Like many other Iranian-Americans, I was so proud and happy to see one of our own, Goli Ameri, first run for Congress and then later be appointed to a high-level position in the State Department. But just as the last 8 years have been a lesson in discarding political naiveté, it has also been a rude awakening to see how ruthless and ambitious politicians can be – even if they are Iranian-Americans.
The election of Obama is not just a rejection of past policies to me, but also a rejection of ethnic policies: I much rather have a black president that stands for the values that made this country great, than an Iranian-American President that would pursue and defend the ruthless and backward policies of the Bush crowd.
Long story short, I am now not only happy that Goli Ameri never did win a Congressional seat. I actually wish she wasn’t Iranian American to begin with!
The final straw for me came when I recently saw her defend Israel’s massacre in Gaza. To hear those words come out of her mouth – that Israel was acting in self-defense, that Hamas was responsible for the civilian deaths in Gaza, that the destruction in Gaza was heavily exaggerated, that Israel was being unfairly treated by the media (you gotta be *&^%&^%& kidding me??), that this was a cosmic battle between the good democracy (Israel, bien sur) and the evil Islamists (the children of Gaza?).
I understand that as the Under Secretary for Public Diplomacy, Goli’s job is to defend US foreign policy. But what’s the purpose in that case to be proud of the fact that she is Iranian American? Any clown can do that job. Why should I be proud that this clown is Iranian American?
If she had any self-worth, any sense of pride, any connection to her Iranian-American community, she would have resigned rather than defended the Bush Administration and the genocidal policies of Israel.
What is that American saying that W the genius butchered? “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”?
Well, I have been fooled several times.
Shame on me.
I didn’t believe Goli Ameri would sell her soul to the devil, even when she stood on street corners in Portland demonstrating in favor of the war in Iraq in 2004.
I gave her the benefit of the doubt when she defended the Patriot Act. I thought she had no choice when she bragged about her close relationship with Karl Rove and her admiration for John Bolton. I didn’t even raise an eye-brow when an acquaintance in New York told me she had attended a full day organizing event of Goli Ameri where John Bolton was the guest of honor (the meeting led to the formation of Public Affairs Alliance of Iranian Americans, PAAIA).
If Goli comes to me to ask for a donation to her next congressional campaign, or for her organization PAAIA (which has been headed by her Bush-Republican husband in her absence), my answer will be short but decisive: You won’t fool me again Goli! Shame on you for abusing the trust of Iranian Americans! Shame on you for advancing the disastrous Bush policies! And shame on you for thinking that I am so naïve that you can fool me once more!
And believe me, if Goli comes and pretends that she is now a Obama-Democrat and starts saying “Yes we can” (let’s face it – she will probably pretend that she was always against the war in Iraq, that she opposed war with Iran, that she actually never worked for the Bush administration), my answer will be the same.
My contribution – and my vote – will go to a person that from the outset showed the courage, instinct and judgment to pursue the right path in politics. Someone who stood firm for what was right when the wind turned the other way. Who let morality and justice guide his or her positions, and not political polls or the promises of fortunes by more powerful entities.
In short, someone like the African-American Obama, and not the Iranian-American Ameri.
