The Shah's Redemption

I stopped reading Vodkapundit shortly after I entered the blogosphere, but once in a while I check back in. Bad idea. Today he has this stupidity to offer:

For all his faults and tyranny, the old Shah turned out to be a decent man. When push came to shove, he left his country rather than fight to the bitter end.

And that makes him a decent man? I'm beyond amazed at this thinking. Perhaps it makes the Shah a bit less evil than if he'd gone out with bloodshed, but come on, surrender does not equal redemption. The Shah was a nasty man who ran a nasty government. The fact that we dislike those who replaced him even more does not change that fact, nor does the fact that he left power relatively peacefully.