#iranelection #gr88 #neda - Today is the 7th Tir in Iran. It is a day of remembering the death of Ayatollah Dr. Seyyed Mohammad Hosseini Beheshti, who was killed on this day in 1981. Today, there will be a demonstration at Tehran’s Ghoba mosque to honor Ayatollah Beheshti. At least that is ostensibly who the demonstration will be honoring, but many people there may be honoring Neda Agha-Soltan, the martyr of the new 2009 demonstrations in Iran.

The violence against the people in Iran is a stark reminder of how difficult it is to wrest power from incumbents. It can also serve as a warning to those supporting new leaders fighting to come into power. It reminds me of the line from the SDS in the sixties, “We will become like you” and it makes me think about the great quote from Animal Farm, “All animals are created equal, but some are more equal than others.”

Perhaps this is the message of the current leadership in Iran. “All Islamic Laws are created equal, but some are more equal than others.”

Yet the protests in Iran are not just some drama that we are watching online. They can tell us a little bit about what is going on in our own country. On June 24th, Common Cause issued a report, Legislating Under the Influence. It notes that Major health care interests have spent $1.4 million per day this year lobbying Congress. Where is that money coming from? It is coming from the premiums that you and I pay. While this is much less graphic than the murder of Neda Agha-Soltan, it brings to mind the lyrics from Woody Guthrie’s song Pretty Boy Floyd,

Yes, as through this world I've wandered
I've seen lots of funny men;
Some will rob you with a six-gun,
And some with a fountain pen.

And as through your life you travel,
Yes, as through your life you roam,
You won't never see an outlaw
Drive a family from their home.

It isn’t just in the national dialog that we see incumbents fighting to hold on to their power. Rep. Corky Mazurek, D-Wolcott introduced an amendment to the budget bill on Friday that would have eliminated the Citizens Election Fund claiming that the money could be spent in much better ways.

Others were quick to observe that Rep. Mazurek narrowly won re-election after fighting off a challenge from a candidate that would not have been able to run if it weren’t for the Citizens Election Fund. Personally, I would much rather have our campaigns sponsored by the citizens of your state than by the major health care interests, and others with a vested interest in holding on to power which is perhaps not all that different from the interest of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.