Friday, June 19, 2009

The Iranian Election

What short memories we have, or is it that protested elections in the U.S. are somehow different than such protests elsewhere? Remember our 2000 presidential election? It was disputed and people took to the streets to vociferously express their disagreement with what many still consider a rigged outcome. Did we call on the leaders of other democratic countries to express their opinions of our electoral process? And when they did weigh in on our messy election, we paid no attention at all to what they had to say.

Here in the U.S. we have become so full of ourselves that we feel obligated to tell other countries (particularly non European countries) how we feel about what they do. Many politicians and elected officials are vigorously urging President Obama to be more forcefully involved in Iran's disputed election. So far the president has correctly preferred a muted response. I hope he continues to emphasize that this is a matter strictly for the Iranians. It is not our concern. Haven't we learned anything from our precipitous invasion of Iraq? Obviously, our new president has, but congress is apparently a slow learner.