never been there

If you can still get it off the newsstand (probably means by Saturday at the latest if you're in the UK or US) get The Economist of Jan 18-25 for its survey of Iran. It has a discussion not only of the strange constitutional parallel of religious and democratic authority, but also some detail of the factionalism on the religious side.

Should provide plenty of ammo for discussions with those who thought Scalia was right on with his recent comments, as if they were open to mere facts.

Still, makes one glad to live in one of the countries with secularist constitutions or traditions.