SS* Galloway: Football 30 - Iran 12

It is interesting to note that Galloway's Daily Record http://blogs.dailyrecord.co.uk/georgegalloway/ column today devotes 30 lines or part lines to the demise of Setanta Sport and its effect on the Scottish Premier League and just 12lines to Iran, of which a large part is devoted to pouring scorn on John Simpson.

Even though the Record is a Scottish paper and events affecting the SPL are important it does seem that Galloway, who has such "progressive" views (hahahaha), seems to have his priorities a tad askew.

(* SS standing of course for Stalinist Shithead)

Not one iota of evidence George? Press TV report may indicate otherwise!

George Galloway’s confident assertions that the Iranian elections were as free, fair and as transparent as the finest glass money can buy are perhaps undermined a tad by a news item on Press TV, the Iranian news channel he works for.

My thanks go to Bryan of Why Now? for drawing my attention to this item. (Why Now? is always well worth a read)

Press TV reports that Iran's Guardian Council has indicated that the number of votes collected in 50 cities surpass the number of people eligible to cast ballot in those areas.

The council's Spokesman Abbas-Ali Kadkhodaei, made the remarks in response to complaints filed by Mohsen Rezaei -- a defeated candidate in the June 12 Presidential election.

"Statistics provided by the candidates, who claim more than 100% of those eligible have cast their ballot in 80-170 cities are not accurate -- the incident has happened in only 50 cities," Kadkhodaei said.

Kadkhodaei further explained that the voter turnout of above 100% in some cities is a normal phenomenon because there is no legal limitation for people to vote for the presidential elections in another city or province to which people often travel or commute.

The spokesman, however, said that although the vote tally affected by such issues could be over 3 million and would not noticeably affect the outcome of the election.

He, however, added that the council could, at the request of the candidates, re-count the affected ballot boxes, and determine " whether the possible change in the tally is decisive in the election results,"

Rezaei, along with Mir-Hossein Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, reported more than 646 'irregularities' in the electoral process and submitted their complaints to the body responsible for overseeing the election -- the Guardian Council.

Mousavi and Karroubi have called on the council to nullify Friday's vote and hold the election anew. This is while President Ahmadinejad and his Interior Minister Sadeq Mahsouli have rejected any possibility of fraud, saying that the election was free and fair.

Just 50 cities then? Well call me a pedant but irregularities in even 50 cities is a major cause for concern and surely a good reason for a rerun of the election. If 3 million votes can be affected than why not 11 million?

It looks to me that the Guardian Council are covering their backs. They have indeed highlighted a number of irregularities so in their mind they have discharged their duties and life can return to normal.

The problem is that a lot of the people of Iran (certainly and not just the “gilded youth” or “liberal elites” as Milne and Galloway describe them) are not fooled. This may not transfer to further large scale protests at present but there is a huge reservoir of resentment will boil over again at some stage, perhaps very soon

George Galloway sneers at John Simpson but ignores Iran protests

Last week George Galloway declared that the Iranian election was fair and square and the result absolutely, and utterly reflected the voting patterns of the Iranian people. The protestors on the other hand were simply the liberal elite who would lose interest quickly.

It was therefore interesting to go to the Daily Record to see what Galloway had to say on last week’s events in Iran. (he has a weekly column in the Daily Record.. where does he find the time) Do we see a resounding condemnation of the Iranian regime’s attacks on protestors? Do we my arse!

Firstly George waxes lyrical about Virgin Atlantic in what could be a paid advert! He devotes the more column inches too snide attacks on his erstwhile Labour colleagues than he does on the situation in Iran

When it comes to Iran he devotes more of his time to slagging off the BBC’s apparent bias and John Simpson’s coverage than to any other issue

“I just wish people like John Simpson would admit that the BBC - that's the Bush and Blair Corporation - has an agenda in its coverage of Iran, which is vehemently antigovernment.Poor old John looks a shadow - OK, a pretty substantial shadow - of his former confident and incisive self, falling over his words as he hams a take into a blurry digicam from a toilet in Tehran, or wherever he sends these faltering reports from. “

George remains resolute in his view that there is no evidence of electoral fraud

"Can we just look at the facts here, which sadly get in the way of a good story? We do not have one iota of evidence that the Iranian election was fiddled. Until we do, we should respect the result."

And here is his support for the protestors:

As we should the rights of the Tehran protesters to demonstrate peacefully on the streets without being shot or beaten up by government militias or soldiers.

In Galloway World, the election was fair and the BBC is biased against the Iranian authorities.(Or should that be the OBC now that Obama and Brown are president and prime minister George...). Perhaps the BBC should have gone out and sought the views of the Basij and the Revolutionary Guard

Galloway gives no appreciable support to the protestors apart from a throwaway line that he can bring out in the future to show everyone that he supported the protests all along. But then what can we expect from this opportunistic Stalinist Shithead?.