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Ahmadinejad: Even Tyrants Need “Hope”

Even Iran, a nation led by one of the most virulently anti-Semitic regimes in the world, can’t help but use an extremely successful campaign strategy, most likely designed by an American Jewish campaign manager (David Axelrod). Irony of irony? You … Read More

By / May 21, 2009

Even Iran, a nation led by one of the most virulently anti-Semitic regimes in the world, can’t help but use an extremely successful campaign strategy, most likely designed by an American Jewish campaign manager (David Axelrod). Irony of irony? You make the call.

According to The Guardian, the Iranian faced of politics has been jumping on the "Yes We Can" bandwagon as of late. However, there is some confusion over the exact timeline, with some claiming that Ahmadinejad used a variation as early as 2005, though Obama is said to have used his version even earlier.

Arguably, the "Yes, We Can" slogan, combined with the vague promises of "Hope" and "Change," are what won President Obama his position as President. (Though a similar, if not the same, slogan was used to elect Deval Patrick as Massachusetts governor, also under the tutelage of Axelrod.) This fact was not lost on Iranian "President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who recently began co-opting the slogan and playing of his days as a former schoolteacher. Apparently even tyrants and out-of-touch-with-reality Holocaust-deniars can’t pass up a good slogan when they see it.

One has to wonder exactly what it is that Ahmadinejad’s slogan is referring to. Yes we can destablize the world? Yes, we can wipe Israel off the map? Yes, we can sustain skyrockting inflation while ignoring the Iranian people’s plight? Yes, we can bring about the end of days? It’s just not quite as uplifting as it was, when used in American politics.

For a man who thinks that rats from Israel are why people in Iran live shorter lives (ignoring the whole, ‘the government doesn’t give a hoot about its people in Iran’ thing) than in Israel, someone in his corner is politely astute enough to jump on the popular politics bandwagon. What strange bedfellows politics makes, indeed, even if said bedfellows aren’t exactly giving honest credit where credit is due.

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  • Kokapelye

    If Phoenix, Arizona is in Latin America and 1972 is forever, then yes. As to whether David Axelrod has invested in the UFW, I don’t know.

     

     

     

  • zbird

    Politicians in Latin America have been using "si se puede" forever. 

     –Z

  • Kokapelye

    According to MediaMatters.org, Barack Obama used used "Yes, we can" during his 2004 Senate campaign. I guess this means the Republicans are now gonna accuse Obama of directing Ahmadinejad’s every move.

    The Farsi phrase used by Ahmadinejad, _Ma mitavanim_, translates to "We can." In my mind this is less affirmative than Obama’s slogan, but there’s so much more to language than words and grammar, so who knows?

     I suppose if _Ma mitavanim_ were pronounced in Hebrew as ?? ?? ??????? it could mean "What? Who? Appetizers?" Try working that into a conversation.

  • Egherman
  • Tommy Barrios

     "for tyrants to use lies and propaganda."

    You mean like Barack Hussein Obomber is and has beeen doing since he first ran for political office in Illinois!  Nice!

  • Barbara Reader

    for tyrants to use lies and propaganda.

  • Kokapelye

    Not to toot my own horn, but I’ve done an Ahmadenijad poster at Obamicon Me.