... it reminded me of how Khrushchev denied "poverty" in the Soviet Union for so long and the like.
When I heard Ahmadi-Nejad's "we don't have that in Iran. I don't know who told you that", I couldn't help but think of my quasi-diagnosis that the Mullocracy is going the way of Soviet Communism.Perhaps I'm wrong, but it reminded me of how Khrushchev denied "poverty" in the Soviet Union for so long and the like.
We have some of it in this country, when the GOP get revved up with their "America-is-Beautiful,-what's-wrong-with-you?" routine, but that's tepid by comparison.
The rumors of what really goes on up in Qom with the cutest are legendary (I believe that there are some eye popping "loopholes" in Islamic law, but don't have time to look up the references). Who knows, that might be part of why Ahmadi-Nejad is reflexively touchy on the subject.
The official line is ... a throwback:
"Approval of gender changes doesn't mean approval of homosexuality. We're against homosexuality," says Mohammed Mahdi Kariminia, a cleric in the holy city of Qom and one of Iran's foremost proponents of using hormones and surgery to change sex. "But we have said that if homosexuals want to change their gender, this way is open to them." -article
[By the way, can you hear Dinesh D'Souza's keyboard rushing out the next screed, entitled, "Liberal Homos at Columbia Give Ammunition to Iranian Terrorists: I told you so!"]
See how this article got re-titled to get a sense for the politics of sexuality:
Mullahs Turn Iran to Islamic Whorehouse, Shame on Iranians
