It is happening in real time, progressive, liberal to the core Iranians are being forced to side with Trump, the icon of the political right, some would argue the far right at that.

As someone who for years has been bemoaning the silence of the left in the West in so far as not supporting Iranians facing the brutal tyranny of the Islamist fascism, the acceleration of the phenomenon of liberal Iranians finding kindred spirits in the political right is distasteful and yet, there is no alternative to it.

When Obama became president, hopes rekindled that finally a progressive leftist in the Oval Office will champion the cause of Iranian liberals. Nothing doing, for all intent and purposes, Obama became the Islamist appeaser-in-chief, literally turning his back to millions of freedom wanting Iranians peacefully marching and being brutally murdered by the Islamist fascists in full view of the world while shouting:

“Obama, Obama, you’re either with them [Islamist fascists] or with us”, Obama chose them Islamist fascists. 

Mariam Memarsadeghi, the co-founder and co-director of Tavaana: E-Learning Institute for Iranian Civil Society has just penned an eloquently poignant piece on this very subject, The Islamic Republic Must Fall , Mariam in part says:

“The breathtaking, unprecedented displays of dissent throughout Iran—most notably by the mostazafeen or the traditionally ‘downtrodden’ base of support for the regime—are important. They are important to the Iranian people who brave imprisonment and torture as they struggle for their livelihoods, their freedom, their dignity, and the futures of their children. But they are also important because they offer a glimpse of a more liberal, more peaceful, and more prosperous Middle East—a region at last open to the world, ready to move forwards not backwards, and to prosper rather than terrorize. Belief in such a prospect cannot be scorned as naïve, nor offered as an act of mere charity. Without such a future for Iran, the turmoil of the Middle East and the exodus of refugees to the shores of the free world will continue.

Polarization of American politics and civic discourse has left the struggle for freedom in Iran almost exclusively within the purview of the political Right, where the threat posed by Islamist ideas and terrorism have always been taken more seriously. But the yearning for liberal values—nowhere more apparent than in Iranian women’s radical rejection of four decades of forced hijab and gender apartheid—has also been embraced by the Right because the universality of the feminist cause has been abandoned by large segments of the Left. The old, global sisterhood has retreated into tribal complacency, preoccupied with insignificant issues like micro-aggressions. Such trivialities do not even speak to the real concerns of women here in the US, much less to those of women in the world’s many unfree societies.”

Lets hope the progressive left - forget about amoral lefties - hears the voices of Iranian liberals and wakes up from its long stupor. 

Airtight sanctions - which includes oil - a la against the despicable South Africa apartheid, works. U.S. lawmakers get to it.