Hopeful End to Rigged Elections

In Iran, a country that shows one of the greatest amounts of student political protests in the world, rigged elections is a big concern, and has been for a very long time.  Current president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is widely thought to have been put in power as a result of bribes and an overall completely rigged election as he beat out favorites Mehdi Karroubi and Ali Akbar Rafsanjani.  The Revolutionary Guard and intelligence in Iran was said to have a large part in the upset that was heavily unpopular amongst all citizens (Gebauer, Spiegel Online International).

However, very recently Interior Minister Ali Kordan was impeached on the grounds that his Oxford diploma was counterfeit.  It got serious when Mohammad Abassi, an official in the parliament offered a bribe to legislators in exchange for them not voting to impeach Minister Kordan.  Abassi was then slapped by the legislator and dismissed by Ahmadinejad, although it is most likely that Abassi was given orders by someone much higher up than him in Iran's government.  This recent news is said to have a large impact on the upcoming election in Iran, a hard hit for the already unpopular Ahmadinejad to bounce back from (AP).

This incident could be connected to American controversy including the 2000 and 2004 elections along the lines of presidents being elected against large popular votes.  It is relieving to see that Iran's parliament was able to impeach one of Ahmadinejad's close and incompetent cabinet members and perhaps this will put an end to Ahmadinejad's reign of terror.  However I find it relevant to discuss how much more difficult it is for a country like Iran to be able to achieve political fairness than America.  There is possibility that Bush was not supposed to win in the 2000 or 2004 election, but I don't think it's right for Americans to discredit their own system every time the candidate they weren't supporting wins.  Popular votes have meaning for sure, but they aren't accurate predictions of who will be elected.  And if half the country is Democratic and half Republicans, then we are allowed to be surprised if the less popular candidate wins but not in total shock.  In Iran, Ahmadinejad was not even close to winning in the last election before he pulled the upset, and almost the entire country hates him. And I'm sorry to say that he may very well win in the next election thanks to rigging.  I'll also say that in Iran as well as dozens of other countries where rigged elections take place, if you protest against the government they will take action against you, jail you, and beat you.  Obama and McCain praise American values because America is still the greatest country with the most freedom out there.  So whoever wins the election McCain or Obama, people that disagree should not look to blame the government and remember that in other countries peoples votes really do not count for anything.

Gebauer, Matthias.  "Reformers Allege Vote Fraud in Tehran".  20 June 2005.  Speigel Online International. 4 November 2008. 

http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,361253,00.html

Dareini, Ali Akbar. "Iran's parliament ousts Ahmadinejad ally". 4 November 2008. Assosciated Press. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081104/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_iran_fake_degree_6