If You've Seen One ...

I have no idea if the President-elect of Iran is the same man who was involved in the Iran hostage crisis back in 1979. I was in college and though still recognizable, don't exactly trust that classmates from college would recognize me or that they wouldn't swear on their mother's grave that another short black chick wasn't me.

"The White House said Thursday it is taking seriously the allegations by former hostages that Iran's hardline president-elect, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, was one of their captors at the U.S. Embassy in Tehran a quarter century ago.

President Bush told foreign reporters he has 'no information, but obviously his involvement raises many questions.'

'As soon as I saw the face, it rang a lot of bells to me,' Don Sharer, who served as the embassy's naval attache at the time, told CNN.

'...Take 20 years off of him. He was there. He was there in the background, more like an adviser.'

Abbas Abdi, the man well-known to be the leader of the 1979 hostage-takers, told CNN that Ahmadinejad, the Tehran mayor, 'absolutely was not' part of the event that involved the captivity of 52 people."

Only five of the 52 captives are claiming that Ahmadinejad was one of their interrogators and, though they would have strong memories, I'm not sure I trust that these old white men can be so positive.

It reminds me of an incident from when I worked in retail about as many years ago. The store was a second job so my shift didn't start until 6pm. I was at my regular cashier booth in housewares/linens when a woman approaches me and begins with how I had waited on her that morning and told her "thus and so" regarding "such and such." I didn't know this woman from the moon so I told her, "Well, no ma'am, I didn't assist you this morning but I can help you now." She went on to inform me "Yes, you did and you told me ..." I politely told her "well, no. I only work evenings but it was probably [insert name] ..." This woman insisted on telling me that she remembered me from earlier that day. I was trying not to argue but I was getting irritated. I showed her my badge and my name and repeated the name of the morning sales clerk. She was still determined to tell me that it was me. After that, I did lose it a bit and rather curtly inform her that I was not the other person and that all black people did not look alike! She finally shut up!

All this to say that if that woman would try to argue me down over mistaking me for someone she'd just seen a few hours earlier, I'm not sure I believe that these old coots can be that positive about someone who must look quite different 26 years later. And, if it is him ... Well, I guess we are headed for some rough times with Iran. Had Bush not been such a bad ass in threatening them over this and that, perhaps the more moderate candidate would have been elected. Instead, this administration's constant rhetoric riled up the masses and thus yahoos there, like here, voted for the extremist.