...most of the rest of the piece was true. There is a crackdown underway, even if it doesn't result in guys sucking butt-cleansing cans for wearing tight t-shirts.
.................
I don't doubt it.
And not just because of the specifics of the moment - Teheran's tight ass style of governance, fear, loathing and neurosis in response to US threats and the nearby occupation of Iraq, entirely domestic matters, the usual intra-group power struggles...etc - but also because the words "government" and "crackdown" go together like ice cream and cake or flies and shit.
Still, as outsiders discussing Iranian affairs - at least as reported by our media outlets - we face an interesting challenge: how do we keep it all straight?
That is, in response to the torrent of "behold their evil!" stories we get via the Western media about Iran, we have to walk a bit of a tightrope, or, to switch metaphors, keep a constant filter running. As you know, this is especially true now while the Cheney gang (the gang who couldn't shoot straight) agitate to bring their explosive gifts to the Iranian people.
I'm sure some stories are neoconically false while others are true and yet still others - as in the item that launched this thread - are true but 'enhanced' to put a cherry of extra badness on top.
But evidence of abuses notwithstanding, it has the feeling of a kangaroo court.
...
"Sure," Jim's attorney says, "my client robbed the liquor store but there's no evidence he shot anyone." "Ah," says the judge, "but you see, the fact your client robbed the store is proof he's capable of violence and if he can do that, I'm willing to believe he did the other."
.d.