Let's see if Jonathan Demme has the guts to nut up and screen his film "Philadelphia" in Tehran.

When you compare America to the way it was prior to the neocon infestation, yes, absolutely.

The oppression is simply cloaked in different language and manners of torture, that's all.

The quick reactions to this tired old type of 'joke' are more interesting than the 'jokes' themselves. Do you feel that such a comparison is so ridiculous? Is Iran much more repressive? Have none of the freedoms the USA pride themselves on been curtailed of late? If the answers are yes, why the rebuttal? Seems unneccesarily touchy to me.

Does anyone who isn't severely brain-damaged due to the influence of psychoactive drugs have an opinion on this subject, just out of curiosity?

Let's see if Jonathan Demme has the guts to nut up and screen his film "Philadelphia" in Tehran.

Hahahaha.

That'll be the day.

We should test the theory of hashfanatic and bryan, by having AlarmingNews sponsor their trip to Tehran to protest the government.

Seriously, let's raise some money to fly them over there.

It won't cost THAT much, after all, we'd only have to pay for...ONE WAY plane tickets.

And the Mullahs will pick up their "room & board" tabs, for sure !

Bad boy the touchy, what theory did I espouse? Do you find picyures talking to you in the same way? I wouldn't dream of suggesting gays are treated so badly in the USA; they wouldn't get jobs as republican senators and evangelical ministers in Iran, and they certainly wouldn't be put in charge of the welfare of young boys ;-).

I meant 'pictures', but read 'crocodile', Israel is bad' or 'I heart terrorism' for that word like you usually do BB.

bryan, I realize that any criticism of anything Islamic is upsetting to you, but keep in mind that what we write is always 'archived' in the thread.

Truth is, you mocked Karol's post by writing; "Do you feel that such a comparison is so ridiculous? Is Iran much more repressive?"

I assume from your last two posts that you're not interested in having AlarmingNews sponsor your trip to Tehran to protest the government.
Are you actually afraid to go to Tehran to publicly protest the government ?

Check the archive, Badboy, and show where I have ever said anything positive about the Iranian government (or governments, as they have an elected (for show) secular government and the real (unelected) clergy run one). Please prove your point, and show where I have done this. I'd love to see it.

Not so quick with this response, eh BB? Perhaps when people chant "Death to America!" it worked, and started with your brain.

Still nothing? Perhaps Von Bek has hurt you too much, and I'm nowhere near being in his league. I'm intrigued to know how (what hf pointed out) = (wanting to protest Iranian government policy). it occurs to me that the only government policy you don't think should be criticised is that of your own. Not so great for democracy, that IMO. The whole doubt about the war meaning support for terror is just bunk.
Oh, and while we've mentioned gays, lets give a warm hand (ooh cheeky) for the paedophile priests of the USA and the west, heartily defended, paid for, hidden and denied by the RC church (and by extension, the parishioners' collection plate!

"Is Iran much more repressive?"

BB probably didn't even see your reply. You're not his world, you know.

You realize that by asking what you now disclaim as rhetorical, others like BB and myself would take literally. That's because many liberals in America and around the world *do* believe the U.S. is severely oppressive.

"Have none of the freedoms the USA pride themselves on been curtailed of late? If the answers are yes, why the rebuttal? Seems unneccesarily touchy to me."

As a libertarian, I believe our Fourth Amendment has been under constant attack, but hardly the First Amendment's protection of the freedom of speech. (Religion is another thing, but that's a topic for another day.) But if you listened to all the liberals' howling, you'd see that despite their freedom to dissent, they claim they're being squelched.

Our so-called "political prisoners" are people we suspect of being terrorists or terrorist aiders. Unlike Madman Mahmoud, we don't round up protesting students and throw them into prisons.

Let me put it another way. Two plus two equals four. You know that; I know that. Most people know that.

But when you have idiots saying "two plus two equals five," and they're not only very vocal but use their celebrity status to make themselves seem "right," it can't just be let go. To paraphrase Edmund Burke, the only thing necessary for error to prevail is that people with correct information stay silent.

Perry, you seem to be implying that I have said stuff I haven't. I agree with the last post you made about correct information, but isn't that how the case for war with Iraq began? With those with true information being stymied?
Iran, awful country that it is on many levels contains many people who deplore their government; they don't protest because they would be killed, and to lump them in with their oppressors to make a big ball of evil is just simplistic nonsense, fit only for the feeble-minded to comprehend. I contend that BB sees little in the way of shading in many matters.