The Coming Crackdown

From an anonymous writer in Tehran:

[T]he green light has now been given to the basij to kick ass and take names. "The way of the law is open," [Khamenei] says. "If people continue to take the other way, I will come back and speak more directly." Qanun, qanun, qanun. Law, law, law. His emphasis on the need for law and order. By the end, uncharacteristically, the leader, gets hot. Interjections from the crowd interrupt him and he tells them to stop and listen. He talks about the U.S. and the West and how the U.S. wanted to launch a spurious velvet revolution in Georgia. He says that these "aqmaqha" -- idiots -- think that they can do the same in Iran.

And then he ends by weeping. He tells Iranians that he loves us more than we can know. Ten years ago, Khamenei wept publicly when students were protesting in the streets. That's when regime loyalists began to crack down. "Our vote is written in blood, and we gave it to the leader," the mosque crowd yells back.

Things do not look good. It is worse than it ever was.