Soup of the Day: Soup Goes Green!

Q: Is change coming To Iran?

Unless I've missed something, the Guardian Council (a definitive name, if ever there were one) still rules the roost in Persi Land, and they have a military wing called the Iranian Revolutionary Guard to enforce and protect that rule. All other players are mere pawns.

If history is a guide, a modern day Ataturk would have to emerge from within the Rev Guard, kill a bunch of fellow IRC soldiers, enlist the rest to kill the Guardian Council, enforce martial law throughout the country for an extended period of time, empower Parliament and other elected officials to completely re-do the economic, social and political framework....and somehow fend off all neighboring countries and superpowers from interfering.

The 2 upsides: Ataturk had to create representative bodies from scratch, but in Persi Land, they are already in place, though completely neutered. Ataturk had virtually no educated populace from which to draw, but at least a portion of the Persi are already immensely educated and productive in fields far and wide.

The downsides: a raging civil war along tribal and religious fault lines is pretty much a given; the Sunni-Shia battle will once again cross borders with Iraq; the Kurds will want to create their own country; the whirling dervishes will flip out with such tremendous force that meter-deep craters will dot the countryside; Zoroastrians will look to the stars in the hope of being raptured; and the US will send in troops, drones, F-16s, robots and whatnot in search of the inimical yellow cake.

Back to golf. All eyes on Bethpage Black for the next 4 days. I will be in attendance this Friday. That is my golf course, not theirs. El Pato will win. He will then go on to win The Open and the PGA, thus becoming the first player to win the Grand Slam since Bobby Jones back in 1930, and only the 2nd player in history to accomplish the most impossible feat on earth, and perhaps in the solar system and galaxy, as well. I have received no Tweets from outer space indicating anyone has accomplished this feat. El Pato's dad was a handyman; his mom, a maid. They split up when he was 3. He learned how to golf by being a caddy. The stars are in proper alignment.

Tee 'em up!

--Soup aka Dave Campbell

------------------------------------ Michael Score on Iran

------------------------------------ Manny's Music