IRAN – NO SECOND DAY – AT 8:41 A.M. ET:  The question, of course, is whether the demonstrations that rocked Iran yesterday would continue into today.  Sadly, they apparently have not, at least not yet. 

The difference between Iran and Egypt is that the Egyptian army would not fire on demonstrators.  In the mullahs' Iran, the guns and clubs came out immediately:

Tehran, Iran (CNN) -- Iranian lawmakers denounced Monday's protests in Tehran and called for the execution of two opposition leaders for inciting the demonstrations, Iran's state-run Press TV reported Tuesday.

Members of the Iranian parliament issued fiery chants against opposition leaders and former presidential candidates Mehdi Karrubi and Mir Hossein Moussavi

Press TV aired video Tuesday of lawmakers chanting "Moussavi, Karroubi ... execute them."

Lawmakers also named former President Mohammad Khatami in some of the death chants.

Iranian leaders have praised Egypt's revolution, but Monday when protesters in Iran took to the streets the government cracked down hard. 

And...

Patrolling security forces battled protesters with batons and tear gas for much of the day.

The large crowd was largely cleared from the city's streets by nightfall and the main squares near Tehran University remained free of police, security forces or protesters

Dozens of demonstrators were detained during Monday's protests while internet videos showed others had been chased and beaten.

One person was shot and killed during the protests, according to Iran's semiofficial Fars news agency. Several others were injured and listed in serious condition as a result of the shooting, which the Iranian government blamed on "agitators and seditionists."

COMMENT:  It's not uncommon for revolutionary movements to be beaten back one day, only to emerge again later, possibly months later.  But whether this will happen in the face of a regime that doesn't hesitate to murder its own citizens is problematical.  So far, we have seen no evidence that the Iranian military, led by the Revolutionary Guards, the Iranian version of the Nazi SS, is turning on the government or even leaning toward neutrality.

A good friend of mine likes to quote Douglas MacArthur, who commonted on those who smugly tell us that the pen is mightier than the sword.  MacArthur replied, "Whoever said the pen is mightier than the sword obviously never encountered automatic weapons."

We also have the trendies who romanticize Gandhi's nonviolent resistance in India.  It worked because Gandhi was facing the British, representatives of a modern, civilized society.  If he'd faced the Nazis or the Soviets, we never would have heard of Gandhi because he would have lasted an hour. 

We wish the Iranian people well.  We wish Barack Obama had supported them in 2009, when they had a chance to win.  But I cannot claim great optimism in light of what they are facing.

And I wonder how the apologists for the regime, some of whom are active in the United States, will act now.

February 15, 2011