Andy, I think we’re on the same page. But to clarify. You write:

I agree with Jonah that John is off-base in suggesting that there is a current of opinion on the Right which holds that demonstrations in the streets mean a government is illegitimate and must fall. But I disagree with what I take — perhaps mistakenly — to be the implication that something has happened in the last few days that ought to change our view of the legitimacy of this government. This was never a “democracy.” It was a farce. The elections never meant anything in terms of legitimacy. The mullahs controlled the outcome of the elections through and through. Until now, it has been enough to exercise veto power over who could stand for election — but the fact that they were doing that was confirmation that, if the vote went bad and they needed to take the next logical step of fixing the vote count, they would fix the vote count. The fact that the bank robbery occurs at high-noon for all to see doesn’t make it more of a robbery than one conducted in stealth.

This is the point I was trying to make when I wrote:

Where I take exception is when John suggests that other folks on the right haven’t made this calculation as well. It seems to me, they made it without needing to see police wearing ski masks to understand that this regime deserved to go. I like his new bright line standard, but his epiphany doesn’t mean his friends on the right are quite so romantic and naive as he makes it sound.

Those on the right who’ve been more enthusiastic about aiding the forces of “hope and change” didn’t need to see the images from Tehran this week to be convinced the Iranian regime needs to go. The images this week merely convinced us — or at least me — that this is a good time to expedite a process that should have started a long, long time ago.