AND IN THE REAL WORLD – AT 9:09 A.M. ET:  When the election is over next week, we'll still be left with the stark realities of world politics.  From the AP:

Iran has imposed new restrictions on 12 university social sciences deemed to be based on Western schools of thought and therefore incompatible with Islamic teachings, state radio reported Sunday.

The list includes law, philosophy, management, psychology, political science and the two subjects that appear to cause the most concern among Iran's conservative leadership - women's studies and human rights.

"The content of the current courses in the 12 subjects is not in harmony with religious fundamentals and they are based on Western schools of thought," senior education official Abolfazl Hassani told state radio.

Hassani said the restrictions prevent universities from opening new departments in these subjects. The government will also revise the content of current programs by up to 70 percent over the next few years, he said.

COMMENT:  Give me the minds of youth, said Adolf Hitler.  We forget that the nature and ferocity of our enemies will be shaped by what they teach their children.  Iran is heading more and more into the darkness of the Middle Ages, a darkness that will soon be protected by nuclear weapons.

We wonder if Western "educators" will protest this latest censorship within Iran, or will fear that any statement will bring the wrath of leftists who are informally teamed with Islamic fundamentalists to bring down the West.  I'll guess the latter path will be chosen.  Why criticize a dictatorship when you can, with far greater acceptance in the academic world, criticize a democracy?

The news from Iran continues to be more and more depressing.  There has been absolutely no progress in our half-hearted campaign to curtail Iran's nuclear program.  Even the Israelis are now starting to make strategic plans for an Iran equipped with nuclear weapons, a profound comment on the failure of Western diplomacy.

We're heartened only by the fact that, with the GOP in control of the House, important foreign-policy issues will be aired, rather than suppressed by the Dems' left-wing committee chairmen.

October 25, 2010