- Joined
- Sep 18, 2011
- Messages
- 83,522
- Reaction score
- 57,986
- Location
- New Mexico
- Gender
- Male
- Political Leaning
- Progressive
Then I'll minorly disagree, haha. Even if Iran is still a totalitarian theocracy, the actual reformist actions (releasing political prisoners, eg) and the President's changes in tone show that the political atmosphere within Iran has changed significantly from what it was just a few short years ago. It would be a mistake to say "nothing's changed" and then act as if that were true. Any sign of progress ought to be celebrated, and any hint of regress discouraged and condemned.
Absolutely. This president is saying things very different than the last president. Now... if one is to contend that the Mullahs have all the power and the prez doesn't then you'd have to acknowledge one of two things:
1) The mullahs are changing their minds
2) There is a growing divide between the mullahs and the president.
There is a third option which is you believe that the mullahs and this prez are in cahoots in lying to everyone and are in lockstep with each other... and that option would make you a highly speculative conspiracy hypothesizer.
The guy was elected and he ran as a moderate. This isn't someone who just got appointed by these religious guys and says what he's told to. He ran on being moderate and as president, he is being moderate... at least by comparison to his predecessors.