In this photo taken by an individual not employed by the Associated Press and obtained by the AP outside Iran, university students attend a protest inside Tehran University while anti-riot Iranian police prevent them to join other protestors, in Tehran, Iran, Saturday, Dec. 30, 2017. A wave of spontaneous protests over Iran’s weak economy swept into Tehran on Saturday, with college students and others chanting against the government just hours after hard-liners held their own rally in support of the Islamic Republic’s clerical establishment. (AP Photo)
During the push to get congressional approval for the Iran deal, the Obama administration did a lot of stuff that should result in very, very long prison sentences for the people involved, like, for instance, eavesdropping on conversations by members of Congress thought to oppose the deal and using that information to pressure those members.
The worst thing that took place in support of a nefarious deal that bordered upon treason (if “aid and comfort” wasn’t given to Iran and if Iran doesn’t define us as their enemy, I’ll eat my hat) was the harnessing of allegedly journalistic organizations to a widespread propaganda campaign. Under the guidance and leadership of deputy national security adviser Ben Rhodes, a group of thoroughly corrupted non-profits were married with a substantial group of equally corrupt and stupid journalists to magnify the administration’s talking points and to attack anyone questioning the deal.
Now the chickens are coming home to roost.
For over two days, anti-government riots have been spreading in Iran. To be clear, these, in my opinion, will be ruthlessly crushed if the regime doesn’t see them burning themselves out. Just because they are unlikely to succeed doesn’t mean they are not important. Yet we see American media either ignoring what is happening or, more bizarrely, insisting that the demonstrations are a fringe movement.
The @CNN twitter feed last 24 hours:
✅ supermoon
✅ Barack & Hillary are very admired
✅ exotic racecars!
✅ analysis of Trump tweets
✅ Thatcher hated pandas
✅ Ringo and BeeGee knighted
✅ people really like avocados
❌ #IranianProtests— Razor (@hale_razor) December 30, 2017
Still nothing from CNN Internationsl on #IranProtests but there’s this. https://t.co/WtJ4H6pJNN
— Stephen L. Miller (@redsteeze) December 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/omriceren/status/947142542201622529
After not reporting the #Iranprotests the fake news mainstream media covers the "pro-government rally", saying Iranians support the supreme leader. Poor Iranians! they should fight the IRGC, Basij, Hezbollah, Obama crowd, CNN and multinational corporations at the same time.
— Saeed Ghasseminejad (@SGhasseminejad) December 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/omriceren/status/947154981379067904
This coverage is not what is happening in the rest of the world
This is an 🍎 pic.twitter.com/rVLaMsIj9R
— Comfortably Smug (@ComfortablySmug) December 30, 2017
Reports of Iranian protestors being shot and killed in Iran
pic.twitter.com/cogo850PFj— Alireza Nader علیرضا نادر (@AlirezaNader) December 30, 2017
BBC video from a small town Abhar, Iran shows protestors taking down Iran Supreme Leader’s banner pic.twitter.com/7ieZIzB00R
— Ragıp Soylu (@ragipsoylu) December 30, 2017
#Iran: video shows protesters tearing down a poster of Ayatollah #Khamenei while hundreds of onlookers cheer them on. #IranProtests seem to be continuing into the night pic.twitter.com/AZNvNy6TpP
— Thomas van Linge (@ThomasVLinge) December 30, 2017
Video said to show aftermath of security forces’ shooting of protestors in Iran’s Dorood in Lorestan province https://t.co/qCqKgtvEEC
— Borzou Daragahi 🖊🗒 (@borzou) December 30, 2017
Some contend that this is more complex than the media’s long term fluffing of the Obama administration.
Why is the US press having such a hard time covering Iran protests? Here’s a short thread explaining why: First, only regime friendly journalists are allowed to report from Iran. Arrest of Washington Post’s Jason Rezaian drove this home. 1/
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
The Post was understandably reluctant to send someone back to Iran. Still, no excuse for missing what may be the biggest story of the year—not pussy hats. 2/ https://t.co/eSS5K28YUO
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
The New York Times’ man Thomas Erdbrink in Iran is a regime organ, as many have noted the last 24 hours, especially @SohrabAhmari. 3/ https://t.co/wfd52GO5gh
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
Worse, the @nytimes has a business deal with the regime, a travel package sending Western tourists to Iran. Yes, this is a media scandal. https://t.co/KOdmLzWDJs 4/ https://t.co/ArKgwyDOtk
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
Networks @CNN & @MSNBC have spent many resources, & wasted their prestige, on a #Resist business model, Russiagate, the last year, which means they're not capable of covering news. Maybe the protests will convince them to get back in the news business 5/ https://t.co/r507wOWKmy
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
Re expertise, many Iran "specialists" were cultivated while Obama WH was selling the nuke deal. Either they don’t know how to describe what's happening now or are against it. 6/ https://t.co/J2UX8ujuBo
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
If this continues to look bad for the regime, watch for some well known Iran experts—that is, regime apologists like Hooman Majd—to switch sides. Harder seeing how Obama officials, like Kerry or 44 himself, never mind the Rhodes echo chamber, talk about this 7/ https://t.co/kJqd0Vetfs
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
The current media landscape was shaped by an Obama WH that made the nuclear deal 2d term priority. The purpose was to stabilize a regime that is a global source of instability, and as is now clear, a curse on the Iranian people. Hope our press takes this lesson to heart. 8/ https://t.co/QUUKOh5dIi
— Lee Smith (@LeeSmithDC) December 30, 2017
Lee Smith is being too kind. The premise behind the Iran deal was that it would give “moderates” in Tehran the upper hand. These Jeffersonian Democrats wearing turbans were, we were told, not interested in confronting the United States and wanted to join the “community of nations.” A few billion dollars and a pathway to a nuclear weapon would give them the whip-hand. The people who told us that work for the New York Times, for CNN, for the Washington Post, for ABC, for NBC, for CBS. For them to accurately and aggressively cover what is happening in Iran they have to admit they were wrong about the premise of every story they wrote on Iran for a couple of years. Iran isn’t governed by “moderates.” Iran didn’t use sanctions relief and aircraft cargo pallets full of cash to help the economy. Iran doesn’t want to peacefully exist alongside its neighbors. Iran is very willing to support terrorism as a means of national strategy. The Iranian people are not broadly sympathetic to their government.
They can’t disavow their old reporting because guys like Ben Rhodes know who they are and will not hesitate to leak damaging information if they stray from the reservation.
.@CNN:
1. Did not report @BRhodes' "Echo Chamber"
2. Did not report the Echo Chamber smearing @JoshMeyerDC
3. Is not reporting revolt and riots in Iran
4. But is reporting a *pro*-government rally"They know literally nothing," as an informed insider said.
— Ursus, Director of Weather and Banana Programming (@AceofSpadesHQ) December 30, 2017
https://twitter.com/seanmdav/status/947160028410208260
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