The "move the struggle forward" chants of CA students & liberal educators evoking protests against the Vietnam War & protestest of racial discord of the '60s is TOTAL bunk...there's NO comparison here! Also, fyi, (according to the WSJ), "despite the budget cuts, CA will this year devote $3 billion to the U.C. system. That's about $13,000 per student%u2014more than the $10k per student that Illinois devotes to the U of Illinois and better than double the $6k per student that NY devotes to the SUNY system."  View

RE: robotsoul I agree in that substantive change will come through an institutional movement that reacts against policies aimed at restricting such protests.  View

I've gotta agree that change will not come about by these violent protests. All they do is get people hurt or killed. But can we expect a change in policy? I think history would have us say no.  View

"Britain and Canada have begun talks with Uganda over the legislation, as both nations have had largescale protests against the proposed law. Sweden has taken a step further and threatened to pull all aid from the region if the legislation is passed." In the US? "Protests in the U.S. were held in both New York and D.C. this past week." "The inaction by the administration is surprising, due to the President%u2019s commitment of renewed dialogue between the U.S. and Uganda this previous spring." Source: http://blog.su-spectator.com/2009/12/ugandan-anti-homosexuality-bill-proposes-death-penalty-obama-administration-has-no-comment/  View

Until REASON and not just religion pervades the abortion argument nothing will change. To solve poverty -- you must attack the root issues that form it. The same is true of unwanted pregnancies. It's not pollyanna to say -- most of these protests miss the point. Trying to solve the issue of abortion on the doorstep of a clinic ... is way too late. If you really care about abortion and want to stop it...there are many areas where you can help that don't involve protesting.  View

The Beck vid is HILARIOUS!!! I don't mind high level organizations "organizing" protests - all sides do it. What I do mind is people coming to meetings and spewing nonsense and not pushing the conversation forward by REALLY debating the merits of their OWN ideas...  View

Glad to see that Euna and Laura are back home with their families. According to the NYT the bargaining chip was actually a letter of condolence from Clinton on the death of Kim Jong-il's father. Let's hope there was an equally valuable note sent to Ahmadinejad, perhaps a "congratulations on suppressing election protests and assuming office under dubious circumstances."  View

Agree with the Obama administration's approach or not, stating that he appears as "a deer in the headlights," is off point. Obama's cautious approach is a highly-calibrated response, based on the notion that the appearance of U.S. meddling in the controversy would only provide fodder for hard-liners like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Ayatollah Khamenei to quell the protests. The U.S. is not popular in Iran, thanks to many of our politicians seemingly hellbent determination to attack the country--think "bomb, bomb, Iran" courtesy of Sen. McCain--as well as past CIA intervention in their democratic election in 1953, which is not a conspiracy theory but simple fact (read Legacy of Ashes, which contains no anonymous sources if you doubt this). That being said, if the Iranian people think the U.S. is involved in the protests, the protests will lose legitimacy. Likewise, those already against them or on the fence will be more likely to come out in full force against the protests.  View

HuffPost, makes a great point, that technology has changed both how these protests are covered and how they are perceived. TV did a lot to make violence in other countries less abstract by giving us footage. Now social media has blurred the lines between passive news watching and active participation. Great story.  View

can you officially call it a re-election? hypothetically, his re-election would energize hawks on the right (notice the Fox news coverage is strangely pro-Obama) who advocate war with Iran. It would force the Pres. into an awkward position, he has said he would engage in talks with Iran without preconditions so he would have to meet with him and thereby tacitly show his support for a corrupt regime. Also, he would have to do this while the press showed running footage of student protesters being beaten by Iranian police (actually I am not sure if they have that footage b/c is hasn't been on TV). Overall, the re-election of Ahmadinejad would be an absolute disaster for the president given the protests.  View