re: #131 Killgore Trout

It’s hard to tell. Iranian Press TV had a steady stream of Occupy supporters willing to be interviewed to slam the US, none of them seemed bothered by being propaganda tools for the Iranian state. I don’t know how the lefties rationalize it but I suspect their hatred for the West outweighs their dislike of the mullahs.

It varies. A random left-wing Democrat college student is going to see this very differently from a sixty-ish ideological Marxist.

What I usually get is some combination of:

1. We’re worse.
2. But Israel!
3. Of course I don’t approve of the Iranian government, but what about the Iranian people.
4. Everything you THINK you know about Iran comes from the biased Western press.
5. People in Iran are totally fine. Everything you hear to the contrary is a lie.
6. The West is responsible for Iran’s present government. Bet you didn’t know that!
7. Let me tell you about Mossadegh. I can pronounce his name!
8. They don’t want nukes. Who told you that?
9. I TOTALLY condemn Iran’s government. Now, what about Israel? And the U.S.? They’re worse.

This is, of course, far from universal, but the big anti-war orgs have gone to a ‘no sanctions, no nothing, LEAVE IRAN ALONE!’ place.