Soccer Dad

Ahmadinejad is *indeed* funny

AbbaGav is under the impression that Ahmadinejad Is Not Funny. It pains me to take my fellow traveling blogger to task. Obviously he is not informed. Ahmadinejad has quite a sense of humor. How do I know? I read it in the New York Times.

In an article titled Blacksmith's Son Emphasized His Modest Roots, (NY Times, June 26, 2004) reporter Nazila Fathi concludes the report with

In addition, he (Ahmadinejad - ed.) has shown a sense of humor rare for an Iranian politician. He caused a sensation when he began laughing heartily during a broadcast interview after a reporter told him a joke making the rounds that he would change the name of the ubiquitous Iranian car, Samand, meaning horse, into Zol-Jalal, the name of the horse of Imam Hussein, one of the Prophet Muhammad's successors in the Shiite tradition.

I wish AbbaGav was better read. It really bothers me when bloggers post items on situations they know nothing about. As is clear from the Times article, Ahmadinejad, indeed, has a finely honed sense of humor. Or perhaps AbbaGav just didn't comprehend the nuances of extremist Shi-ite humor. Either way, I hope I've lifted the veil of his Western style arrogance and that he can now appreciate the humor of Iran's new president.

Technorati tags: Ahmadinejad, humor.