows. Its funny that Cenk compares Irans election margins with Americas and calls it "unheard of" when such margins happen all the time in countries decidedly MORE democratic than the USA (only 2 parties? you call that democratic?), for example any Southamerican country (yes, go look at the latest electoral results in, say, Bolivia). So thats that for the "incredible margins" argument. The rest is just pure especulation on Cenks part. The only reason for having any doubt about the results was the NYT article citing unnamed polls, yet the poll linked above, conducted by clearly independent parties, supports Ahmadinejads victory.
The other interesting thing is the clear omission of class distinctions in MSM reporting. Yes, there are obvious protests in Tehran, what the MSM fails to tell you is that the protesters are mostly young upper class iranians, who, while having all the right in the world to protest, DO NOT represent Iranian society as a whole. Please compare this Iranian Calvin Klein Ad (thats some guerrilla marketing right there!):
Shooting a sign of victory wrapped in green, with a Emo-styled hairdo and Calvin Klein underwear, this kid could be any American. This is the face of this election's voters. This is the face of today's Tehran.
(that description right there -from some Daily Kos blog - contains so much irony and reveals such an uncanny disconnection with the real world, Iran and USA, that the mind just boggles)
with this pictures of a pro-Ahmadinejad rally
tell me again who does "todays Tehran" represent?
The protesters should be able to protest anything they want, and the new government should hear their demands for a more open Iranian society etc. But to suggests that "the revolution" ocurring in Tehran represents the majority of Iranians, that the elections were rigged etc. need to - as Cenk likes to say - "calm down".
See also Barzegar at The Independent, Robert Fisk, and most other credible Middle East sources (like Al Jazeera)
PS: (Cenk voice) "Calm down!"
by
hilbert on
06/14/2009 06:30:58 PM EST