As the rest of the world rings in the Gregorian New Year, I watch with jealousy and anticipation. January 1st has never held much meaning for me, and this year, less than ever. My new year is over two months and half-a-world away, and I’ve never been so impatient for it.

In the lead-up to his speech at the UN General Assembly in New York on Wednesday, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is up to his old tricks. And sadly, the global community seems to be falling for them.

The Iranian people reminded the world on Friday that they will not let themselves be ignored or forgotten. Despite the orders and warnings of the regime against any opposition protests, defiant Iranians poured into the streets in the thousands.

It doesn’t take an Islamic scholar to see that the so-called Islamic Republic of Iran is anything but, especially today. With increasing accounts of rape, torture, forced confessions, and judicial proceedings lacking even a semblance of due process, the Iranian government is quickly losing any credibility it had left, including any legitimate claim to Islam.

While the current Iranian uprising began as a green revolution, it is quickly turning red. With each death at the hands of the regime, a martyr is born, and with each martyr, the seed of revolution is planted. According to Shi’a legend, where the blood of a martyr spills, a red tulip will bloom. And in a culture so intensely steeped in symbolism, it could very well be these tulips that determine the next chapter in Iranian history.

An increasingly common call amid the many protests since Iran’s presidential election has become “Join us!” This is not a vague invitation. It is frequently directed specifically at the members of Iran’s volunteer civilian militia known as the Basij. They are subject to the direct orders of the Supreme Leader and the Revolutionary Guard. As plain-clothed militia, their key advantage in policing the Iranian people is their ability to blend in with them.

At the heart of Iran’s Islamic Revolution was a stencil duplicator and a tape recorder. These were the Ayatollah Khomeini’s Facebook and Twitter. He used them to get his sermons into Iran when he was in exile in Iraq and France.

I throw socks at my television. When I disapprove of something, when most people would just change the channel, I start hurling socks. It isn’t exactly the most productive use of my time, or my socks for that matter, but it gives me a small sense of satisfaction. Lately, however, it hasn’t been working.

One of the many chants heard outside of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s campaign headquarters before the Iranian presidential election was “Doctor boro Doctor,” which means “Go to the doctor, Doctor.” This chant refers to Ahmadinejad as its subject (“Doctor” because he has a PhD in civil engineering), and it suggests that he see a doctor, namely, a psychiatrist, to get his head checked.

Ayatullah Khamenei mentioned the 12th or “hidden” imam, also known as the Mahdi, several times in his speech at Friday’s prayers. After his awkward rant about the Branch Davidians, the mention of the hidden imam was surely the most confusing to many in the so-called West.

As the protests all over Iran continue, many Iranians are beginning to expand their hopes and aims beyond a potential Mousavi presidency. With growing comparisons between the current protests and those that ushered in the Islamic revolution, demonstrators are starting to realize that they too may be able to usher in an entirely new revolution, one that could topple the Islamic Republic and make way for a genuinely free secular democracy.

While Iranians are a highly politically savvy lot, getting them to do more than merely talk politics is a near-herculean task. The combination of cynicism from a revolution gone bad and fear of a potentially oppressive and retaliatory government is an unlikely formula for public displays of political activism.