Sometime around 2003 I had a notion.

What if every major world news broadcast on the BBC, CBC, CNN, &c. concluded by running a message in BOLD CAPS reading "TODAY'S NEWS BROUGHT TO YOU COURTESY OF THE FOLLOWING"?

That header would then be succeeded by a full catalog of the Earth's nations and heads of state, starting with the US, Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, Indonesia, Myanmar, Egypt, Libya, Zimbabwe, &c.

Of course, this fantasy of the rogue's gallery of earth's rulers is an impossibility.

Who would carry on carrying on if he or she was forced to recognize day after day the unconscionable cast of thugs, loons, and clowns holding power over our lives?

Peace upon your houses.

Sadly, we'll never know if the election was fair.
There is a chance that Ahmendingdong actually did win, but his credibility problems will forever overshadow the official results.

The people of Iran (and the world), will have accept for now the hand dealt, and it's not surprising the incumbant would come up with either five aces, a skip straight, or a joker flush.

Frankly, I'm not yet convinced the other guy was so great either.

Very thoughtful 'toon, Clay.

The people of Iran are rightfully protesting, and sadly lives have been lost in the civil protests. I wish their people the best in fighting corruption in their election process. Even with our freedoms to expose corruption in government, many citizens and governments choose to stay silent and facilitate the corruption.

In Iran thousands are marching in the streets, several have been killed and the opposition leaders are demanding a new election. All this by a nation that believes that the voting process should reflect the will of the people.

In my mind I reflect back to our own 2000 election. No marching in the streets, no shots fired and the opposition just gracefully gives up and fades into the background.

Whether it's a few hundred or a few million votes in question, have we as a nation become so pacifist that we are not willing to fight for our voting rights? We will go around the world to protect other countries' right to vote but will not so much as mass a protest in our own country to protect our right for a fair election.

Hello, again, fellow "Posters." We are just back from some enjoyable 'grandparenting' duties, but now it's back to business.
"I'm-A-Ding-Dong" may be holding five aces but, truth be known, that fifth ace represents the local clerics, who wield the real power in Iran. It will be interesting to see(?)how all of this plays out, but I wouldn't hold my breath waiting for an outcome which would be beneficial to anyone other than Iran.
Meanwhile, it's the little (pun intended) ty-runt (pun intended, once again) in North Korea who still bothers me the most, as it should everyone else from 'here to there'.
It never fails...when egos become larger than life (ie; Hitler,Stalin, Amin, and most-recently Hussein et al), lives become increasingly cheap and expendable to those who would control them.
Sadly, this is a problem that has been with us since "Biblical Times", and one which no one has, or possibly ever will, find a solution for.
Thank you for your time and attention,
Woody

I agree with your sentiments and your closing question, EaTn.

The American citizenry certainly do show Iran and the world a "way of life."

But my experience teaches me that this trumpeted American way of life has more to do with consumerism and comfort than civic engagement.

We Americans view a single pedestrian on the street as something suspicious. En masse demonstrations are simply too French--or too foreign.

Do we inherit that reluctance to speak up in large groups from the British?

But I wonder whether or not you would excuse me making one or two edits to your post?

For the aftermath of the 2000, well, yes, VP Gore did drop his contestation and made--in retrospect--a shockingly naive speech about the need to carry on with the business of our country.

Oh, how a decade's retrospect can change meaning and import.

But beyond Gore's speech, whatever its reasoning and motivations, "gracefully" giving up? I find very little graciousness connected with our public discourse. Party politics, talk radio, illiteracy, entitlement, and prejudice make certain that our minds are left wonderfully unmoved by grace.

And would that it should come to pass that the American people were more civically engaged and "pacifist" and thoughtful.

Intead of pacifist, I suspect that for the most part we are "passive" and consumerist.

"passive and consumerist" That's it? I think you give us too much credit. Add apathetic as well. The current president was elected by just 33% of the eligible voters. We truly get the government we deserve - for better or worse.

Bennett should combine this cartoon with the "Neo-Nazi" cartoon to get a more accurate picture of the "Hate Nuts" that rule the Middle Eastern countries (not just Iran). When impressionable children are indoctrinated to hate Jews and Christians, is it any wonder that they grow up thinking the same way? Emotionally speaking, maybe the only solution sits in an underground silo in North Dakota.

una61 stated: "Emotionally speaking, maybe the only solution sits in an underground silo in North Dakota."

