One of the more odious aspects of the cornucopia of hypocrisy that is the Left’s “woke” ideology is how, after assuming its intellectual and moral superiority and “privilege” within society, the Left further assumed others cannot elevate their own status without the woke cult’s intercession and assistance. Not surprisingly, such a “top-down,” condescending ideology has consequences, though the affluent “woke” Leftists driving, voting, donating, and foisting these disastrous policies are often insulated from the consequences of their actions. Not so, however, for the “oppressed,” who through no fault of their own have been targeted for “liberation” by the woke cult’s offensive attitude and its injurious, unwelcomed “help;” nor for society as a whole.
For example, the woke cult’s “bail reform” has led to an increase in crime for residents of urban areas, especially those communities already suffering high crime rates. Other residents and tourists in these cities also are now at greater risk of being victimized by criminals. But this is of no concern to the self-congratulatory Leftists who imposed these perilous policies upon them – unless, of course, these elitists happen to emerge from their gilded communities and are accosted by the physical incarnation of their own smug imbecility.
Yet, the woke cult’s physical incarnations of their own smug imbecility do not end at the city limits or even the waters’ edge. And nor do the consequences of the woke ideology.
As reported by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), “Supreme Leader” Ayatollah Ali Khamenei took to Iran’s Channel 1 on November 1 and reiterated his less than nuanced position on bi-lateral engagement with the United States: “The situation between America and Iran is this: When you chant ‘Death to America!’ it is not just a slogan – it is a policy.”
After carping how this is not the first time he has had to publicly state the obvious and his historically revisionist complaints for it, Iran’s Supreme Lesion deigned to do so again; and, waxing homicidal, railed against the U.S., Israel, and current events:
“For many years, from the 1940s to the 1970s – that is 30 years – the Americans did everything they could do against the Iranian nation. They hit Iran in any way they could – financially, economically, politically, scientifically, and morally.
“If it were not for America’s support, if it were not for the support of U.S. weapons, the corrupt and artificial Zionist regime would have been destroyed in the first week. It would have collapsed. The Americans are behind this.
“In Western countries – in England, France, Italy, and various U.S. states – people took to the streets in large numbers, chanting slogans against Israel and in many cases, against America. This tarnished [Western] reputation. They really do not have any remedy for this. They cannot make excuses for this. That is why we saw some idiot saying that Iran was behind the rallies in England. Perhaps the Basij in London is behind this… Or maybe the Basij of Paris.” [The Basij is part of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.]
You can already hear the Iranian apologists of the Obama and Biden administrations blithely claiming the Supreme Leader “doesn’t really mean it,” and is just posturing for domestic and regional advantage. If this sounds familiar, it is the same garbage their equally “nuanced” predecessors in the western diplomatic corps once said about the genocidal rantings found in Mein Kampf.
Failing – refusing? – to learn the lessons of history, the same heralds of the woke cult believe the Ayatollah’s regime is a suitable partner for a “nuanced” treaty, one capable of differentiating Iran’s “peaceful” development of nuclear power for domestic consumption and that rogue regime’s exportation of terrorism for international slaughter. In their hubris, the nuanced American and European foreign policy gurus believed that, once trust was “restored” with Iran, we could then work with them to curb their exportation and sponsorship of terrorism; and one day make the Supreme Leader’s Iranian regime a tent pole of the international order in the Middle East. Importantly, the trust to be restored was Iran’s in the West.
The Left’s imbecilic engagement with Iran is a case study in the woke cult’s condescension, its wish casting away of narrative crushing reality, and the consequences born by those caught in grip of their far from destructive policies. The Obama administration sided with the Iranian regime over the Iranian people during the Green Revolution, perpetuating and strengthening the tyrannical Ayatollahs. In their feckless chase of a suicidal nuclear agreement with a terrorist regime that we are again reminded, believe death to America is not a slogan but a policy, the Obama and Biden administrations continued to squelch the Iranian peoples’ cries for freedom; and recently led the Biden administration to lessen economic sanctions and release of even more billions of dollars to the barbarous regime, which will put in the service of their insidious aims. This has signaled weakness both to the Ayatollahs and to their sponsored and guided terrorist proxies, like Hamas.
Today, our ally Israel bears the brunt of the horrific consequences of such suicidal “woke” western diplomacy; and the rest of the world roils as the Iranian regime and its corrupt cohorts in the Authoritarian Axis press their advantages and intensify their menace of free peoples.
It’s a high toll to pay for these woke diplomats’ sense of superiority.
An American Greatness contributor, the Hon. Thaddeus G. McCotter (M.C., Ret.) represented Michigan’s 11th Congressional district from 2003-2012, and served as Chair of the Republican House Policy Committee. Not a lobbyist, he is a frequent public speaker and moderator for public policy seminars; and a Monday co-host of the “John Batchelor Radio Show,” among sundry media appearances.
