The actual shootings at Kent State were not a US Fedral government responsibility. On the contrary, the Ohio National Guard were under the orders of the Governor of Ohio.

And then this:

a corrupt and repressive [Nixon] government, which was, if only by its own malfesence, removed from office.

Nixon wasn’t “removed”. Nixon resigned.

In truth, the Kent State shootings ramped up nation-wide protests. As I indicated above, the Federal Government took military steps to confront demonstrators and radical activists by mobilising the 82nd Airborne. Moreover, Nixon took steps to implement the Huston Plan, which required illegal actions by various federal agencies.

What may have happened if the 82nd Airborne had opened fire on the Washington demonstrators is anyone’s guess.

Interestingly, J. Edgar Hoover, Director of the FBI and a man not renowned for his concern for civil liberties, refused to obey Nixon’s illegal orders. I was referring to these events (perhaps too telegraphically) when I mentioned “cool heads”. Hoover’s head was very clear and very cool in these circumstances.

I wonder if there are similar cool heads in present-day Iran.

I have no knowledge of and am not anyone who ever called himself “GregM”. Neither am I an inance conspiracy theorist.

From a political point of view its significance was the widespread response of students across the US. More than 400 campuses were closed by strike action.

There was a huge and violent demonstration in Washington DC which involved arson and looting.

The 82nd Airborne was on station in the basement of the Washington Executive Building with orders to defend key assets.

Yet the 82nd Airborne was never set into action against the demonstrators largely because the demonstrators did not attempt to overthrow the Nixon regime.

Rather, the demonstrators had more modest aims of demanding that the Nixon regime desist in its actions in SE Asia.

Cool heads prevailed in the Nixon administration and the 82nd Airborne were stood down.

Are Iranian demonstrators about to attempt to overthrow the current regime? Does the current regime know how to modulate its use of force? Time will tell.

“Twitter manipulation seems an unlikely scenario”

To whom ?

In any event, evidently not impossible .

An epic fail in logic for you for :

“how is degree not relevant to a comparison? If a cop shoots someone, is that the same as the National Guard shooting into a crowd, and is that the same as killing hundreds, thousands?”

Short answer – YES, in terms of the morality of the action, which is what I alluded to.

I won’t bother replying to your other assertions about my views, as they are largely evidence free, and irrelevant, in common with most of your “contributions” whether posted as Greg, or GregM.

How is the comparison to Pinochet not apt? Yes, the US funded Pinochet. In this case, funding goes against him – shouldn’t that be perceived as a positive? So intent on demonising the imperialist US, you’d prefer to say you know nothing about what’s going on in Iran while with the same breath claiming it’s interference.

As for foreign interference in other nations by despotic regimes, do you think they don’t? How naive. They are, perhaps, less successful, by-and-large, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t trying.

Twitter manipulation seems an unlikely scenario, but you go ahead and believe whatever you want. You will anyway.

Just as they have done in Palestine, Chile, Venezuela, and Iran in the past ?

Just to mention a few instances – there are plenty of other examples of such “support”.

“Just because the U.S. funds individuals, groups, and activities towards the destablistation of Ahmadinejad, doesn’t mean they aren’t legitimate in and of themselves.”

Perhaps not, however, it does at least warrant at least a degree of scepticism on the part of an observer, IMHO.

For instance, (by analogy) how welcome, or credible in domestic Oz politics would be an organisation funded by (say) China, in order to destabilise our government and/or system of government.? I have a strong suspicion that any such organisation and the individuals involved would find themselves at the very least under the “devoted” attention of ASIO or some other agency of Australia’s security forces.

“Kent State and the Chicago DNC riots don’t nearly approach the repressive activities of totalitarian regimes”

Don’t they ? How do they differ, except in degree? And we all understand that the “body count” method of evaluating action(s) is bankrupt, do we not ?

“Ahmadinejad more nearly approaches Pinochet than he does Allende”

A strange example, given that it was the US which funded Pinochet’s coup against Allende – not that I disagree, I just don’t think that is a meaningful observation in this context.

I prefaced my first comment by stating that I didn’t know what is going on in Iran – still don’t, at least in terms of whether this is a grassroots exercise, or meddling by an imperialist US.

I suspect both issues are at play, and for we foreign observers to categorically state one way or the other at this stage is being both presumptuous and gullible.

Similarly, I am not confident that all the “twittering” is not also being manipulated by external agencies (to Iran), hoping to foster increased instability over the elections.