From The Colbert Report:

Karim Sadjadpour describes a math superstar's unprecedented act of challenging Iran's supreme leader, Ayatollah Khomeini.

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(On a scale of bad to worse - eleven)

Continuing our odyssey of November 4th, we arrive at 1979. This one went from bad to worse in a matter of hours. And stayed that way for a record 444 days. The U.S. Embassy takeover in Tehran is largely thought to be responsible for bringing the Carter Presidency down and it did prove to be one series of epic blunders after the next, culminating in a disastrous rescue attempt that only served to aggravate an already out of control situation and further ramp up the chants of "death to America". But in the early hours of November 4, it only seemed like a diplomatic problem.

Richard C. Hottelet (CBSNews): “Young Iranians described as students, acting with the blessing of Ayatollah Khomeni have occupied the American Embassy in Tehran and hold more than fifty hostages there. They demand extradition of the Shah, who is now under medical treatment in New York.”

As the days wore on, there was no end in sight.

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(Outside the U.S. Embassy in Tehran - November 1979. Not the happiest place on earth.)

For all the recent saber rattling coming from the shrill sector, it seems the lessons of history have fallen on selectively deaf ears.

And speaking of Iran - the last time we got the good idea of being the world's policeman we had our embassy overrun by militant students chanting "Death to America" and the uneasy feeling we were stuck in a game of chicken, seeing who was going to do what first and who was going to blink while doing it.

Trouble was, we had a history with Iran, going back a long way. Contrary to what some think that the average Iranian has a short memory span, most remember our foray into nation building in 1953, where we actively supported the overthrow of a legitimately elected government and replaced it with a monarchy the people no longer wanted.

We had a vested interest and it was called oil and we became inexorably linked to supporting the wrong guy in our adventures abroad for a goodly chunk of 20th Century history, particularly in the area of the independence movements after World War 2.

So when the overthrow of the Shah came in 1978, we were stuck in the rotten position of giving tacit support to the Shah while ignoring the moderate majority and allowing the fundamentalist factors to hijack a populist movement and turn it into a radical version of the repression they were dealing with since 1953.

The rest, as they say, is history. It is with that in mind that our current administration is taking the position of holding their tongues and letting history play itself out. In light of running the risk of history repeating itself, it's the only option available at the moment.

But in case you forgot the last episode, here is a rundown of events that took place between Washington and Tehran starting on November 4, 1979 and going to December 29th with Jimmy Carter's press conference.

A refresher course in the consequences of screwing up seems in order now.

Subtitled version of "INJA KOJAST INJA IRAN AST SARZAMINE MANO TO" (link below) - a woman speaking about the state of her country while filming the rooftop shouting of "Allah-o Akbar" in Iran on Friday June 19th.

Iran, the whole world is watching.

original link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2oM6l9PO6Yo

The subtitles in the video above are a little different, and in my opinion, a little better than those below, which I copied from NIACblog. Both are enormously moving. Tomorrow is indeed a day of destiny.

Today Friday 18 June 1388 [2009]
Tomorrow Saturday is very important; Day of destiny.
Tonight the screams of “God is great” [Allah-o Akbar]
is louder than on any other night.

Where is this place?
Where is this place that all paths are closed? All doors are shut?
Where is this place that no one helps us?

Where is this place that we shout out our words with only silence?
Where is this place?
Where is this place that its people’s only call is to God?
Where is this place that its cry of Allah-o Akbar ["God is Great"]
Grows louder and louder every minute?

Every day I wait to see if at night
The cries of “God is Great” grows louder or not.
I tremble as I hear them getting louder and louder.
I do not know if God trembles too or not.

Where is this place that we the innocents are stuck in [imprisoned]?
Where is this place that no one can help us?
where is this place that we are only shouting out our words with silence?
Where is this place that the youth are killed and people stand in the street and pray?
They stand in the blood and pray.
Where is this place that people are called [vagrants] trouble makers?

Where is this place?
Do you want me to tell you?
It is Iran.
It is my home land and your home land.
It is Iran.

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(Jumping from one frying pan straight into another.)

With the elections in Iran less than two days away, I remembered 2009 marked the 30th anniversary of the overthrow of the Shah and the ushering in of the Ayatollah - going from one repressive regime to another in a matter of months.

And in 2009 there is talk of an ouster of the fundamentalist regime of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, a swing towards moderation and an unprecedented youth vote, probably too young to remember those days in 1979.

Word on the streets in Tehran is moderation and reform - women having an equal say in government, doing away with the repressive restrictions. Losing the stranglehold the fundamentalists have had these past 30 years.

But it's interesting to look back during those first 3 months of the overthrow (January to March 1979) to hear what was unfolding. News reports and speculations and finally an interview via Face The Nation with the Ayatollah Khomeni.

A quick look back. Later on in the year it would mean American hostages - and we'll cover that in the coming months.