September 25, 2007- The Unwelcome Guest

   All across America these last few days, the talk has been about the visit of Iranian President Ahmadinejad to America. The official reason he is coming to New York is because the United Nations is having the annual birthday party, where all the heads of the member nations are invited to come to the Big Apple and party down and celebrate another year of the UN. No matter who they are, they can come and be at th eparty, be the friend or foe of America, because the wishes of Washington mean zero here because even if the UN is headquartered in New York, it is an international body, and no one country holds sway. So the best home-field advantage that America can get by hosting the UN is not paying their dues or fees ever and having their UN membership be a free ride. So Ahmadinejad may be Number One on Washington's shit list right now, but Iran is a dues-paying member of the United Nations, so he gets an invitation to come there, and he accepted and is in New York right now, as he gives a speech of some kind to the UN General Assembly, which is what the various heads of state do to make it lok like they have some official thing to do and that is why they came there, not just to party, but Ahmadienjad's speech to the UN is not what many people are all upset about , it is some other shit that he has on his itinerary that gets them all freaked out. To begin with, he said that he wanted to go to the site of the World Trade Centrers to lay a wreath or some such shit, and all of New York and most of America in general flipped right out at that one. The New York Pigs amongst others voiced their opposition to that visit, saying that it was inappropriate and wrong, acting like Ahmadinejad was in some way responsible for what happened there that day. The public outcry got to be too much, so New York told him that he could not visit there, and he said he was disappointed but that he understood. Besides that, he had another visit on the itinerary, one that made even more people upset. Since he came into New York a day or two early, Columbia University  invited Ahmadinejad to come and speak at their campus on Monday, a move that was even more controversial than the visit to the World Trade center site. There were  many groups that did not like th efact that he was allowed to speak there at all, and they pushed very hard to get the University to cancel his speech like they did last year, but this time, the University stood firm and said that he was going to be allowed to speak, they called it an "exchange of ideas", typical university talk. It did not hurt that having him give a speech there gave Columbia University an awful lot of free publicity, something that they must have felt they missed out on last year and were determined not to repeat the same mistake again. So they gave Ahmadinejad the opportunity they cancelled on him last year, and the protestors were furious and they protested vigorously but to no avail because the sppech and question and answer sessions went on as scheduled yesterday. Now the spech to the UN General Assembly, something that wil also probably be demonized no matter what the dude says, adding to the wild frenzy that accompanied this trip of his days before it even happened. Ahmadinejad is definetly the most  unwelcome guest in America since this same time last year, when Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez was in town for the party and made a big production out of his speech, infurating Washington. But is Ahmadinejad the "voice of evil" as he is being called in some American media outlets, or is he not what they say he is?

   To look at some of the shit that has happened since he came to New York, he may not be that evil after all. The fact that the Pigs and city officials of new York said that they did not want him visiting the World Trade center site did not mean that he could not do so. His movements are not restricted any while he is in town and if he really wanted to go there, he could and the New York Pigs would be powerless to stop him, in fact, they would have to escort him there as part of his security detail. If the dude wanted to go to that site and grandstand and make some kind of anti-American speech, he would have all kinds of media right there at his side to convey it, yet, the dude is honoring the wishes of City Hall even though he knows he does not have to do so. Someone that was just there to fuck with America would not have obeyed the wishes of City Hall worth shit, yet Ahmadinejad did. The speech and question-and-answer session at Columbia University was not quite what people thought either.  Everyone thought they would see some kind of anti-American, anti-Bush spectacle, with Ahmadinejad hamming it up for the assembled media.  However, what they got was much tougher and direct than anything mose guest speakers at universities ever have to put up with. Columbia had the anti-Ahmadinejad crowd represented very well, in fact, that point of view was the one more represented throughout the whole thing. The questions that he fielded from the audience were anything but questions about art or persian culture, they were pointed ones about the policies of his government. People went on about that statement that has been attributed to him where he said that Israel needed to be wiped off the map, and there wwere a myriad of questions about Iran's nuclear progream, whether or njot they are trying to make nuclear weapons, and what their intentions are, questions about political freedoms in Iran, questions about personal freedoms in Iran, these were not the usual softball quesions that a visiting head of state gets at a university, this was hardcore shit. In fact, the President or whatever the fuck he is of Columbia University could not resist getting in on the act at the end and telling Ahmadinejad that he came across like an evil dictator, so this was not something that the dude was going to be able to use as propaganda. However, the  way that Ahmadinejad handled it was not the way that a typical tyrant would. Most of them never would have stuck around after the first quesion, let alone sit there and be lectured by some stuffed shirt university bigwig , but not only did Ahmadinejad sit there and take it, he replied as best he could under the circumstances. He did spit out some of his official party line, but what politician does not do that when he is questioned, but he answered the questions as honestly and forthrightly as he could. If the man was the  "voice of evil" and a cruel dictator then why did he do so well with free speech and discourse? He knew how to work in that format and did so according to the rules of engagement in it and did so admirably. Even though he was under personal attack at times, he did not resort to that sort of thing in return and showed that he knew all about free speech and discourse. So his behavior thus far on his visit has been far better than that of Chavez last year, who could not stop grandstanding and showing off for the cameras the entie time, and whatever message he may have had was lost in the antics. Ahmadinejad has been trying to act like more of a head of state than a street theater performer, which is unsusal, seeing that he can engage in theater with the best of them.

