Really, just how bad does the repression in Iran have to get before the Hanly/Smith axis reconsiders?
On a more positive note, Ravi, I agree that Zizek's claim, "We are dealing with a genuine popular uprising of the deceived partisans of the Khomeini revolution," comes out of the blue and needs a hell of a lot more support.
MM
On Wed, Jun 24, 2009 at 9:24 AM, ravi <ravi at platosbeard.org> wrote:
> On Jun 24, 2009, at 7:47 AM, Michael McIntyre wrote quoting Zizek:
>
>> Finally, the saddest of them all are the Leftist supporters of
>> Ahmadinejad:
>> what is really at stake for them is Iranian independence. Ahmadinejad won
>> because he stood up for the country’s independence, exposed elite
>> corruption
>> and used oil wealth to boost the incomes of the poor majority – this is,
>> so
>> we are told, the true Ahmadinejad beneath the Western-media image of a
>> holocaust-denying fanatic. According to this view, what is effectively
>> going
>> on now in Iran is a repetition of the 1953 overthrow of Mossadegh – a
>> West-financed coup against the legitimate president. This view not only
>> ignores facts: the high electoral participation – up from the usual 55% to
>> 85% - can only be explained as a protest vote. It also displays its
>> blindness for a genuine demonstration of popular will, patronizingly
>> assuming that, for the backward Iranians, Ahmadinejad is good enough -
>> they
>> are not yet sufficiently mature to be ruled by a secular Left.
>>
>
>
>
> Zizek, when he is not putting thoughts into the heads of Leftists (or does
> he offer links to the writings of the leftists he summarises above?), is
> able to peer into their heads to see what thoughts ("patronizingly
> assuming") are motivating them. Question begging degraded to name calling.
>
> The above is not the only instance of poor logic in the argument. Here is
> another:
>
> They are
>> counteracted by skeptics who think that Ahmadinejad really won: he is the
>> voice of the majority, while the support of Mousavi comes from the middle
>> classes and their gilded youth. In short: let’s drop the illusions and
>> face
>> the fact that, in Ahmadinejad, Iran has a president it deserves.
>>
>
> The "in short" really is not a short version of the previous lines. That
> Ahmadi won the majority vote and that Mosavi draws support from gilded
> youth, if true, do not imply that those who argue for this truth also
> believe that Ahmadi is therefore the president Iran deserves (nor does this
> follow from the first two premises).
>
> Zizek writes:
>
>> We are dealing with a genuine popular uprising of the
>> deceived partisans of the Khomeini revolution.
>>
>
>
> This is an interesting claim. Too bad it is so poorly argued. There is, for
> instance, significant confusion in calling the [circa] 1979 revolution, in
> all of its aspects, "the Khomeini revolution".
>
> --ravi
>
>
>
>
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