Appetite for Destruction

Here's an unforgettable photo essay of what's going on in Tehran right now, courtesy of Tehran Live. Something we're seeing more than last summer is the headlong, chin-first approach taken by these protesters. Whereas before, the basiji and Tehran police beat them senseless last June and July with little opposition, now we're seeing cops getting separated from their motorcycles. We're seeing those bikes getting burned, nightsticks and riot helmets getting taken and brandished as weapons and trophies, large knots of Iranian police getting crushed against locked gates.

From what these pictures convey, these people are dangerously close to where LA residents were in 1992 after the Rodney King beating nonconviction. I hope they don't forget for a minute why they're out there hurting other people and that they're not carried away with the tonic of their momentary power. Anarchy and wanton destruction can be highly seductive and highly communicable. I hope they continue realizing that these protests are supposed to be underpinned by a much nobler cause than mere anarchic and superficial destruction of the establishment.