Man, those are some seriously screwed up emotions. A silo in North Dakota? Are you proposing we nuke Iran? That will do WONDERS for our image in the Middle East!

Views like the one you expressed above only fuel the resentment and hatred for our country.

Temporarily off subject-

I meant to post this two day ago, but better late than never. Our boy Clay made the Sunday New York Times again! They published three cartoons in the 'Week in Review' section, but Clay's was printed twice as big as either of the other two.

The one they ran was from last Thursday- http://tinyurl.com/nqxfrn

Way to go, Clay!

Congrats on the continued success, Clay.

I think we are tapping around the same hollow tree, Sailorman.

I see passive consumerism and a culture of comfort as the cause, and apathy as a symptom revealing the extent of the decay.

Just look at how we have cheapened and reduced the notion of "freedom"--freedom to consume too much, with no thoughtful reflection about personal, social, and environmental consequences.

The Iranian people interest me greatly.

The "Iranian street" in Teheran appears to me have the most educated and articulate citizenry in the Middle East outside of Israel.

And neither Israel nor the US have women making up something like 70% of their univerities' science and engineering students. Would that day come here!

Women graduates challenge Iran
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/5...

Islam and Science: An Islamist revolution
Nature 444, 22-25 (2 November 2006)

But then the misuse of that science in pursuit of a nuclear arsenal, and the squandering of those intelligent, aspiring women by a misogynist Theocracy--what a waste.

But I suppose that in this country we had a higher level of science and engineering concentrations back when the US was motivated by Cold War competition.

If you convince your people that they need to study science to fight off the invading Crusader or Communist, you seem to get results.

Tribes and tribalism. My myth to explain this would come from the opening sequence of Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey, rather than from the Book of Genesis, the Qur'an, or any other grimoire. Though I would admit that those other mythologies have been highly efficient at focusing and marshaling cultural energies of one group against another.

What a sad reflection on these "advanced" times.

Good read InspectorBucket. Given the demographics, age and education wise, I would think the days of the despots in Iran are numbered anyway. I'd like to think so anyway.

Iran is Israel's problem not ours...for now, anyway.

North Korea is OUR problem. So what do we do when THEY nuke US? Thank God I live in Tenn...although Watts Bar/Sequoyah doesn't help the situation.

Dear Leader [ours, not theirs] will undoubted wait three days then be shocked, shocked...as he was over the Iran uprising downput. [new word alert] He has to wait to see how the wind is blowing before looking bewildered...and he needs a new quick-response contract with that teleprompter of his.

Sailorman- I think you are right. The folks you see demonstrating on tv appear to be bright folks that have had enough of narrow-minded fanatics and outsiders telling them how to live their lives. If we can encourage them without sticking our nose in too far, this may have good diplomatic results in the future.

rolando- as for NK, countries like China and Japan are the ones that would be the first drawn in if NK does something really stupid. China has tasted the good life and don't want NK messing it up- I think they have more control than we give them credit for. Would you like a tiger on a short leash in your neighborhood? NK's long range missile precision capabilities are more of a pipe dream than reality. I think Obama is smarter than to do a knee-jerk reaction with them.

Good ideas, I think, Sailorman and EaTn.

All best wishes and peace be upon the Iranian people. They will need that; so will we.

EaTn I agree that China and Japan are at greatest risk geographically. I'd be shocked if they tried anything with the Chinese though. China is the only reason all of NK hasn't starved to death. I doubt they would survive the encounter. Japan maybe. But if, as the UN is talking about, a US ship stops an NK ship, then I think the results are unpredictable. As they say in the movies, you don't need a missile to deliver a nuke, just a shipping container.

Maybe the people most likely to suffer the worst will be the South Koreans and then what? Scary times over there. Perhaps we should have finished the job in the 50's. Come to think of it, we seem to have a penchant for leaving things half done and paying the price down the road.

Indeed.

Living today in Hawaii, Seattle, San Fran, or San Diego is not a good thing. We are experiencing interesting times...

I agree that he's controlled by the clerics. Another figurehead!

I do wish we could clean up our own messes first, though.

I'm not an Isolationist, but the U.S. has gone a bit too far in expansionism...just about like Rome, if I'm not mistaken.