What A Difference An Election Day Makes

Days leading up to the presidential elections were held in Iran...



...and after the elections, with Ahmadinejad (apparently) winning with about 62% of the vote...



This election was supposed to be about change (mirroring the recent historic national elections held in one of Iran's great enemies. The result, however were just as I feared, more of the same. If reports ring true then many an Iranian feels cheated and dejected while many more (perhaps) feel outraged. This I assume, is not the same that many in America had when Bush won his second term defeating Kerry. Nor do I believe it is the same feeling that many of us would have felt if McCain had one the 2008 election. No, we would probably get close to the disillusionment with our government that I am sure quite a few Iranians feel, If Obama had ran his 2008 campaign against Bush in 2004, and lost by a wide margin. That's the level of funk that I believe many citizens of Iran are feeling right now, which is why many took to the streets protesting the elections as a sham. Perhaps I am overstating the popularity of opposition, but it does seem like many feel that they were wronged and the the elections were a complete sham.

This is akin to the Iranian people (especially moderates and women) having their dreams (of change and progress of course), perhaps not crushed, but definitely deferred. In light of that, I find myself echoing the query of the late poet Langston Hughes. What happens to a dream deferred? Will the hopes and aspirations of the people wither and day, leaving them to withdraw back to apathy and complacency…or will they explode?


Tehran is burning my friends (in more ways than one). I wonder if the Ayatollah is well versed in playing the fiddle (just saying…).