The Global Netroots/Grassroots Has To Fill In For The President

Image via WikipediaThe presidency of the US is the most powerful political office that was ever designed in the history of humanity, but it also comes with severe constraints. But if you believe in rule of law and the basics of democracy, if you believe in the need of a US president to primarily answer to the American electorate, then those constraints are welcome constraints. I did not volunteer for Obama 08 envisioning a Genghis Khan in the White House.

The netroots/grassroots that put Obama in the White House has to realize its enormous power when it comes to the green revolution in Iran. If that netroots/grassroots can put "a skinny kid with a funny name" into the White House, that netroots/grassroots can get rid of clowns like Khameini and Ahmadinejad. That netroots/grassroots is sufficient upon itself to bring down autocracy after autocracy.

I am for harnessing the power of the global netroots/grassroots for the cause of democracy. All the political work that needs to be done, all the money that needs to be raised, all the exposure that the green movement needs, all that can be provided by the global netroots/grassroots. We are not at the mercy of politicians in power, or at the mercy of old media. We have what it takes.

If the global netroots/grassroots will do all it can do for the cause of democracy in Iran, somebody like the President Of The United States could make just the right moves at just the right times to tilt victory our way. I can't imagine the guy being for the other side. But we the netroots/grassroots do have to exhibit governance literacy, power literacy to be able to tap into the powers of our guy who is the top guy on the planet when it comes to political power.
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He is on our side, he is with us, but he has the constraints of a political office. There are options he has. There are options he does not have. We the netroots/grassroots do not have those constraints. There are things we can do that he can't. There are things he can do that we can't. We have to do the things that we can do to make it possible for him to do the things that he can for the cause of democracy in Iran.

We need to work it for the top guy. But the power was and remains at the grassroots and the netroots.

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The Shah Is For Secular Democracy, Not Monarchy

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National Post: Bringing Democracy To Iran: At 50, Mr. Pahlavi dismisses talk of restoring the monarchy in Iran and says his life is now dedicated to creating a non-violent, democratic revolution there.

The Shah of Iran could not make it clearer. He is for a secular democracy in Iran. He is not for restoring monarchy in Iran. We similarly have to reach out to Iranian groups that might have picked up weapons against the current regime in Tehran in the past. If the Shah can ditch monarchy, these groups can ditch violence.

We have to build a broad coalition of Iranian groups for the cause of democracy in Iran.

In The News

BBC: Iranian Court Bans Two Leading Opposition Parties: Islamic Iran Participation Front and the Islamic Revolution Mujahideen Organisation .... Both supported opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi ..... In recent weeks, Iranian security forces have stepped up attacks on opposition leaders Mehdi Karroubi and Mr Mousavi, with attacks on their homes and offices..... Scores remain in prison.




New York Observer: Malcolm Gladwell Compares Twitter Activism To Civil Rights: he's wrong to imply that a network of weak ties can't accomplish serious change. One could argue, for example, that social media played a crucial role in electing our first black president, a historic moment in our nation's struggle for equality.

Foreign Policy: Obama's Freedom Agenda: The freedom section of President Obama's address to the United Nations General Assembly .... the most extensive, fulsome, and compelling defense of human rights and democracy of his presidency, and it strategically placed political freedom in the context of economic freedom and development. ...... s a number of nations that are in tyranny's crucible, and whose citizens may find the possibility of freedom within their grasp. Sometimes this grasp can be aided by presidential attention or even a few strategic gestures that tip the scales...... and perhaps even recapture some of the charismatic appeal that has since his inauguration been strangely absent.

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