I suspect if any human rights violation is perpetrated by a Muslim group, Obama will turn a blind eye to all but the worst acts of violence.

I doubt he is keen to mention any atrocity unless it can be pegged to Western societies or the United States. He won’t mention the apartheid based on religious hate in Saudi Arabia, but he will call the leader of the country “wise and gracious.” Ask him about African Americans and he’ll have loads to say – but ask him about abuses against other peoples (including Muslims) by Islamic governments and he is completely silent.

“The majority of Iranians are certain that the fraud is widespread,” said Tehran-based analyst Saeed Leilaz. “It’s like taking 10 million votes away from Mousavi and giving them to Ahmadinejad.”

Whether this is enough to spawn a sustained opposition movement remains an open question.

Much depends on how much they are willing to risk. The heartland of Iran’s liberal ranks is the educated and relatively affluent districts of north Tehran. It’s also the showcase for the gains in social freedoms that began with the election of President Mohammad Khatami in 1997: makeup, Internet cafes, head scarves that barely cover hair and satellite dishes that are technically illegal but common.

The ruling clerics tolerate all that to a point — part of a tacit arrangement that the liberties stay as long as reformists remain politically meek. A real protest movement could threaten their coveted Western-looking lifestyle and risk a brutal response from groups vowing to defend the Islamic system.“

First, most intellectual reformists left Iran in the late 70′s. They came here. This current opposition was galvanized through the internet and texting amongst Iranian youngsters under 30 that have grown up entirely under a tyrannical regime and want more.

Mousavi is riling people up out there despite the fact that he came with the stamp of the approval of the clerics which for me begs the question: are they inciting this violence purposely to give them an excuse to squash the little western freedoms that have taken hold there and get ahold of their youth?

Mousavi as president of Iran would’ve changed nothing in major Iranian policy, especially not the nuclear program that’s draining most of their resources and tanking their economy. That’s entirely controlled by the Mullahs.

Whether Mousavi is deliberately leading his voters to ruin or is just another ignorant pawn probably doesn’t matter; his supporters were drawn to him because he was the most viable “pro-western” candidate for them. I wouldn’t be surprised if he did turn up dead either way when this is done, and we end up with an even more toe-in-line Iranian population afterwards.

“Communications disruptions began in the later hours of voting Friday — suggesting an information clampdown. State television and radio only broadcast the Interior Ministry’s vote count and not Mousavi’s midnight news conference.”

“Nationwide, the text messaging system remained down Saturday and several pro-Mousavi Web sites were blocked or difficult to access.”

Visions of things to come.