Mahmoud Ahmadinejad certainly is a homophobe and a religious extremist, but he is not the dictator of Iran.

Here is the definition of "dictator." ( from the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary)

Main Entry: dic·ta·tor
Pronunciation: 'dik-"tA-t&r, dik-'
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from dictare
1 a : a person granted absolute emergency power; especially : one appointed by the senate of ancient Rome b : one holding complete autocratic control c : one ruling absolutely and often oppressively
2 : one that dictates

Ahmadinejad usually is described as being a dictator of Iran based on the first definition, being an absolutely powerful autocrat. There is an obvious problem with this description. In Iran, the president is not the most powerful person in the country.

Here is some information from Wikipedia on the structure of Iran's government:

The political system of the Islamic Republic is based on the 1979 Constitution called the "Qanun-e Asasi" ("Fundamental Law"). The system comprises several intricately connected governing bodies. The Supreme Leader of Iran is responsible for delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran". The Supreme Leader is Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, controls the military intelligence and security operations; and has sole power to declare war. The heads of the judiciary, state radio and television networks, the commanders of the police and military forces and six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians are appointed by the Supreme Leader. The Assembly of Experts elects and dismisses the Supreme Leader on the basis of qualifications and popular esteem.[73] The Assembly of Experts is responsible for supervising the Supreme Leader in the performance of legal duties.

After the Supreme Leader, the Constitution defines the President of Iran as the highest state authority. The President is elected by universal suffrage for a term of four years. Presidential candidates must be approved by the Council of Guardians prior to running in order to ensure their allegiance to the ideals of the Islamic revolution. The President is responsible for the implementation of the Constitution and for the exercise of executive powers, except for matters directly related to the Supreme Leader, who has the final say in all matters. The President appoints and supervises the Council of Ministers, coordinates government decisions, and selects government policies to be placed before the legislature. Eight Vice-Presidents serve under the President, as well as a cabinet of twenty-one ministers, who must all be approved by the legislature. Unlike many other states, the executive branch in Iran does not control the armed forces. Although the President appoints the Ministers of Intelligence and Defense, it is customary for the President to obtain explicit approval from the Supreme Leader for these two ministers before presenting them to the legislature for a vote of confidence. Iran's current president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was elected in a run-off poll in the 2005 presidential elections. His term expires in 2009.

Grand Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is the current supreme leader of Iran. He is the one who has ultimate power in Iran, yet we read and here little about him in the US, especially from the corporate media. Ahmadinejad may make a lot of heinous noise and certainly has important administrative powers, but our media's obsession with him is preventing the US public from forming fact-based opinions on Iran.

Considering all the talk of a US/Iran military conflict, this basically locks the vast majority of the American people out of any informed debate at a time when we as a people should be deciding whether or not we should attack Iran. The politicians and the corporate media are treating the American people like sheep.

From the Green Party of the United States (9/28/07):

Summary of Green positions on the war:

The Green Party of the United States has called for full and immediate withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan, the occupation of which is entering its sixth year; the party opposes a US military attack on Iran and warns Americans not to believe the new flood of deceptive war propaganda.

Greens stress that Congress could end the war quickly if Democrats refused to move on bills for war funding, including the latest request for nearly $190 billion the Pentagon says is necessary to keep combat troops in Iraq for another year. Greens urge Congress to divert federal funds from war spending to human needs and services in the US, including restoration and rebuilding in the Gulf Coast.

The Green Party has called for the impeachment of President Bush and Vice President Cheney for numerous abuses of power, including misleading the American people about the reasons for invading Iraq. Greens have called the invasion a criminal breach of the US Constitution and international law, motivated by desire for political and corporate dominance in the region, control over Iraqi oil and other resources, and cooperation with Israel's aggressive strategic objectives.

How in the world do Democratic Party strategists plan to keep liberal and progressive voters from voting Green in 2008 when the Democratic Party leadership acts like a bunch of war mongering Republicans? The Democratic leadership seems determined to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory. Their cowardice and dependence on big money contributors have left them incapable of acting in their own interests or in the national interest.

Sometimes it's better to let the militant, fundamentalists speak for themselves. They express their values so well. Here's an example.

Delores Williams:

I think you have a set of vindictive professors who agreed with the policies and practices of Oral Roberts University until they got fired.

This is just relatiation at its lowest level. They deserve to be fired for having bad character.

I am not saying that ORU or Richard Roberts are completely right about this, but why are they going after individuals instead of just the corporation? ORU is not Richard Roberts. He can fire them, but my guess is that money is at the other end of this lawsuit.

They held a press conference in order to try to blackmail ORU into settling with them, and now that has backfired.

I think if you file a frivilous lawsuit you should have to pay not only the court costs, but damages as well.

