As the world views the turmoil in Iran, which is both exhilarating and terrifying at the same time, it fascinates me how the talking heads on cable news shows are so self-assured about the solutions. The Fox pundits, of course, in their predictable knee jerk reaction, sit in judgment of President Obama, second-guessing him at every turn. No matter what position he takes, on any issue, they will find fault. We should only be thankful that Dick Cheney is not calling the shots these days because we would probably
have tanks in Tehran with a cry of “Kill for Democracy!”

Two things must be taken into account. The first is our checkered history in Iran, but a 30-year resident of the United States returned to his native land for a family funeral. Bush was still President and there was none of the optimism that has been created by the Obama presidency. Upon his return from Iran, my friend told me that young people there are very attuned to western ways and democracy. Recent interviews on the Daily Show revealed this also. My friend told me that young men far outnumber men of his age as so many of his generation were killed or fled during the war between Iran and Iraq. He told me that they were ripe for dramatic change, particularly if they saw encouragement from the West, which is exactly what Obama’s Cairo speech offered.

But power is not surrendered easily. The current leaders in Iran are determined to continue nuclear testing. Their logic is clear. The U.S. and Russia are both well-equipped with nuclear power and both countries have invaded Middle East nations in recent years – Russia in Afghanistan and the United States in Iraq. The                 position themselves as possible victims and want the strongest armaments possible, particularly since the United States has demonstrated that it would drop an atomic bomb on a civilian city.

So Iran is in recognizable turmoil. It is about them, not about us, and so the cries from the right about our interfering are misguided. We sound quizzical about the resistance of those in power as the students, in the tens of thousands are calling for not only a new election, but for dramatic political and cultural reform.

If you have little idea of how complicated a political divide can be, and you don’t understand the complexities of a Muslim nation in the Middle East, transfer your thoughts closer to home… to Albany, for instance, and try to decipher that haze.
Republicans and Democrats are holding simultaneous sessions, passing bills that might have no constitutional validity. The press is calling it farcical and the Post had a front page cartoon of clowns; but, in fact, it is people clinging to power and going to extremes to be in control of their small fiefdom. They are not burdened with complicated Muslim traditions that we don’t understand. They are American men – and a few women – behaving as people in power and those seeking power, always seem to behave. How can we expect a clarity of the pull for power in Iran when our friends 200 miles north of New York City, our elected representatives, can’t find a path of compromise that the enhances the lives of the people they were elected to represent?

Decades of conflict between Palestinians and Israelis seem no more complex to me than Pedro Espada’s maneuvering in Albany. We send trained diplomats and mediators to the Middle East in attempts to figure out ways of resolving that deeply entrenched battle, pitting Muslims, Jews and Christians against each other…with religion once again being at the root of evil, rather than leading the cry for solutions.

Are we capable of addressing Middle East mayhem when Albany reveals the human failings and weaknesses that interfere with real problem solving? Everywhere we look there are piles of misunderstanding with men unable to settle their differences. Too often they resort to aggression. Perhaps politicians’ adulterous affairs are preferable to the wars that frustrated, inadequate men conjure up. War resolves nothing, as Bush’s march into Iraq has proven, though it seems to satisfy some peculiar and deeply confused inner need that the male animal seems to possess. A punch is quicker than a thoughtful discussion though it cures nothing and creates new problems. It is part of the Cheney / Rumsfeld mantra that sank our country for 8 years.

But if you’re reading the newspapers hoping for an understanding of the problems in Iran, Iraq, North Korea, Russia, Cuba, Venezuela, Rwanda, the Congo, Afghanistan, or the United States you will find little that explains the labyrinth created by aggressive, illogical men.

Look to Albany. Watch them and the irrational battleground and you might sadly realize what we are facing on a global scale: A grasp for power against the resistance of losing power with the goals obscured by the flexing of muscles.

We might need more Freud and less Machiavelli in figuring out Iran and Albany.

I’m David Rothenberg…out on a limb!