Originally published on June 11, 2009 at Yo Mama For Obama
I was very pleased to read this analysis of current affairs in Iran, written by Roger Cohen of the New York Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/...
The developments not only buoy the centuries old politically and culturally advanced Persian realm, but also creates new hope that Iran will go the good route. In plain and simple words, and not to lessen the importance of Iran’s own ancient and sophisticated history, I do believe that this fight for right in Iran has been fueled by Barack Obama. He has been in office now for five months and his international influence is already apparent. The reason? Cohen nails the change in the air in Iran perfectly:
Why the sudden turbulence? Here we come to the third critical characteristic of this campaign. Radicalism in the Bush White House bred radicalism in Iran, making life easy for Ahmadinejad. President Obama’s outreach, by contrast, has unsettled the regime.
It is still too early to credit Barack Obama with a transformation of our entire world. To attribute Obama with a push for world peace and democratic principles is much too premature at this juncture. But at least, Barack Obama’s rise to leadership has enabled people all over the world to imagine what freedom can be. Once an individual, or even a society, has tasted that feeling of independence, they are reluctant (as well they should be) to ever give it up. In fact, they will fight to the death for that freedom. At best, Obama has fostered the principles of freedom and justice to be the core of any political system and now the people know that they must never settle for anything less.
Hush. Let’s wait and see. I am optimistic.