Republicans are suddenly discovering the idea that politicians should keep their word when it comes to Larry Craig. Sen. John Ensign, chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, postured self-righteously:

"I think it is best for the U.S. Senate. I think it is best for his party that if he just keeps his word. He gave us his word that he would do something. He's backing out on us, and I don't think it is the right thing to do."

Compare this to Ensign's silence on Bush.

In his pre-war rhetoric, Bush continually promised the American people that he was pursuing diplomatic options with Iraq and that he wanted peace.

"I'm willing to give peace a chance to work," Bush said. "I want the United Nations to work. I want him to do what he said he would do. But for the sake of our future, now's the time. Now's the time."

(CNN.com 9/22/02)

We now know that Bush was determined to go to war with Iraq no matter what. This was a promise broken by Bush to get Congress and the American people to go along with a war resolution on Iraq, despite growing doubts about his lies on WMDs in Iraq and supposed links between mortal enemies, Saddam Hussein and Osama bin Laden.

Why are Republicans more upset by a relatively minor broken promise by Craig than a devastating broken promise by Bush?

The answers are homophobia and political offices that are for sale to the highest campaign contributors.

War profiteers own the politicians and much of the media (e.g., GE owns NBC and MSNBC). So, it is not surprising that little would be said of Bush's catastrophic broken promise.

Craig himself invokes little sympathy. Throughout his slimy political career, he promoted and reveled in the very heterosexist bigotry that is falling upon himself. He is getting a terrible taste of his own medicine.

Gay Lib 101 - a refresher course

Some Notes on Living has one of the most moving and powerful statements on queer liberation I've seen in years. It uses efforts to exclude our trans sisters and brothers from ENDA as a jumping off point to discuss a lot of important issues that currently get spun away by the corporate media, including the corporate queer media.

Bravo!

The Republican Party is literally a homophobic, racist, misogynist, AIDSphobic, Christian-supremacist hate-group. The GOP and the KKK share the same values and agenda.

All Republicans are promoting discrimination and violence against queers. There is no possible way to support the GOP without promoting said discrimination and violence. Have you ever noticed how many Log Cabin Republicans glorify Ronald Reagan, whose AIDS policies resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of gay and bisexual men?

Every Republican is personally responsible every time:

- someone is fired from their job for being lgbt

- someone is denied housing based on sexual orientation or gender identity

- someone is beaten or even killed by bashers

Why should we have sex with people who are endangering our jobs, our homes, and our very lives?

When Log Cabin is faced with any deserved criticism (usually understated quite a bit), they cry "intolerance." By doing so, they are using a rhetorical ploy invented by the KKK to spin their racism. The ploy was picked up by other Christian Right hate-groups to lash out at condemnations of their heterosexist and misogynist bigotry. They are claiming:

It is "intolerant" to speak out against intolerance.

There is no reason why we have to have sex with members of a homophobic hate group. It is repulsive to even think about sex with these bigots and traitors.

United for Peace and Justice is organizing regional protests against the war in eleven cities on October 27.

1. Jonesborough, TN


2. Boston


3. Chicago


4. Los Angeles


5. New Orleans


6. New York


7. Orlando


8. Philadelphia


9. Salt Lake City


10. San Francisco


11. Seattle

The Tennessee protest is listed first here because it is particularly interesting that a major anti-war protest is taking place in the South. Also, the protest is calling attention to highly dangerous depleted uranium ordinance in that state.

The New Orleans march has the added interest of booths at the rally from various groups offering volunteer opportunities for people wishing to help with the Katrina recovery while they are there.

Salt Lake organizers are reminding people that we should "Build bridges, not bombs." Such logical thinking is seldom heard in the corporate media. Seattle has a great poster.

Personally, I will attend here in NYC.

View and share the promo video:


Learn More

 

People for the American Way (PFAW) is asking people to contact sign a petition calling on Congress not to renew their temporary gutting of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

From their petition acknowledgment page:

Last August, the Senate and House caved under White House pressure and voted to OK the gutting of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). For 30 years, FISA has served as a check on the government’s surveillance activities for intelligence purposes.

I just signed a petition telling Congress to "get a spine", and stand up to the White House and fix FISA. We can’t accept anything less than a law that will protect Americans’ constitutional rights and provide oversight of government surveillance.

Will you join me in signing this petition?

Sign the Petition

The original FISA law has been criticized for insufficiently protecting civil liberties, but the Bush regime and the Democratic Congress have gone along with gutting the few protections in that law.

Learn more about FISA from the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Trans activists have been resigning from the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) over the organization's refusal to condemn the efforts of Nancy Pelosi and Barney Frank to split ENDA into two pieces of legislation, effectively kicking trans people out of the only version of ENDA that the House Democratic leadership wants to pass. There also is perfectly understandable anger over the HRC's decision to support the trans exclusive version of ENDA.

