Chris ---> Agreed.

Thinking about this a bit more... It seems that Obama subscribes to a couple points of view: Protect dictators; suppress freedom. Everything he's done and said - that I've been privy to - seems to support those viewpoints; sometimes in the subtlest of ways.

So this guy apparently tries to single-handedly overrule his own country's constitution despite getting struck down by his country's supreme court and against the protests of people all over the country including people in his own party yet what he's doing is 'legal' and arresting him for this attempted constitutional takeover is completely illegal according to Chavez and his buddy Obama? Obama seems addicted to the dictator types, does he not? And against constitutions of all shapes and sizes, no?

Mousavi isn't giving up. This showed up on his Facebook page yesterday:

In the Name of God

Noble and vigilant people of Iran,
In the past few days, Seda & Sima, governmental news agencies, some governmental newspapers, internet sites close to the government, and Kayhan newspaper, have dedicated a substantial portion of their coverage to inverting the truth about what happened before, during, and after the tenth presidential elections in Iran. Using resources that belong to you, they not only have attempted to hide the recent heart wrenching events, but have tried to portray their direct and indirect organizers as those who have helped you in demanding your rights.

The reality that they foolishly try to ignore is that in this election a massive fraud has taken place, and those who later objected were attacked in an inhumane manner, killed, injured, or detained. Had those responsible for the murders of Kooy-e Daneshgah on 18 Tir 1378 been confronted under the law and in an appropriate manner, today we wouldn’t have to bear witness to the same type of tragedies on a larger scale, and wouldn’t have to hear the truth being bent in a more brazen fashion.

It’s the same people that still, by relying on resources that belong to the people, and in support of the interests of their own groups, continue to create dossiers for others, lie without hesitation, and attribute to me what they themselves are responsible for. What they fail to understand is that these well known tactics will not force Mousavi out of the scene. What took place in the past few days has targeted the fundamentals of the Islamic republic’s system which is our heritage from our beloved Imam and our noble martyrs, something that one cannot passively ignore, or surrender in response to these types of accusations or the under the threat of a trial.

Not only am I not worried about responding to these accusations, but I am ready to show how electoral criminals lined up next to the real culprits of the recent unrest, and spilled people’s blood, and now try to depict the scenes that have been witnessed by hundreds of people and tens of images, in a different light; I am ready to show how those whose actions are in line with creating havoc in the country, weakening the system, and in support of foreign interests, using the excuse of the destructive behavior of an unknown group, tried to depict your green movement as anarchist and dependent on foreign powers; but I am not ready to stop standing, even for a second, in the shadow of the green tree of restoring the rights of the people of Iran, that has been unjustly fed with the blood of the youth of this country. Of the total ballots cast in boxes, only one belongs to me, and you well know that their issue is with the fate of millions of votes cast that they have no answer for.

We need to make sure that there are good, solid candidates to run against these guys in the primaries next year and support them in every way we can to get these guys tossed out. There are several in the Senate that need to go as well. Enough is enough.

Thanks for that link, Dan. I'm certainly going to check that out.

It wouldn't be so bad if they didn't completely suck at it.

Thanks for the well written comment, Angela. I fully agree about meddling with Iran in the 50's. We apparently "meddled" in a lot of places where we shouldn't over the years and it has burned us every time. I'm not promoting that we meddle in this situation, I'm merely calling on our President to stand up against something that is inherently wrong no matter who's side you're on instead of choosing to remain silent while these things are going on.

The President of the United States has the power to reach a lot of ears around the world and he or she brings a lot of influence to the table - especially in times like this when it's quite clear what is right and what is wrong. Iran has a duty to uphold its own choice of leaders and elections and we have no business getting involved in any of that. But I do think we have the right and in cases like this the duty to stand up and call out other governments when they are out of line. There is a lot that the President could do help encourage a peaceful end to this situation without involving himself in supporting one side or the other in this conflict. As I mentioned in the article, things like: condemning any and all brutal behavior towards the protestors, offering ideas towards a peaceful solution for both parties, criticizing the move to control media access, and other forms of governmental oppression. This would include condemning any brutality on the part of the protestors as well. Basically it's a call for both sides to attempt to find a mature, rational end to something that has gotten completely out of control.

Whether or not the President supports Ahmadinijad or Mousavi is irrelevant. The President is not here to choose sides in Iran's elections - nor am I suggesting that he should. He should be a leader calling on both sides to find a peaceful solution to the crisis and I believe he has the ability to do so without disrespecting Iran's government or its people. In the end, I think Iranians would respect him and subsequently the United States more for simply taking a stand based on moral principals.

His inaction here will be remembered as well. The average age is only 26 in Iran. Many were not around or were too young to remember the revolution in the 70's. It is mostly the youth behind the recent uprising and at some point this generation will indeed have power in Iran. I pray that our weakness now doesn't sow seeds we have to reap down the road. This is something that is hardly considered - but Iranians are not Americans. They don't necessarily see the value in weakness as we do. They respect morals. They respect strong leaders. They respect power. We have exhibited none of these. Why should they have any respect for us?

Ultimately, what is happening in Iran is absurd. It's absurd for Iranians and it's absurd for the rest of the "civilized" world as well.

Great blog you have there Derek. My cousin-in-law to be is attending OSU as well - also very conservative. The next generation of leaders is on its way. It's encouraging. to see young conservatives out there like that - especially given where things are going presently.

Best of luck to you - and here's to Michigan hopefully beating OSU in November ;-)

Thanks Duane. That's a REALLY good complement article to this one. I'm sorry I missed that one when you first posted it.