The Iranian government hand counted tens of millions of presidential election ballots in a couple of hours; less time than we count ours by computer -- an Ayatollahs' miracle for sure! These results indicated that Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was able to garner two-thirds of the vote. Given the Ayatollahs miracle, the public viewed this result as anything but.
Protesters expressing their extreme objection to the election results then created a miracle of their own when up to one million marchers hit the streets forming a 5 to 6 mile parade of discontent, claims of fraud, and in some cases calling the government a dictatorship.
Meanwhile Ahmadinejad who made references to disgruntled fans after a football game in slighting the protesters, hung around for a couple of days before appearing a day late for a conference in Moscow. He missed some of the key events but he did get a chance to mention how bad the US economy was doing, neglecting to mention that Iran's economy is showing signs of falling off a cliff. If he remains president that is a real possibility.
Meanwhile the pragmatist in me knows that the greatest miracle of all would be a recanting of the election results and the president stepping down. The Ayatollahs have asked for an investigation of the election results to appease the fuming population.
The results of this investigation being conducted by the same folks that created the fraud in the first place are easier to determine than any of my stock picks. Look for the results of the investigation to acknowledge that the vote count was off by some meaningless percentage, not affecting the outcome and leaving the results as they stand.
The Ayatollahs are all for democracy as long as they get to choose who wins. Perhaps in the future they will simply default to the patterns of authoritarian rulers before them -- massive election rhetoric, with only one candidate on the ballot.
Related stories:
Iran's great potential and its challenges!
Iran will waste four more years
Sheldon Liber is the CEO of a small private investment company and the principal for design and research at an architecture & planning firm. He writes the columns Chasing Value and Serious Money.











Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
6-16-2009 @ 4:25PM
Mike O said...
They already engage in massive fraud and manipulation by removing candidates from ballot initiatives, claiming that their "Islamic credentials" aren't up to snuff. Never mind the fact that the majority of these candidates are reformers and liberals.
6-16-2009 @ 4:58PM
al coholic said...
A cynic might say that considering how our last Presidential election was decided we have no room to complain.
6-16-2009 @ 5:05PM
Dan Barnett said...
al, I think you meant the 2000 election as I haven't heard any serious arguments about the legitimacy of the one we had in 2008.
Whether or not there is a popular revolution in Iran, and regardless of governing Party, the country is a major player. The US will have to deal with the eventual winner. The world economy will have to deal with the eventual winner.
In my humble opinion, the absolute worst thing at the moment is for the USA to appear to be influencing the outcome of the Iranian election. Been there. Done that. Didn't work.
6-17-2009 @ 5:36AM
al coholic said...
Yes, Dan, I meant the 2004 election.
One of the reasons we are hated around the world is because we seem hell bent on manipulating other countries politics.
6-21-2009 @ 10:23PM
boanerges9 said...
When AYATOLLAH KHAMEINI warned about that large demonstrations will be supressed day before the election
i knew that wasn't going to be good news for the oposition, but i was surprised how fast AYATOLLAH KHAMEINI tramped the elections and chose AHMADJEDINENI(SORRY???) .It was like the Ayatollah said I AM THE BOSS I AM ENCHARGED i choose whoever i want ,you can vote but i decide the winner.
Going back in time and HISTORY IF WE HAD SUPPORTED SHAH REZA PAHLEVI and if FRANCE didn't release AYATOLLAH KOMEINI we wouldn't have all this MESS right now(THANKS A LOT JIMMY CARTER),THAT AREA IT IS JUST GETTING WORSE DAY BY DAY with no solution in sight.