Iran - A Pyrrhic Victory
At the time of this writing, news of the death of Iran’s Ayatollah Ali Khamenei have been confirmed by Iranian government-run news. And it is well past time. And it may cost Americans their liberty. Legitimacy of the Islamic Republic I have written about this topic before in the context of the Israel-Hamas War; a summary should be sufficient in re-applying it to this new war. Legitimate governments only exist with the consent of those it governs. To be so established, the governed must have the means to peacefully replace their governments, whether structurally or in composition. At a bare minimum, this requires: 1. Freedom of political speech (no censorship); 2. Freedom of political assembly (two or more political parties); 3. A legislative branch in which at least one chamber is directly elected by the governed; and 4. A judiciary which can independently apply the laws established by the legislative branch. A failure to meet these minimum r...