Insurrection: Day 2  —  The great Polish journalist Ryszard Kapuscinski witnessed and wrote about dozens of revolutions in the course of his life.  He has, perhaps, seen more revolutions than anyone in the history of the world.  He knew, while he lived, revolutions better than anyone.

Iran Bans Opposition Rally as Critics Are Detained  —  President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran gave his first post-election news conference in Tehran on Sunday.  In a news conference, he called his re-election “real and free.”  More Photos >  —  TEHRAN — The Iranian authorities denied permission Monday …

The Bright Side of Ahamdinejad's “Win”  —  On the principle of “the worse the better” for our enemies-and, make no mistake, Iran is our enemy-it is possible to take some small degree of satisfaction from the outcome of Iran's elections.  —  If the mullahs were really canny, they would have let Mousavi win.

Iran Supreme Leader Orders Probe of Election Fraud  —  Mousavi Asks That Vote Be Nullified; President Calls Demonstrators ‘Weeds’  —  Iran's supreme leader on Monday ordered a probe of Friday's presidential election, as protests over alleged voter fraud continued for a third straight day.

Iran's Leader Emerges With a Stronger Hand  —  TEHRAN — The jokes among Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's detractors are legion.  In one, he looks in the mirror and says, “Male lice to the right, female lice to the left.”  In the West, one American tabloid rarely misses a chance to refer to him as …

The Rovian Islamist  —  Ahmadinejad's bag of tricks is eerily like that of Karl Rove - the constant use of fear, the exploitation of religion, the demonization of liberals, the deployment of Potemkin symbolism like Sarah Palin: … Think of this regime as Cheney and Rove in a police state setting, and you see what's been going on.

Let's read Andrew Sullivan's new Sarah Palin post.  —  Here's the post: … Sullivan seems to miss that Stapleton just made a child-rape joke.  It's a joke!  Well, it's a joke is not an apt excuse — is it? — when the joke is supposed to work based on a shared belief about the butt of it.