People of Iran:

Traditionally, the president of the United States has been the spokesperson for the people of the United States — or, at least, for a majority of the people of the United States.  For the first time in modern history, however, we have a president who appears incapable of giving voice to the American people.  I therefore address this letter to you in the hope that, in the vacuum President Obama has created, you can hear our voices and know that we stand behind you in your brave fight against a government that has turned against you.

America was created based upon certain fundamental beliefs about the nature of man and man’s relationship to his government.  First, we believe that all people are born free, equal and, provided that they do not impinge too much on their fellow citizens, with the right to make their own lives as happy as possible.  Second, we believe that government exists to facilitate these fundamental rights.  And third, we believe that, when government fails in its responsibilities, the people may rebel.  Thus, our Declaration of Independence states:

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. — That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, — That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.

When Americans see you in the streets fighting for your freedom against a government that controls your every move, that makes a mockery of your votes and that, when you speak out, tortures and kills you, we feel in the very marrow of our being that you are fighting the good fight.  In homes and in offices, on blogs and in letters to the editor, and in the halls of government, Americans applaud your courage.  We want you to cast off the chains that deprive you of the liberty to which each person on earth (man and woman) is entitled.

We want you to live in a country in which all people can speak out freely, worship their God as their conscience demands, and move about without fear that their government will constrain or control them.  We recognize that, as an Islamic society, your concept of free speech, free worship, and free movement are almost certainly more narrow than ours.  Nevertheless, we believe that any limitations placed on speech, worship and movement should come from the people themselves, and not from a group of unelected rulers who brook no challenges to their power.

It is very painful, therefore, for many of us in America to watch President Barack Obama’s almost complete paralysis when it comes to speaking out for freedom.  Certainly, it’s unclear why he is so tongue-tied in the face of a rebellion that calls out to every American.  Is he silent because he thinks that the people of Iran cannot prevail?  If that’s the case, he shows a remarkably short memory, since the people of Iran were able to bring sweeping changes to their society a mere thirty years ago.  That was a revolution away from freedom.  I hope that this is a revolution towards freedom.

Or perhaps President Obama is silent because he believes that America has, at various times in her history, deviated from the path of freedom.  I hope that’s not the case either.  It would be a shocking thing if America, rather than constantly working to obtain freedom for all people, whether at home or abroad, instead decided that she was unworthy of the goal.  Even if Barack Obama thinks that America can no longer aspire towards a world “with liberty and justice for all,” I know that the majority of Americans do believe that liberty and justice are universal goals, and that we should always speak up for those who seek to obtain those national treasures.

Because President Obama’s silence is inconsistent with deeply held American values, I sincerely hope that you, the Iranian people, ignore him and listen to our voices.  Presidents come and Presidents go (one of the virtues of a truly free electoral system), but American values last.  We, the Americans, support your fight and wish you well.

I’m too ill-informed to opine intelligently on what’s going on in Iran right now.  I know the election was not a free election, because the Mad Mullah’s hand-selected four candidates.  I know Obama was either naive or evil to suggest otherwise.  I know that the outcome was almost certainly a foregone conclusion (the Mullahs wanted Ahmadinejad to win).  And I know that the Iranian people have arrived at a pivotal moment.

In 1979, that pivotal moment meant a complete regime change, and perhaps this pivotal moment will too.  I’m not too optimistic, though, because I’m unaware of either a clear ideology or a recognized figurehead driving the change.  The Iranian people are mad that even their rigged election was then faked, but they’re not coherent.

It was different in 1979.  Back then, the regime change had an ideology in Islamism, and a figurehead in the person of Ayatollah Khomeni.  This time, the outraged Iranians are a giant body, without a head.  I think it’s that headless quality that leads those who pay attention to these things to fear that this will be a Tienanmen moment, where people rise up but, without anything more than frustration backing them, collapse again when the government brings in its tanks.

Nevertheless, as with Tienanmen, maybe the people are planting seeds.  China is certainly not a free country, but it did change after 1989.  From that moment forward, the party leaders embarked upon the interesting experiment of a totalitarian, ostensibly communist dictatorship with a semi-capitalist economic model. My sense is that the country is still more oppressive than anything a free people could countenance, but that it is a more free country than it was before.

Perhaps something wonderful will come out of what’s happening in Iran.  Perhaps the people will break free of the chains that have bound them for 30 years.  Or perhaps they’ll rattle the cage so much that the powers that be are forced to change, albeit slightly more slowly than with a turn-on-a-dime revolution.  Or (and this is the bad thing) perhaps the Mad Mullahs will clamp down with such iron fists that the concept of freedom in Iran will die for another 30 years — and we will continue to fear the time bomb planted within such easy reach of so much of the free world.

Two more things.  First, if you’re interested not just in the facts, but in understanding those facts, I can’t do better than to recommend ThreatsWatch.Org.  My friend Steve Schippert is keeping an especially close eye on things in Iran and his insights are first rate.  He’s also alive to the human moments, as with this picture of a woman engaged in an extraordinary act of bravery.  He’s also a little optimistic:  “Follow the women of Iran. For, as go the women of Iran, so will go the men. For they will be the barometer of revolution.“  Wouldn’t it be nice if, in a Muslim corner of the world, women could lead the charge?

Second, I was wondering how many revolutions (or attempted revolutions) have played out in years ending in “9.”  The French Revolution began in 1789, the German revolution creating the Weimar Republic began in 1919, the Iranian Revolution began in 1979, the collapse of the former Soviet Union and the Tienanmen uprising were in 1989, and this moment of Iranian fury is taking place in 2009.  There are also a lot of “8″ years.  Revolutions swept across Europe in 1848 and again in 1968.  Is there something about the end of a decade that fires people up?

UPDATE:  Terresa, who blogs at Noisy Room and is the moving spirit behind Media Mythbusters, provides links to a handful of photos showing fighting in the streets of Iran: