There are several reasons U.S. Democrats are so laissez-faire toward Islamic theocracies.

They have a deep loathing for their own country's role as the world's unipolar power, which must sometimes intercede against the forces of evil.

They skittishly equate their personal virtue with the latest pronouncements on our nation from arbiters of foreign policy and morality such as al-Jazeera, France, the United Nations and Barbra Streisand. The "world community" never seems to like us enough, sadly.

They are also sympathetic to big government, even if that entails unimaginable human rights desecrations such as female genital mutilation, and keeping women from college and careers.

Yet Iran seems a case in point that the strictures of imams regarding permissible conduct by women, and other matters, are sometimes contravened, to a degree, at least. Here's another example, not specific to women. The market in Iran for alcohol - which is banned - has suppliers hopping, even though penalties have been increased. The New York Times reports:

Despite the crackdown, there is no sense of an alcohol shortage. With one phone call, one can get anything from smuggled French-made wine to Russian or homemade Armenian vodka. One bootlegger delivers the goods on a scooter, wrapping bottles in black plastic bags and hiding them in a saddlebag....The Iranian grape is so good for making spicy wine that Australian Shiraz, sometimes known as Syrah, is made from the same grape that grows in Iran's southern city of Shiraz, which gave the wine its name.

In fact, the Islamic leaders are caught in a bewildering situation. Islam forbids the consumption of alcohol and the Koran explicitly calls intoxicants "the abominations of Satan's handiwork." But drinking and wine are integral parts of Persian culture. Mey, the word for wine, and Saki, the wine pourer, have been the central theme of Persian poetry for more than a thousand years.

Most poems by Iran's popular 14th-century poet, Shamsudin Mohammad Hafiz, who was from Shiraz, revolve around wine. "A rose without the glow of a lover bears no joy," he wrote. "Without wine to drink the spring brings no joy." Wine in ancient Persia predates the birth of French wine. The earliest evidence of wine making dates from 5400 B.C., in Haji Firuz Hills, near Western Azerbaijan Province, south of where the city of Orumieh is today. "The French are in fact jealous about that because the earliest evidence in France goes back to 500 B.C.," said Rémy Boucharlat, a French archaeologist who works in the southern archaeological sites in Iran.

What a rich and wonderful piece of the history of wine in Iran. A toast to the NYT. For the cultural, after all, is political.

It's been my experience that a nice Shiraz wonderfully accompanies a leg of lamb that's been roasted with saffron, cayenne, mint and and black cumin seed. Ideally, this would be accompanied by one of those rectangular, flat loaves of sesame seed-studded Afghan bread; and a Jerusalem salad of cucumbers and tomatoes in a yogurt-tahini-lemon juice dressing.

In a pinch, a California Zinfandel or a Washington State Lemburger will do just fine, though.

TECHNORATI TAGS: IRAN, ISLAM, ALCOHOL, BOOTLEGGERS, WINE, SHIRAZ