Divisions among Iranian Americans on display at Calabasas poker game

The nine men who gathered at a restaurateur's home in Calabasas for a weekly poker game fell into a variety of political camps in the Iranian American community.

Some said they had voted for Iran’s main presidential challenger, Mir-Hossein Mousavi. One said he had not voted in the June 12 poll but wished he had because it had turned into a "people's movement." Still others said they wanted nothing to do with the election -- or the discussion.

But one man was less vocal about his views. When asked by a reporter, the IT company owner leaned in a little closer. In a hushed tone, he said he had voted to reelect President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad “because I didn't want to rock the boat. Because Iran's OK, Iran was doing OK."
 
Pointing discreetly at another person sitting nearby, he said the man too had voted for Ahmadinejad but would not admit it if asked. 
 
The throngs of demonstrators who have taken to Iran's streets to protest the outcome of a vote they believe was rigged may have captured the media spotlight. But Ahmadinejad too has his supporters. Unlike reformist partisans, they do not send out a regular stream of tweets and e-mails to the rest of the world, and so are rarely heard.

Read the full story here.

--Raja Abdulrahim in Calabasas

Comments

[propergander]

Sounds like 1930's Germany and folks "not rocking the boat" and supporting Hitler.

[Hassan]

Proof that there are idiots in all societies.
At least the guys who voted for Ahmadinejad were smart enough not to brag about their dumbness.