My Ruff Son Johnny

Los Angeles June 23, 2008

By Danny McBride

Actually not that rough. We’ve seen Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani for years now. The nearly 75-year-old cleric was a major mover and shaker during the 1979 Islamic Revolution which dumped the Sha of Iran from power and set up a new Islamic Republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini. He’s passed away, but that has been Iran ever since. Until the past couple of weeks.

Rafsanjani is still on the Assembly of Experts, and in fact, is the leader of this group that oversees everything in Iran. We are getting the impression from news reports.that ultimate control of Iran’s politics resides with Supreme Leader Grand Ayatollah Sayyid Ali Hoseyni Khameini. But while he exercises supreme executive power, Khameini serves at the pleasure of the Assembly of Experts, chaired by billionaire-cum-revolutionary-cum-former-Iranian president Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani.

Rafsanjani is not in line with President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and, in fact, might be said to be sympathizing with the opposition. His daughter and some relatives were arrested and detained recently as a message to Rafsanjani from the hard-liners, although they have since released his family members as Rafsanjani didn’t blink.

What we’re talking about here is Conservatives and Ultra-Conservatives- -people who have their own views of the Islamic way of life. In all this, Rafsanjani may be looked upon as the Islamic Council Member most open to talks with Europeans and Americans. But he is still an Islamic Cleric so as he rises to the top of the American news, remember he is not necessarily the “people’s cleric”, just a little more broad-minded by comparison with Khameini.. He ran against Ahmadinajad and won, and was Iran’s President from 1989-1997, but then ran against him again and lost. He is still one of the richest men in Iran- -a multi-billionaire.

This is from the Associated Press:
On Monday, Tehran riot police fired tear gas and live bullets to break up about 200 protesters paying tribute to those killed in the protests, including a young women, Neda Agha Soltan, whose apparent shooting death was captured on video and circulated worldwide. Witnesses said helicopters hovered overhead as riot police fired live rounds and lobbed tear gas to break up the gathering. Security forces ordered people to keep walking and prevented even small groups from gathering. .

Caspian Makan, a 37-year-old photojournalist in Tehran who identified himself as Soltan's boyfriend, said she had not been deterred by the risk of protesting. "She only ever said that she wanted one thing, she wanted democracy and freedom for the people of Iran," he told an Associated Press reporter during a telephone call from Tehran.

It may not be Tiananmen Square 1989 or Prague Spring 1968, but to quote Bob Dylan, “Something is happening here but you don’t know what it is do you, Mister. Jones?”

Neda’s death will be mourned over the course of forty days in the formal fashion of the culture. This is not going to go away.

This is how The Sha was done away with, in case you don’t recall, and sent to Palm Springs. Mourning takes place on appointed days after a death and the last day and the biggest demonstration will come on the fortieth day. For sure, someone else will be killed, and then there will be a big demonstration forty days after that, and so on until the administration can stand it no more.

Professors and intellectuals will be arrested and detained and there will be many deaths- -hundreds, maybe thousands, we’ll never know for sure..

This is a job for The Mahatma. Right now, Rafsanjani may have to do. We can only observe from a distance because Western journalists, even El Arybia, are forbidden to cover the story inside of Iran. But in an age of cell phones and Twitter, iPods, Blackberrys, computers and satellites, one cannot stop the flow of information.’

In the hideous video of Neda’s death the young man attending her as she fades from this life can be seen wearing Levi 501s. You can’t tell these kids from our own. It’s not like Iraq or Afghanistan. This is a modern country with a few Islamic quirks, as opposed to an Islamic country with a few modern quirks.

The United States has so far reacted correctly by saying little and doing nothing. After all, Persia has been a civilized country since about 7000 BC, so they have a bit of experience in putting things together their way. And it will be their way.

Stand back. Stay out of the way. They will sort this out for themselves.

Go worry about North Korea.

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