Wow. Who pissed in Brendan O'Neill's Wheaties? I can't quite make out what's stuck up his bum, but it must be magnificent. That saddle he's perched on, so high up on that horse, doesn't make it too easy to see.

Still, let's try to clear a few things up:

1) Iranians, by and large, are not Arabs.

2) A number of Iranians speak English as a second language. Even so, some of us have been hoping to find a way to translate the message into Farsi....

3) A number of Iranians have Internet access. A number who don't will likely have friends or relatives, inside Iran or outside of it, who will. If I did not know this to be true, I would not have bothered to promote the message. The notion that the Iranians are a bunch of technological primitives bespeaks the kind of patronizing and ignorant attitude that Mr. O'Neill ostensibly deplores.

4) I do not believe people in Iran are ignoramuses. They are a generally well-educated people from everything I have read. Else I would not have bothered helping to publicize the message to them.

5) My kid doesn't go to private school. I can't afford it. I've never lived on either the East or West coasts. Try hard not to look down on me for it, Mr. O'Neill.

6) The government the people of Iran live under is a tyranny. We can argue over why that is, but it is still so. A growing number of Iranians have been protesting that they want more freedom and more democracy. They are being savagely repressed in response. Regardless of your opinion as to why the current state of affairs is as it is, why would you condemn people for supporting them?

7) I seem to recall that the last time we dealt with "moderates" within the current regime in Iran, we got a gigantic political wedgie called the Iran/Contra scandal. We were lied to by "moderates" and wound up trading arms for hostages--said hostages never actually being produced, as it happened. Moreover, some "moderates" have quit the Iranian government in protest and in support of those seeking greater freedom.

8) What exactly is "irrational" about viewing a non-Democratic government that routinely represses free expression and frequently supports terrorism as evil?

9) People demonstrating in the streets in Iran today aren't all burning American flags. Many are simply demanding democracy and freedom. They are also being beat up and sometimes shot for it. Did Mr. O'Neill miss all that?

10) I don't recall demanding the Iranians be grateful for anything.

Some of us, strangely, think that when people are demanding freedom and democracy, they deserve whatever support we can give them, even if it's only a gesture. Some of us think such wishes transcend political boundaries--right, left, or otherwise. Some of us hope that by sending out a "message in a bottle" via the internet, it will by chance reach some of them. We further hope that they might share what they see with some of their countrymen. If such efforts give only a handful of resistors hope, then we'll have done at least that much.

Prisoners in the Soviet gulags were brought thin rays of hope when they heard that people in the West deplored their regime and wanted it ended. Many were thrilled when they heard Solzhenitsyn's words of truth were finally being heard. I don't fancy that any of us equate to modern-day Solzhenitsyns, but if we can bring a little hope and a little moral support, where's the harm?

If anyone missed what this is all about, see the Random Jottings page. I still hope to see the Message translated into Farsi, even though there's every reason to believe some Iranians will see and be able to read it in English. One way or the other, some will be able to get it from the internet, and may find other ways to let their friends in Iran know that there are people here who support them.

I'm not sure I should be giving Mr. O'Neill such attention. But if it helps further the cause of raising awareness of what's going on in Iran, then in the end it's probably a good thing.