"America very good,"
July 14, 2010 3:57 AM   Subscribe

I Just Got Back From Iran
posted by telstar (13 comments total)

This post was deleted for the following reason: Short Huffpo editorial is rarely a good post. -- cortex



 
And boy are the stories about them and nuclear arms tired.
posted by pracowity at 4:12 AM on July 14, 2010 [7 favorites]


I was really hoping this would be about Hoder.
posted by Aizkolari at 4:14 AM on July 14, 2010 [2 favorites]


...and all I got was this single link op/ed post.
posted by crunchland at 4:33 AM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


I was really hoping this would be about Hoder.

I was thinking the exact same thing.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 4:36 AM on July 14, 2010


This article reminds me of the story by Tony Horwitz in one of his books how he took photos of an anti-US rally in Teheran shortly after the revolution. Eventually he was approached by a big bearded Iranian fellow who demanded to know where he's from. Horwitz admitted that he was American and braced himself for a beating. Instead, the Iranian guy continued to inquire if Horwitz had ever been to Disneyland and what it was like. Finally, the guy contemplated that it was his biggest dream to take his family to Disneyland one day, before he joined the other protesters chanting "Death to America" again.
posted by sour cream at 4:37 AM on July 14, 2010 [4 favorites]


I find it hard believe that this guy actually traveled around Iran - this is an awfully insipid editorial that seems written by someone who was asked to write about his trip as an afterthought. Really, he traveled around Iran for a couple of weeks and talked to two people? Three people? And they told us that they like Americans just fine, they just don't want them interfering in Iranians' domestic affairs? Sorry, this is like OpBot2000 programrun: Iran. But he does save it in the end by his insightful recommendation that the United States use creative diplomacy. Awesome. Get that, Clinton? Use creative diplomacy. Bet you didn't think of that, did you?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 4:43 AM on July 14, 2010 [3 favorites]


I find it hard believe that this guy actually traveled around Iran - this is an awfully insipid editorial that seems written by someone who was asked to write about his trip as an afterthought.

I agree that this was a pretty insipid piece, but I don't doubt his experience for a minute. A friend went a couple years ago (before the '08 Presidential election here), and "love the people, hate the regime" was very much the (healthy) sentiment on both sides. (Also, they all loved Obama, which she told us not to tell anyone in case it could be used against him!)
posted by availablelight at 5:05 AM on July 14, 2010


> Finally, the guy contemplated that it was his biggest dream to take his family to Disneyland one day, before he joined the other protesters chanting "Death to America" again

I recently read an ARC of a book about Iran that at one point mentions that the "Death to America" chanting is not as strong as it sounds to a Western ear, i.e. that Iranians shout "Death to...X" in the same way that Americans say things like "go to hell" and "F*ck off and die" to their friends. That sometimes Iranians will say "Death to these apples" if the apples are rotten or sour, that kind of thing.

Not knowing anything at all about Iran or its culture (even after reading this book(!)) this sounded odd to me, but also oddly credible. I would be happy to be educated on this matter if anyone knows.
posted by chavenet at 5:07 AM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


availablelight, you don't doubt the experience this guy describes because it's the same experience everyone has. I suppose that's my point. To prove that there was an actual human writing this piece and not the OpBot 2000, I was hoping for a little description of his trip, something beyond the template of "Iranian people like x, don't like y". I'm more frustrated that this wasn't a great article than anything else, because here's a guy who traveled around Iran and talked to people and is now writing about his trip for others - what did you see, Mr. Writer?
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 5:12 AM on July 14, 2010


(Also, they all loved Obama, which she told us not to tell anyone in case it could be used against him!)

I just saw this in the Fox News crawl.
posted by DU at 5:20 AM on July 14, 2010


GODDAMMIT
posted by availablelight at 5:27 AM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]




My English travel companion used to take great enjoyment in telling Iranian locals I was Israeli when they'd ask where we were from (which was pretty much a daily occurrence). At first I was quite pissed, but the reactions were always extremely positive, and I would often hear, "My Yahūdī brother!" accompanied by an arm over my shoulder.

Although I am not Israeli, I did see and meet several of my fellow tribe members in various places around Iran.
posted by gman at 7:02 AM on July 14, 2010 [1 favorite]


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