One of the most fascinating videos we watched yesterday was a brief moment from the Tehran streets. The marchers are deliberately quiet — no chanting — when suddenly you hear cries of “Basiji!” passing through the crowd.

And then everybody sits down.

The Basij are Iran’s “volunteer militia” — the shock troops responsible for most of the violence so far. And in the face of threat, the crowd displayed textbook nonviolent tactics — tactics few would have reason to know a week ago.

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Taking time out from their extensive Iran coverage — two headlines buried way down their 46-headline homepage — WorldNetDaily is pitching an exclusive! story about what matters to Americans: the shocking truth! behind Carrie Prejean’s firing as Miss California.

In an interview with Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, [Prejean attorney Charles Limandri] said the head of the Miss California USA pageant is an open homosexual who does not approve of Prejean’s opposition to same-sex marriage — and that is the real reason he terminated her contract.

An open homosexual running a beauty pageant? In America? Next you’ll be telling us they also design the gowns.

On the other hand, Donald Trump, the open asshole who actually owns the operation, is quoted saying he agreed with decision, once Prejean’s promotional shelf-life expired: “To me she was the sweetest thing. Everyone else — she treated like shit.”

Guess who fired Miss California [WND]

Take the edge off.

[via]

If only I could get a look under that hijab. . .

deleteyourself

As quietly inserted into today’s White House schedule, set for a time after Journalist Working Hours:

President Obama will sign a presidential memorandum on Wednesday to extend benefits to same-sex partners of federal employees, administration officials said Tuesday evening, but he will stop short of pledging full health insurance coverage.

Mr. Obama, in an Oval Office announcement, is expected to offer details about which benefits will be provided. It is the most significant statement he has made on gay issues, and it comes as he faces intense criticism from several gay rights leaders over what they suggest has been a failure to live up to campaign promises in the first months of his presidency.

Now stop saying he never cared about you.

U.S. to Extend Its Job Benefits to Gay Partners [NYT]

How to wrap your brain around this mess in Iran?  Here’s my formula:

1) Nico Pitney – an Iranian national liveblogging for the Huffington post (good video content);

2) Juan Cole at Informed Comment – he’s a Middle East expert;

3) Talking Points Memo – scroll down the front page – stories are all grouped together;

4) al Jazeera English (last, but not least).

Finally, I found this from Pitney to be very powerful – a female medical student said:

photo: Newscom/AFP

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We have to presume, absent notable developments to the contrary, that Iran’s rulers will emerge from this extraordinary moment with their power intact. They are, after all, following a familiar script: Declare a god-blessed landslide victory, throttle communications, label the opponents anti-revolutionary, arrest as many opposition leaders as you can, throw some hardware on the streets.

But their power, until now, has been maintained under a pretense of legitimacy. It may not be a government beloved by its people, but the millions voting in Friday’s election weren’t calling for an insurrection — they were calling for reform. And, until Friday night, they were confident it would happen, or at least be given a decent chance. This was not an angry election.

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