Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called for a “new beginning” after claiming victory in Iran’s presidential election, a contest that smells worse than Florida, 2000, and has motivated tens of thousands to take the streets in protest.

The beginning of what remained uncertain as supporters of the flaky incumbent’s opponent, Mir Hossein Mousavi continued throw stones, burn cars, and in some cases absorb a whuppin’ by police as the violent disturbances, a rarity in normally staid Tehran, continued unabated for a third day.

Ahmadinejad says he scored 63% of the vote, in which a record 86% of the nation’s 46 million eligible voters participated.

The tainted re-election of a whack-job in the nearly nuclear-tipped nation has created an Excedrin moment for the Big O and his legions. Ahmadinejad routinely calls for the destruction of Israel while denying the Holocaust and refusing to clean up the world’s most unattractive beard.

The Obama administration has kept its hands in its pockets as the cameras have rolled in Tehran. Not Your Average Joe Biden voiced “doubts” about the outcome on NBC’s “Meet the Press,”  but then added “we’re going to withhold comment” pending a review that might or might not materialize.

The Big O believes he can’t simply condemn the election since in all likelihood he’s going to have to deal with Ahmadinejad when the dust finally settles.

The biggest loser in the election might be the Shiite cleric Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who is the real power broker in the country whose economy is in the toilet.

Meanwhile, Mousavi’s whereabouts are unknown. Mousavi had promised greater rights for women and a more conciliatory tone in international affairs. He had claimed victory on Friday and posted a statement on his Web site claiming the vote was rigged.

“I’m warning that I won’t surrender to this manipulation,” he said. “The outcome… is shaking the pillars of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s sacred system and governance of lies and dictatorship.”

The Big O’s January Economic Hail Mary instructed stimulus recipients to “buy American,” forcing the town of Peru, Indiana, to ditch its Canadian sewage pump supplier in favor one located in Uncle Sam’s back yard.

The next week, a US government official noticed evil Canadian pipe fittings at a California construction site.

He had them excavated and replaced with those bedecked in red, white and blue.

Now, the Maple Leafs are fighting back. Several Ontario towns have barred US companies from their municipal contracts, a shot over the US bow that, if allowed to escalate, could cause US-based companies to lose billions derived from Canadian projects.

The two countries can hardly be blamed for attempting to keep jobs domestically in the midst of the Great Economic Crisis, but the moves may backfire.

Take the Duferco Farrell Corporation, a Pennsylvania-based steel plant that employs 600 people. It manufactures coils using imported steel slabs for which there are no US suppliers. This partially foreign production process does not meet the Hail Mary’s “made in the USA” criteria.

That has forced Duferco’s biggest customer, a neighboring steel pipemaker, to cancel its orders which forced Duferco to furlough 80% of its workforce.

“I’ve got 600 United Steel Workers who are going to lose their jobs because of this,” seethed Bob Miller, the company’s EVP to the Washington Post. “You tell me this is good for America?”

And John Hayward, president the Canadian pump manufacturer that got shafted by the Peruvians was equally displeased. “We’re not China. We’re not even Mexico. We have the same relative cost of labor as you do,” he told the Post.

“If we have a better price, you should buy from us. That’s what competition is supposed to be about.”