Larry Elder: Protests in Iran — the silence of the ‘feminists’ and ‘progressives’ | BizPac Review

October 13, 2022

Where are the American feminists and “progressives” when we need them? You know, the men-versus-women, pro-abortion types who say things like the reversal of Roe v. Wade represents “men wanting to tell women what to do with their bodies”?

Last month, on Sept. 16, Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old woman living in Iran, died in a hospital three days after being arrested in Tehran by the state’s morality police known as “Guidance Patrols.” Her “crime”? She showed too much hair underneath her hijab, or headscarf.

The New York Times reported: “The police did not offer an explanation for why Ms. Amini was detained, other than that it involved the hijab rule. Her mother said in an interview with Iranian news media that her daughter was observing the rules and wearing a long, loose robe. She said Ms. Amini was arrested as she exited the subway with her brother, and that his pleas that they were visitors to the city were ignored.”

According to the BBC: “Eyewitnesses said Mahsa Amini was beaten while inside a police van when she was picked up in Tehran on Tuesday. Police have denied the allegations, saying Ms Amini had ‘suddenly suffered a heart problem.’” However, at least one Iranian judicial official, according to state media, said the woman suffered “multiple fractures … in the pelvis, head, upper and lower limbs, arms and legs, which indicate that the person was thrown from a height.”

In protest, women in Iran are cutting their hair, with some taking to social media and burning their hijabs. Two weeks ago, CNN reported: “Protests have swept through more than 40 Iranian cities, including the capital Tehran. Iranian security forces have been cracking down on protesters, with hundreds arrested and at least 41 killed, according to state media. Some human rights organizations say the death toll is as high as 76.” As for Iran, Human Right Watch states: “Since March 21, 2022, at the beginning of Iranian New Year, Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA) has documented 306 executions, 130 of them for drug-related charges and 151 of them based on the Islamic principle of qisas, or ‘retribution in kind’ punishments. Between May 21 and June 21 alone, the group documented 99 executions.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., tweeted: “Solidarity with the courageous women and allies in Iran protesting for their freedom. Mahsa Amini was senselessly murdered by the same patriarchal and autocratic forces repressing women the world over. The right to choose belongs to us all, from hijabs to reproductive care.” And Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., put out a statement: “Those responsible for her death should be held accountable and the world should be united in fighting against the policing of what women wear and how they show up in society. Banning the hijab is not much different than forcing one on women. Religious beliefs are personal and should never be imposed on anyone. (May God have mercy upon her soul).”

Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., who once said about President Donald Trump, “We’re going to impeach this mother-f—-er,” and after the reversal of Roe v. Wade, tweeted, “Reproductive rights are human rights that remain under threat across the country,” tweeted mildly, “I stand in solidarity with the Iran protests as they fight for a woman’s right to bodily autonomy and against police brutality in the wake of the horrifying murder of Mahsa Amini.”

As for the rest of The Squad, silence.

No call by American feminists and progressives for the collapse of the totalitarian government of Iran. No wholesale condemnation of this police state’s mandate that women wear the hijab and face imprisonment for failing to do so, or for failing to wear it “correctly.” No plea that the Biden administration, at the very least, publicly support the Iranian protesters demonstrating the same kind of courage as have the Ukrainians following the Russian invasion.

Talk about “men telling women what to do with their bodies”! All the elements to make this an Iranian George Floyd moment are present. But the relative silence by The Squad has been deafening.

Larry Elder is a best-selling author and nationally syndicated radio talk-show host. To find out more about Larry Elder, or become an “Elderado,” visit www.LarryElder.com. Follow Larry on Twitter @larryelder.

Larry Elder: Protests in Iran — the silence of the ‘feminists’ and ‘progressives’ | BizPac Review

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Pulitzer winner Seymour Hersh claims US Navy behind Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosion | New York Post

By Great Bloggers | February 13, 2023

WASHINGTON — Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Seymour Hersh has alleged US Navy divers laid bombs that destroyed the Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline under the Baltic Sea last September, drawing a denial from the Pentagon Wednesday.

Hersh, who scooped journalism’s top award more than five decades ago for exposing the My Lai massacre of Vietnamese civilians by US troops in 1968, cited an unnamed source in reporting on Substack that Americans planted remotely triggered explosives that wrecked three of the four pipelines built to carry natural gas from Russia to Europe.

Hersh, 85, went on to claim that the Navy conducted the operation under the cover of a NATO maritime exercise, BALTOPS 22.

In a short statement, Pentagon spokesman Marine Corps Lt. Col. Garron J. Garn told The Post “the United States was not involved in the Nord Stream explosion,” reiterating the Defense Department’s response to the same question in October.

Swedish officials suspected the blasts were the result of “gross sabotage,” and some Western officials were quick to blame the attacks on Moscow as it blocked gas supplies to Europe in response to sanctions over last year’s invasion of Ukraine.

“These are deliberate actions, not an accident,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said at the time. “The situation is as serious as it gets.”

Pulitzer winner Seymour Hersh claims US Navy behind Nord Stream 2 pipeline explosion | New York Post