VoxOp

“If the protests and demonstrations in Tehran cannot be controlled, we should seriously start to wonder about Khamenei’s future. Rafsanjani is rumored to be in the holy city of Qum plotting against Khamenei, seeing if he has enough votes in the 86-member Assembly of Experts to remove Khamenei. A vote recount is unlikely to change the results of the election, but it could lead to more demonstrations, which, backed by Rafsanjani and the other mullahs, might just end Khamenei’s 20-year run.’’
ROBERT BAER
blogs.tnr.com

“It is unlikely that public pressure, combined with the efforts of a politically powerful clique, will remove Ahmadinejad from power. This crisis is, however, as much a clash of competing cultures in Iran as it is about political transparency. It’s not just about young and more affluent North Tehranis facing off against the pious anti-American poor. Tensions in education, world outlook, social ethics, consumerism and even fashion have been exposed by an ostensibly political crisis. Regardless of how events unfold in the coming weeks, the authorities will have to construct a longer-term response to these competing lifestyles and aspirations.’’
CHRIS EMERY
www.guardian.co.uk

LETTERMAN VS. PALIN

“Palin’s a public figure and a grown-up. Jokes about Palin’s 14-year-old daughter being ‘knocked up by Alex Rodriguez’? Way over the line. Even if the butt of the jokes was Alex Rodriguez. Kids are off-limits. Period. Whether it’s Amy Carter, Chelsea Clinton, or the Obama girls, the extent of the commentary permissible is how cute, sweet, adorable, precious, and clever they are. . .

“Adult children of politicians who have become public figures by virtue of going into politics themselves or actively campaigning on the issues, like Mary Cheney? Fair game. The Bush girls off at college? Borderline. Minor children? See above.

“That said, I stop well short of going where some in the blogosphere have gone. Letterman’s a decent fellow. He’s not a pervert.’’
JAMES JOYNER
www.outsidethebeltway.com

“To appear to have made an unfortunate remark about a 14-year-old just seemed . . . not Letterman-esque. That’s not who he is. And his offhand not-quite-apology just made him look insensitive. I believe him when he says that he didn’t realize that Willow was the one at the baseball game he made the joke about. And I think he was surprisingly slow to realize how this whole brouhaha made him look.’’
MAUREEN RYAN
featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com

“When Mr. Letterman offered his extended apology to Governor Palin and her family, he had his best night yet in the continuing late-night competition against NBC’s new “Tonight’’ show star, Conan O’Brien. In preliminary national ratings, Mr. Letterman pulled in 700,000 more viewers than Mr. O’Brien Monday night, 3.9 million to 3.2 million, his biggest margin yet over his new competitor. Mr. Letterman routinely trailed the former “Tonight’’ host Jay Leno by a million viewers or more. . .

“But the debate surrounding his comments about Governor Palin, which received widespread news coverage Monday evening leading up to the telecast, seemed to create extra interest in Mr. Letterman’s show Monday night. A protest against Mr. Letterman by supporters of Governor Palin attracted a modest crowd outside Mr. Letterman’s theater on Broadway Tuesday afternoon.’’
BILL CARTER
mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com