[lbo-talk] Juan Cole: preliminary reactions to the Iranianvotetotals

Bhaskar Sunkara bhaskar.sunkara at gmail.com
Sun Jun 14 09:35:54 PDT 2009


Erik Beck: "Yoshie and the bleacher section at Lenin's Tomb can barely contain themselves, offering advice, discerning possibilities, *belittling the protests*."

Your obviously not paying close enough attention. Those folks were a vocal minority

Here is Richard Seymour (Lenin) on the topic:

"Hold up, deformed worker. It is quite possible that the votes were rigged - we don't know whether they were or not yet. Secondly, while I don't think Mousevi is the kind of person the Left should be supporting, I'm not sure that even if Ahmadinejad did win fairly that would mean socialists should back him instead. Different interests are evidently being hitched to opposed factions in the Iranian ruling class, neither of which should get the support of socialists. If the working classes did prefer Ahmadinejad because they reject the neoliberal alternative, it doesn't mean there isn't a problem with political repression and trade union bashing that comes from the majority conservative bloc. The sad truth is that the Iranian left is terribly weak, and has been since being outmaneouvred and essentially smashed following the Iranian Revolution. We should welcome anything that might strengthen them, and it may well be the case that if these protesters (whom we can't just assume are puppets for a 'colour-coded revolution' or some such venture) force the Iranian state to make concessions on political rights, it will become easier for the organised working class and the left as whole."

But, sure you can go ahead and just reject this analysis as "Leninoid" blather, whatever that means. (Some with the nom de plum of Lenin, is probably a Lenin*ist* and not a closet Leninoid.



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