A Sad Day for Democracy

My deepest sympathy goes out to the Iranian people. They are currently being beaten and jailed for daring to hope for a better tomorrow. It saddens me that so many people had their dreams of a brighter future crushed by governmental corruption. They were so optimistic last week when it looked like the reformist party of Moussavi was ahead in the polls 3 to 1 over Ahmadinejad. Then, as you know the “President” just made up a number for the results on election day and threw out the real ballots. At least he wasn't stupid enough to give himself 100% like Saddam used to report.
Iran is a unique mixture of theocracy, democracy, and dictatorship. Although I was pleased at the optimism displayed recently, I knew there would be no real changes in Iran as long as Ayatullah Ali Khamenei remains Supreme Leader of the country. Ahmadinejad, or whoever is President, ultimately answers to him and he is the one who sets national policy. The president of Iran is like a manager charged with keeping the store running, but when it comes to deciding whether or not to stock plutonium on the shelves the Supreme Leader is the store owner and makes the call. Khamenei is calling for an investigation into the election results, but he’s probably the one who rigged it because he didn’t want to deal with someone who wants to deviate from the hardliners.
The U.S. certainly can not and should not act militarily against Iran, but it is time for the U.N. to get serious about punishing them.