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Iran State TV Says "Vast Majority" of US Voters Are "Too Stupid or Ignorant"

If you want to get a fresh angle on the U.S. elections, you’re probably going to have to watch coverage from an outlet firmly outside the orbit of the U.S. politico-media complex.

Presenting Iran’s 2012 U.S. Election Coverage

Today, we get sucked down into the black hole of American election coverage: the networks have never-ending “analysis,” CNN has its holograms, Fox News has around-the-clock Obama hate and Romney boosterism, MSNBC has the reverse. Who’s up? Who’s down? Who’s winning Ohio? Who looks more confident? Tired? With 5 precincts reporting, etc. It’s regurgitated horse race hype, and worse, it’s boring. So if you want to get a fresh angle on the U.S. elections, you’re probably going to have to watch coverage from an outlet firmly outside the orbit of the U.S. politico-media complex. Like Iranian State TV.

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Yes, I present to you 2012 election coverage from Iran’s Press TV, the state-run news organization based in Tehran. Editorial guidelines must mandate exuding dripping contempt for everything Americans do; this hilariously biased election day report makes Fox News look like the BBC. It’s all about how dumb and uninformed Americans are, and how it’s a wonder we even manage to find the polling places to vote. An actual quote:

“A study led by Cornell psychologist David Dunning found that many Americans lack the intelligence to vote, and shows that the vast majority of voters are not only too stupid or ignorant to know that they are stupid or ignorant but also too stupid or ignorant to tell when that is true of a candidate.”

Without looking up that Cornell study, I can tell you that that is not what it “found.” And, sure, there’s the inherent irony in Iran dispensing judgment on the quality of our democratic process; I mean, this is rich. Which makes a nice segue to this, Iran state TV’s previous report, about whether Americans think the election is “fair:”

There’s something genuinely striking about watching the Iranian press condemn the mechanics of U.S. democracy; charging that voter suppression is rampant, that third party candidates don’t get enough airtime. Third party candidates are treated unfairly? Iranians, recall, live under a veritable dictatorship. And their last elections suffered from among the most blatantly widespread voter fraud in recent history.

So I’m curious; is the angle here that “real” democracy is a sham, too? Like, vote-casting citizens are a bunch of idiots anyways, so just be glad the Ayatollah’s making the calls? Be glad your nation isn’t in the hands of people who don’t even know what the hell is going on? Or is it just an opportunity to mock Americans; is the Iranian audience supposed to scoff along?

Who knows. It’s bizarre. I will tell you this; I’ll be turning to Iran Press TV whenever I need up-to-date contemptuous coverage of how moronic tyrannical regimes think America is.