Your step by step guide to look like a fool as a nation!

Ingredients:

1) You. The good nation. You need to say to yourself everyday that you are a good nation. That you are free and nice. You need to digest the rest of the ingredients to be considered the “GOOD” nation otherwise the following items will generate a serious indigestion!

2) A good looking leader. Make sure you give him the ability to appoint who he likes for: Army chiefs, head of judiciary, head of broadcasting services, six members of council of guardians (see item three) and anything else that has power.

3) A strong Council of guardians: Twelve members. Six appointed by item 2, other six suggested by head of judiciary (selected by item 2) and approved by the parliament (item 4)

4) A good calm parliament: You as nation should vote for these guys but you need to accept that item 3 will check first if all who run agree with item 2 and those who pass the filter will be there for you to vote. Smile when you do that!

5) A very good looking president: You again should vote for this fellow. You normally may have many choices but yet again, item 3 will decide who you can choose. Smile more as your nation will be very close to look like a fool if you choose like what you recently did!

According to your constitution, there is yet another council called the expediency council. These guys are religious clerics you should vote for. They are supposed to watch item 2 and can remove him from his warm seat but there are some conditions (you are so close to accomplish your mission as a fool nation).

6)These guys need to be technical experts (e.g experts in the way you should be ruled e.g experts in their version of religion)
7)These guys need to sit for a religious exam held by item 3 (which loves item 2)
8)You will vote for all of those who pass previous step and send those experts to the council
9)The council holds sessions twice a year behind closed doors. They review what leader has been doing and they will come out all loving him more.
10)You smile and think of yourself free and democratic nation. Your democratic illusion is ready. Enjoy!

In seven days, Iranians are to vote in two simultaneous elections, one of which is item 8. To me, this election makes no sense. There will be no critique of the leader in the council as all the candidates are all passed the filter of council of guardians which is obviously run by the leader. The other election is for city councils. To prevent the party of Ahmadinejad to invade all our hopes for reform, I guess we need to vote for reformists to win at least this. We are already like a fool having a constitution with this much flaw but at least we should not keep kidding ourselves! The above recipe is enough to make any election to appear like a circus but I even if we are not able to move the big rock at once we might be able to degrade it pebble by pebble. That was what we have been doing in reform time but the rock was so big and droughts came along. As an old poem by Sadi Shirazi says: Going to the wilderness, better than to stay useless…. at least I tried my best…

Comments

[Amir in Tel Aviv]

Nice indeed...
I wouldn't like to live in a country like that.
.

[Don Cox]

I think it is logically certain that cracks will develop in that structure. The President and the leader must come into conflict sooner or later, as the President will look at the Presidents of other countries and see that they do not have a boss standing over them.______ (In fact the President of the US is limited by the various checks and balances, but outsiders do not see that.)

[Tom]

These checks and balances are eroding quite quickly in the United States, and it's very clear Mr Bush is not a fan of checks and balances....

[Arash]

Hilarious, thanks.

[Rancher]

What happens when item 2 dies?
----
Behi says: Then the expediency council should appoint a new one

[Hossein]

the biggest problem is item 1.once we gain insight into our stupidity things might change.