Pride at Work has postponed its picket over Nancy Pelosi's presence at the dinner in response to her decision to delay the ENDA split for now. However, trans activists are picketing the dinner over the lack of support from the HRC for the unified bill.

From the National Transgender Advocacy Coalition (NTAC) press release:

Recently, Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights
(NCLR) authored and circulated a letter signed by more than 150 different state and national organizations and submitted to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi petitioning for a return to one inclusive bill for the Employment Non Discrimination Act (ENDA), HR 2015 in its inclusive form.

From this effort has come a new ad-hoc campaign: United ENDA, the new collective of over 150 organizations (www.unitedenda. org) that have agreed to the principles of explicitly inclusive legislation submitted to Congress.

The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), which claims to be the largest U.S. LGBT civil rights organization, has not signed onto an endorsement of the statement signed by the members of United ENDA, opposing the split of the proposed bill into separate legislation,“ one for sexual orientation and one for gender identity.

"We are very disappointed and angry that any civil rights organization claiming to advocate for our rights can turn their backs on us when the going gets tough," said Ethan St.Pierre, Board Chair of NTAC. "It amounts to a betrayal, since HRC earlier promised to support only an inclusive ENDA."

The call to action:

All those who stand in solidarity with the transgender community, including HRC Board members wishing to make a statement, are welcome to join us on Saturday, October 6th at 4:30 p.m. before the Major Donors Reception. The picketing will continue throughout the General Reception and Banquet.

There are lots of things I wish I had known before I moved here. Here are some things that will make life less confusing for newcomers.

311 is run by the Dept. of Wrong Answers.

Michael Bloomberg hates middle class people.

Bloomberg is a major homophobe and racist, though he pretends otherwise.

Some women here love cutting in line.

Staten Island is bigger than Manhattan.

NY1 is as right-wing as it is bland.

From Bloomberg's perspective, recycling primarily serves as a pretext to fine people.

The New York Times doesn't bother with much local news coverage.

Corporations get more government support here than poor people.

New Yorkers are much nicer than they seem at first.

You see a lot more good looking people in Soho than in the Financial District.

There are lots of trees in NYC.

The overwhelming majority of people in NYC do not live in Manhattan. They live in one of the other four boroughs.

The buses in NYC are much more useful than in most places.

Many of the bicyclists are predatory in their behavior towards pedestrians. Watch out.

The state and local governments live up to the negative stereotypes of government far more than governments do in other parts of the country.

The City Council has far less power than city councils do in most places.

The state's supreme court is called the "Court of Appeals."

There are a bunch of "Supreme Courts" that are really district courts.

The boroughs have the same boundaries as counties in NYC, but the names aren't necessarily the same.

There are lots of Republicans in NYC, though not close to a majority. Most are either rich or live in Staten Island.

A major share of campaign money in NYC comes from rich Republicans. It influences local policies more than most people realize.

The MTA mismanages the most extensive public transportation system in the country.

Most politicians here are anti-union, though most pretend they are pro-union.

From Pride at Work's email:

House Democratic Leaders Back Off On Plan to Cut Gender Identity Out of ENDA, Pride at Work Holds Off on Demonstration

House Democratic leaders decided on Monday, October 1st, to delay a scheduled committee meeting on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) where a new version of the bill that would eliminate protections for transgender people was going to be substituted for the original, fully inclusive bill. The House leaders said they were postponing the meeting in order to give the LGBT community more time to line up support for the original bill, HR 2015.

Pride at Work welcomed the postponement, and called off plans to picket the Speaker of the House, Representative Nancy Pelosi, at the Human Rights Campaign's national dinner in Washington, DC on Saturday, Oct. 6. Speaker Pelosi, who along with Representative Barney Frank, the prime sponsor of ENDA, had announced plans last week to cut gender identity from the bill, was to be the keynote speaker at the HRC gala.

"We're glad that Congressional leaders have recognized that the LGBT community will not stand for any attempt to leave any part of our community behind," said T Santora, Pride At Work Co-President. "We're confident that we can overcome any obstacles to a fully inclusive employment discrimination bill, and we stand ready to call a demonstration again if any further effort is made to divide our community. Unity and solidarity are essential."

Pride at Work, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender constituency group of the American labor movement, has organized impressive labor support for ENDA, with an unprecendented 24 International Unions and labor organizations among the 60 national allied groups that have endorsed the bill. "We thank our unions brothers and sisters, from the United Steelworkers, to the Service Employees International Union, to the AFL-CIO for speaking out and demanding an inclusive ENDA. We know the power of working people speaking up for justice," said Nancy Wohlforth, Pride At Work Co-President. "We will never sit idly by and watch one part of our community abandoned for political expediency. If our elected officials and leaders try this tactic again, they can expect to see Pride At Work members in the streets wherever they go."

It is good to know that a lot of people are making a lot of noise. But, don't trust Pelosi and Frank.

Contact Pelosi's Office Now!