John McCain doesn’t know who the leader of Iran is
I can’t help but laugh out loud at John McCain’s atrocious butchering of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s name. It’s not hard. AH-MAH-DEE-NEH-JAHD. McCain’s stab was more like AHCK-MEH-DI-DI-NEH-JAHD, complete with “Ackmed” and a “di-di” stutter.
Listen for yourself:
That is funny. But what is sad and a little bit frightening is that John McCain doesn’t know who the leader of Iran is. This exchange is simply mind-boggling:
The President of Iran is not the leader of Iran. The Supreme Leader is the leader of Iran — Ali Khamenei. It’s not like the title “Supreme Leader” is vague. I mean Holy Holocaust Hagee, the question answers itself!
Q: Who is the supreme leader of Iran?
A: The fucking Supreme Leader of Iran, dumbass!
The President of Iran does not control Iran’s foreign policy, military policy, or nuclear policy. The Supreme Leader has final authority over these (and over much, much more). In other words, all of the scary “Iran is going to attack us and our precious Israeli sidecar” rhetoric McCain has been preaching about is coming out of the mouth of a figurehead with no power to actually do these things.
It’s not even accurate to say that Ahmadinejad’s threats are representative (as McCain alleges) or even an amplified caricature of the Supreme Leader’s positions. Khamenei has issued a fatwā (binding legal/religious edict) prohibiting the development, stockpiling and use of nuclear weapons, declaring them to be forbidden by Islam!
Back to the clip where the reporter makes McCain squirmy about Iran’s political structure. At the end, McCain says “I think if you asked any average American who the leader of Iran is, I think they’d know.”
The implication is that it doesn’t matter where the truth lies, so long as the American people are fooled into thinking that the crazy figurehead can make good on his threats. It’s not about the veracity of the threats, it’s about the fear that the threats instill.
McCain is capitalizing on a few things. First, Ahmadinejad is certifiably nuts. He makes Americans uncomfortable. Second, Americans have a view of “President” that is tainted by the American experience — especially because of the unconstitutional war-initiating authority that has been seized by the executive branch in the United States. They hear “President” and they think “top dog” and “in charge of foreign policy” and “can start military conflicts.” None of these are true about the Iranian Presidency, but that’s what McCain’s “average American[s]” assume. Put those two things together, and you have a nice surfboard of fear to ride all the way to Super Tuesday.
