Q & A on the Elections and the Protests

Here are some answers to questions people ask me:

Q: Asrah, You voted for Karroubi, right? So why are these protests important to you? After all, Mousavi is still the Mullahs' Man, right? He is for everything Ahmedinejad is doing. So, why do you think these protests important to Iran?

A: Good question. The protests are still important even if you don't like Mousavi, because we have never seen anything like this for 30 years. Iranians never protested in the streets in these numbers. It was just never done. We all thought it couldn't be done. But now we've done it, and we are doing it everyday. So, I think from now on, we will think nothing of doing it all the time.

First of all, we will get rid of Ahmedinejad. Then we will protest for more rights later.
It's like getting a girl to sleep with you. It's really hard to convince her the first time. But after that, you can do it again and again very easily.

Besides that, the mullahs selected all four candidates that they could trust the Iranian people to vote on. In the end, though, they couldn't even let us choose freely from one of those. They had to make the final choice as well. It's the final insult, and it's worth protesting.

Q: Why do you think people voted for Mousavi when his policies are the same as Ahmedinejad?

A: The people of Iran don't know what they want. They only know what they DON'T want. They don't want Ahmedinejad. Sure, there's no BIG difference between Mousavi. I'm no fan of Mousavi, but he's better than Ahmedinejad. Ahmedinejad is so crass. He doesn't deserve to be our president. He's a mess for Iran. We would do anything to get rid of him. He's an embarrassment. He makes the world think we're a bunch of monkeys. He's ugly and he lies too much, he knows nothing of moderating .

Most people don't know much about the candidates. All they know about Karroubi and Mousavi is that Karroubi is a mullah and Mousavi wears a tuxedo (so he must be more modern).

Listen, I don't HATE Mousavi. He's a reformist too, just not to the degree that Karroubi is. Both of them have things in their past to be ashamed of, but it's clear they have changed. still, both of them were trusted enough by the mullahs to be allowed to run for President.

Q: Why do you think Mousavi did so well?

A: Mousavi had a lot more money than Karroubi, and he was really good at advertising. Making the color green his symbol was genius. It made his advertising so cheap and easy. Once, at a Karroubi rally we were chanting slogans in Vali Asr Square. Ahmedinejad's supporters attacked us. They shut off the electricity so Karroubi couldn't speak. But Mousavi's supporters could just wear the color green. It turned the color green into the color of "Not Ahmedinejad".

Also, Mousavi had one really valuable card: Khatami (the former President before Ahmedinejad) supported him. Khatami was a bright moment in our dark history. He wasn't not brave, and he didn't use his opportunity as he could have, but in his time we had more civil rights.

Q: Why did you vote for Karroubi?

A: First, I liked his idea for *truly* nationalizing the oil. He wanted to take away the oil ownership and revenue from the goverment. The people of Iran would own it, and receive monthly distribution checks from the profits. If the government had to come to the people for its money, it would care more what they think.

Also, he gathered around himself all the men who were kicked out of the government for being reformist. He was really popular with writers and intellectuals. Even members of Khatami's inner circle came to Karroubi's camp. He was popular with rappers and underground muscians. A famous rapper wrote a song for him.

Next, he started using the words that have been forbidden until now: "Ethnic Rights for Kurds and Balochs." Even religious rights for Bahais. He said that it should be up each woman whether she wears a hijab, and not mandatory. He said he would have a female minster in his cabinet. He has a history of calling for the release of political prisoners.

Finally, he said that the Supreme Leader's authority had to be defined in law, and that "Candidate Filtering" had to be reformed to make it easier for people to run for office even if the mullahs don't like them. He protested when candidates like Ghasem Sholesadi or Akbar Alami were not allowed to run. He supported letting the people of each province elect their representives.

Here are some pictures of Karroubi. During the protests recently, he climbed up on a phone booth. He's 72 years old. Such a cute old man.

Q: Do you think Obama is an important reason for these protests (either his Cairo speech or his election)?

A: These protests have nothing to do with Obama. He has barely said anything about them. He says that is because he doesn't want the protesters being called American agents. Then why say anything at all? He mentioned the protesters and now the government says "You are America's slaves". Since we're going to be called spies anyway, why shouldn't the US go all the way? They could add more radio stations to make it harder to block Radio Farda. They could add more ways for Iranians to access the Internet. There should be satellites dedicated to letting Iranians access the Internet without government restraint.

Here is a major way to help us: Bloggers should be able to make money with Google Ads. Pro-liberty blogs are certainly in America's interest. Sure, there would be also bloggers who kiss the mullah's asses. Who cares? I realize that what I'm saying is for the sanctions to be blocked. But the sanctions cannot weaken a government with oil. They can always find a buyer for their oil. The sanctions only hurt the Iranian people.