Mahmoud Ahmadinejad bans Western music.

No more Western music on radio and TV in Iran. Inappropriately, the CNN report begins in a way that seems to invite us to joke that Ahmadinejad has a pretty good idea:

Songs such as George Michael's "Careless Whisper," Eric Clapton's "Rush" and the Eagles' "Hotel California" have regularly accompanied Iranian broadcasts, as do tunes by saxophonist Kenny G.

But the official IRAN Persian daily reported Monday that Ahmadinejad, as head of Iran's Supreme Cultural Revolutionary Council, ordered the enactment of an October ruling by the council to ban Western music.

Very sad. I hope this inspires people to push back. Music is important, and taking people's music away should strongly impress them that the government is repressive beyond reason. If only Western music were better, the impression might be stronger. Unfortunately, I can understand the feeling that the music of the outsiders is eroding your culture. I've felt, as a traveler, that the music of my own culture was eroding the culture of the foreign place I wanted to experience.

Ahmadinejad's newest effort in cultural repression extends beyond music:

The latest media ban also includes censorship of content of films.

"Supervision of content from films, TV series and their voice-overs is emphasized in order to support spiritual cinema and to eliminate triteness and violence," the council said in a statement on its Web site explaining its October ruling.

The council has also issued a ban on foreign movies that promote "arrogant powers," an apparent reference to the United States.

I have to assume the people in Iran are sharp enough to see the irony in his referring to the United States as an "arrogant power."

Quite aside from this exclusion of Western influence, there's this notion of eliminating triteness from TV and movies. Well, I'm rather opposed to triteness myself, but you know if you try to make a law against triteness, triteness itself becomes a political protest. (Remember Mu Mu?) I love the idea that playing "Careless Whisper" and acting like an idiot on television are now subversive acts. The government, purveying seriousness, can now be affronted with silliness. Now there is risk and passion in foolery.