BRACE YOURSELF - AT 9:08 P.M. ET:  Iran is on a human-rights campaign.  I'm sure we're all moved.  From The Washington Post:

TEHRAN, Aug. 23 -- Iranian lawmakers voted overwhelmingly on Sunday for a bill creating a $20 million fund intended in part to expose human rights violations by the United States, the ILNA news agency reported.

Passage of the bill suggests the depth of mistrust that remains between the nations as Iran faces a September deadline to respond to President Obama's offer for talks. Iranian lawmakers said the legislation was in retaliation for what they consider similar action by the United States.

The U.S. Senate passed a bill in July that would allocate $30 million for technologies to allow the U.S. government's Farsi-language satellite and radio stations to bypass Iranian government efforts to jam their broadcasts. An additional $20 million would be set aside for developing Web sites and other technologies that will improve Iranian access to censored information. An additional $5 million is authorized for documenting information about human rights in Iran.

COMMENT:  I would view this story very seriously.  Yes, I know, the Iranian action, taken while dissidents are on trial for their political views, looks ridiculous.  But there is an ugly alliance between Muslim extremists and leftist groups in the West, and that alliance can surface again, with seed money from Iran.  Don't be shocked if "scholars" at Western universities, including those in the United States, suddenly decide to study "American human rights violations and abuse of Iran," and to do so with Iranian funds.  It happens with Saudi funds all the time.   There are professorships of "Middle Eastern studies" at Western universities, financed by the democracy-loving Saudi government. 

And don't be shocked either if some of those "exposing" human rights violations by the United States wind up being seriously interviewed by CNN.

Money talks, and money is what funds "human rights" studies.

August 23, 2009