I do not believe Iran can be merely contained through the use of soft and economic power. Those times have passed.
Unlike the cold war tyrants of the Soviet Union and its proxy states, Iran is run by a group of genocidal, messianic mad-men. They are singularly focused, demonically evil and driven by a death-cult that will result in the deaths of tens of millions–if not hundreds of millions–unless they are stopped.
Worth noting that Hezbollah, an Iranian-backed terrorist group has been operating in Mexico since the mid-1990s. It’s an open secret not broadcast by “American” media because informing the American public is no longer the mission of media, obfuscation is.
Hezbollah has intermarried with Mexican cartels, and trained its members. Mexico is neither friend nor ally. It is absolutely a threat to America.
They have an even larger presence in Venezuela. Below is a slightly dated but excellent writeup on how Hezbollah operates a major hub of narcotics smuggling, money laundering and other criminal activities well beyond ‘terrorism’ out of Venezuela. Hezbollah is also excellent at influence peddling and lobbying and all kinds of political action via it’s ‘political arm’ which is allowed to operate openly in places like Venezuela. We are so behind in terms of understanding the threats against our nation. The ‘Atlanticist’ focus of U.S. foreign policy cost us South America ad we now face hostile neighbors to our South that are rapidly allying with Russia and China and Iran and North Korea and Pakistan etc. etc. etc. https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/in-depth-research-reports/issue-brief/the-maduro-hezbollah-nexus-how-iran-backed-networks-prop-up-the-venezuelan-regime/
Again, my fellow conservatives suffer from blithe ignorance on this topic. Just as I did on Israel, I read real history of our conflict with Iran and about the development of Khomeni’s highly politicized Shiism. As an aside, Shia intellectuals and clerics have had an intellectual intercourse with Marxism and ideas about social justice since the early 20th century. The anti-colonialism and de-colonization framing of their rhetoric is of course affected by this, but doesn’t one need to ask if their case has any merit? Like what if we did manipulate Iran’s politics to our benefit and the detriment of the Iranian people?
A few tidbits for my fellow conservatives follow. I ask you, do facts matter? Read on:
The overthrow of Moussadegh in the early '50s was more of a British project, and also had legit support by real political forces in Iran at the time. That said we did offer real support to the effort and embraced the Shah. We are correctly seen as part of the overthrow of their legitimate govt. I wonder how Americans would feel if they had clear evidence that the Iranian Revolutionary Guard had supported a coup against our duly elected POTUS? Or am I a terrorist supporter for asking such uncomfortable questions?
While the Shah reigned in Tehran, we armed and supported him, including training his vicious secret police, the Savak, who tortured and oppressed the Iranian people. They were also a favored ‘subcontractor’ to U.S. intelligence agencies for jailing and torturing targets - because it would be illegal to do so directly. The current leader, Khameni, was held in the Shah’s prisons and tortured. You think they forget this? We supported all of this. Torture still scars Iranians 40 years after revolution | AP News
In 1988, the Iraq-Iran war was tilting in favor of Iran. We could not accept that, in fact Kissinger (that scumbag war criminal and traitor) at the time stated publicly, “If only they both could lose”. So we then helped Saddam Hussein by giving him satellite imagery of the entire Iranian force and chemical weapons to attack them. The war ended in a stalemate and as many as 2 million Iranian men, including many teens 15-16 and up. This was a war of national survival for them and they were about to win when we decided to snatch victory from their grasp by helping a horrific dictator who we only a couple of years later decided must be deposed via military force.
That’s only part of the story. When they chant “Death to America”, many of those chanting are thinking of the “martyrs” most Iranians have pictures of hanging up in their homes in prominent places. These men are remembered in prayer, they are not a depraved society like ours that just expends our soldiers lives and then forget them immediately. We are THE reason they didn’t win the war. How would you feel?
Fun question for the supposedly ‘serious’ conservatives here: How many of you actually know the above? Consider how little we discuss history that doesn’t favor the U.S. in our movement. Iran is only one of many nations we’ve abused, hell, just look at what our arrogance did to Ukraine? 500k Ukrainian soldiers dead - where is our shame? Anguish? Regret? What kind of rabid, bloodthirsty nation are we? Me? I’m ashamed of what our nation is in the world and has been for a long time now.
How is anything I mentioned above conservative or good for our nation?
You’ve no doubt read that I consider Mexico an implacable enemy and under the benign and benevolent dictatorship of MDC, I would declare total war on Mexico and the cartels. And by total war, I mean the kind the US waged in WWII, or the kind William T. Sherman waged on the South. The cartels would be utterly eliminated, the powerful families who run Mexico would be either vanquished or converted to supporters of the US, and all foreign involvement would be crushed.
Think the Monroe Doctrine on meth.