August Company

Per this article in today's Times, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, president of Iran, has his own blog.

I visited the English-language site (it's also available in Farsi, Arabic, and French) and found it amusing in its similarity to everyday blogs everywhere: He has an RSS feed. He allows you to post comments. He offers a Flickr-like slideshow of his portraits. There's even a poll: "Do you think that the US and Israeli intention and goal by attacking Lebanon is pulling the trigger for another word ?war" (all sic, both grammatically and politically).

And his content too will be familiar to blog audiences worldwide. A little personal reflection: "My father had finished 6 grade of elementary school. He was a hard-bitten toiler blacksmith, a pious man who regularly participated in different religious programs." A little political commentary: "These terrorist groups with the support and directions from arrogant powers, the leader of them being USA at that time . . . thought that they can undermine and collapse the new government right in its beginning. But, the nation of Iran was not ready to give this precious and great Revolution from their hands so easily." He goes on too long (a fault I'm sure I never have ever). And he promises to post again with more discipline:

I will continue this topic later on as it took long in the beginning. From now onwards, I will try to make it shorter and simpler. With hope in God, I intend to wholeheartedly complete my talk in future with allotted fifteen minutes.

He's an Islamic fundamentalist, a Holocaust denier, and quite frankly a terrifying President of Iran. But as one blogger to another: Welcome to the Web, Mr. Ahmadinejad.