It's like rain on your wedding day

So the Bush White House is concerned about the election of an ultra-conservative, religious fanatic as President of Iran.

Mmm-kay.



Dear Mr. President,
Like many people across the globe, I share your concerns about the recent election of the ultra-conservative, fundamentalist Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as President of Iran. Especially given the dubious nature of the election which brings him to power.

I regret that the same thing happened in my country several years ago. And as many of us feared would happen, there has been a slow and steady dissolution of many of the rights and freedoms we considered to be the backbone of our country and as such took for granted. Attacks on the free press and attempts to "balance" and "bring them into the mainstream" by making them little more than mouthpieces for the administration have become common. The right to privacy, which hardline fundamentalist justices say is not a protected right at all, has been eroded as the government gathers information on us all and encourages people to actively spy on their neighbors and family; all in the name of protecting our homeland, of course. Those who dissent, even members of the President's own party or religion, are immediately labeled traitors and are subjected to savage smear campaigns, including verbal and physical harrassment. The government has even chosen an entire group of citizens and made them scapegoats, blaming them for whatever societal problems they see fit.

Sadly, I am a member of this particular group. On a daily basis, I have to hear how I am responsible for abortion, incest, pedophilia, bestiality, school shootings, sniper attacks, the decline of marriage, the loss of morality, earthquakes, tsunamis, terrorist attacks, and God's abandoning of our country.

But I've also learned that through adversity comes strength and while I'm not happy to endure what I am being forced to endure, I know I will come out of this a stronger person.

I'm sure you'll join me in hoping that the same holds true of the reformists in Iran.