   That's  all because unlike most of the leaders there, Ahmadinejad does not actually run Iran, the Holy men do that, and he essentially works for them. he is a figurehead that they use to run the government while they are busy with Allah and such, and that is why he is not someone that is so scary like Washington says. If there is an Iranian nuclear program,and there surely is, it is not Ahmadienjad that is behind it, the Holy Men are, and he just does what they say. However, there was one thing that he said that was very true, and that was when he said that he did not think that America was preparing for war with Iran, as so many think they are. True, there are people within the Bush Administration that would lkove war with Iran, but there are thos ewithin that Administration that want war with everyone, just because they want it does not mean they are going to get it.  Washington does not want war with Iran for many reasons, but they love talking tough over there, so they are acting like they do. They know that for all his antics, Ahmadinejad is just a temporary figurehead, not the real power of Iran, and do not want to start a war over him. All the dude has ever been is one of thiose Iranian revolutionaries from 1979 that overthrew the Shah of Iran, the ones that played it up big for TV but could not actually accomplish shit. Ahmadinejad is useful to the Holy Men because saps like him are willing to make it look like Iran has some kind of government that is not actually run and administerd solely by Holy Men by taking these ceremonial jobs that are elected by the people to make it look like they have some kind of say in the government, while the country is really run exactly like the other Middle Eastern Islamic theocracies are, by the Muslim Holy Men and no one else. So he can go on TV and say shit about Israel and nuclear weapons all he wants, he is not going to get America into a war and is not that "voice of evil" that many say he is. No, the fucker is not a cool cat by any means, he is petty, egomanical and vindictive, but people are making far too big a deal of him coming to New York with all the other so-called leaders. He has just become the lightning rod for Washington's frustrations about the way things are going  on the region, and Iran has been a traditional American enemy for almost 30 years now, so that did not hurt either. All this hoopla over him coming to America is just meant to deflect attention away from the Administration's Iraq policies, blame them all on another bad guy like they did with Saddam. If America really wanted the dude not to come to the UN party, they could have kept him out, but they did not risk the diplomatic flap that would have caused and declined to do so. He is not unwelcome by Washington, on the contrary, he is as welcome as it gets, because he is giving them some much needed time out of the spotlight and off the hot seat while he takes all the shit. He knows that too, and is glad to do so, because after all, he is a raging egomaniac and professional media hotdog and loves the publicity for himself. he knows that he coukld have come and mocked Washington and spat at them no end, but he has  toned that shit down and taken what for him is the high road and not made that his  only focus, we'll see what he says at the UN later today, but all this fuss over him coming to New York is a mere tempest in a teapot, much adieu about nothing. It could have all been easily ignored, but  Washington did not want that, so they set it up otherwise.

   The real problem with Iran are those fucking Holy Men that are the true power behind the throne there. They are the ones that could be a problem to America, but the current Administration refuses to deal with them. Instead, they rattle sabers and threaten war left and right, and at first, the Holy Men in Iran may have been concerned by it, but by now, they certainly have seen that it is all an act put on for their benefit. They don't want war with America, but they have clearly seen that nothing is going to be done if they do not stop making nuclear weapons, so they are going to continue right along that path. Ahmadinejad is their front  man now, but there will be another one in a couple years or so, and the Holy men will still keep doing what they are doing. Washington wil not stop doing what they have been doinf towards Iran for six plus years now, threatening war, because that is the convenient scapegoat that they need. This current visit by Ahmadinejad is just the latest installment in that saga, as it is an easy excuse for Washington to stir up anti-Iranian feelings in America. After today or tomorrow when he is gone, the whole thing will go down into the dust of history and be remenmbered as little more than just another bloated bash for the United Nations birthday. Ahmadinejad is every bit as convenient for Washington as he is for the Iranian Holy Men, they just use him for different reasons. The guy does not mind being use dby both  sides at all, that is about the highest level he could ever hope to attain in life, so the whole three ring circus goes on endlessly. This game can easily be stretched out past January 20, 2009, and that date is all that the current Administration cares about anyway, and that is why there's so much anti-Iranian sentiment coming from Washington these days. Yes it is true that Iran is meddling in Iraq as much as they can, but Washington loves them to death for that because that keeps the war going endlessly, and the gravy train that goes with it too. Soi the entire thing is one great big sham, yet another sham perpetrated on the American people by an Administration that seems to know no other ways of doing things. They know that the Iranian problem will be something that they hand off to the next Presidential Administration in 2009 and are content to have it be just that. They have everything just the way they want it in the Middle East, and starting another war with Iran would just fuck that up badly.  The next Administration is going to have to deal with that one, and that attitude is the same in both Washington and Tehran. Ahmadinejad has a date where he'll have to leave too and he'd also like to leave everything for his unfortunate successor to deal with. So he is very willing to fly to New York on other people's dollars and put on this big act as the unwelcome guest and milk it for all it is worth and then fly back to Tehran with zero accompished. Next year is the last year that he is going to be able to do this while the Bush Adminmistration is in office and he does not know what might be up then, so this could be the last time, so he is not going to pass it up for anything. So the TV news netowrks are getting a lot of cool sound bites out of this, and people are busting guts freaking out over it all, but the unwelcome guest that is in New York right now is not really a problem at all ,New York has had much worse problems than him, and consider ing that it is the home of people like David Berkowitz  (The Son Of Sam) and Fidel Castro, it has had worse residents from within than Ahmadinejad. So what we see this week is just so much media hype with zero substance to it that wil add up to nothing when it is all said and done.

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