Obama's Put Up or Shut Up Moment

Obama says: Yes we can but we really shouldn't.

After what appears to truly be a stolen presidential election, anywhere from 100,000 to 1 million protesters march in Iran.  The Iranian government has already shot some protesters, expelled some journalists, blocked texting and internet sites like Facebook, and arrested scores of activists.  This is part of what Obama said in his Cairo speech:

“To all other peoples and governments who are watching today . . . know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and we are ready to lead once more.”

He added: “To those who cling to power through corruption and deceit and the silencing of dissent, know that you are on the wrong side of history, but that we will extend a hand if you are willing to unclench your fist.”

Since those lofty words were uttered what has he said or done to support the advocates of freedmon and democracy in Iran?

I am deeply troubled by the violence that I’ve been seeing on television.  I think that the democratic process — free speech, the ability of people to peacefully dissent — all those are universal values and need to be respected.  And whenever I see violence perpetrated on people who are peacefully dissenting, and whenever the American people see that, I think they’re, rightfully, troubled.

So the President of the United States is “troubled” by what is going on in Iraq.  That’s a good thing, but what is he going to do about it?

My understanding is, is that the Iranian government says that they are going to look into irregularities that have taken place…  I think it’s important that, moving forward, whatever investigations take place are done in a way that is not resulting in bloodshed and is not resulting in people being stifled in expressing their views.

So the very regime that is behind these “irregularities” and has either ordered or gone along with the abuses cited above is going to be ”looking into” it?  Sounds a lot like “the check’s in the mail” to me.

We will continue to pursue a tough, direct dialogue between our two countries, and we’ll see where it takes us.

On this point I can save President Obama a lot of time and worry by assuring him “direct dialouge” will take us nowhere because it is the Iranian government that is behind what’s going on there and they obviously have no intention of carrying out the will of their people.  How naive can you really get?

And what I would say to those people who put so much hope and energy and optimism into the political process, I would say to them that the world is watching and inspired by their participation, regardless of what the ultimate outcome of the election was.  And they should know that the world is watching.

If telling Iran that “the world is watching” doesn’t scare them into doing the right thing I don’t know what will!  We all know when it comes to “the world” this means absolutely nothing because “the world” isn’t a nation or a leader willing to take action it is a collection of leaders and countries waiting to see what the United States does (and says).

The old expression is still true today.

It is not simply Republicans who think Obama’s approach is weak but members of his own party including his own Vice President and Secretary of State:

Even while supporting the president’s approach, senior members of the administration, including Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, would like to strike a stronger tone in support of the protesters, administration officials said.

So what can Obama really do besides what he’s (not) doing?  For one, he needs to condemn the government-sponsored violence against protesters.  Another positive step would be for Obama to refuse to recognize the election results are re-certified, preferably by a third party.  Or, he could at least make statements as strong as what the Prime Minister of France has made:

“We are calling on Iranian authorities to choose dialogue and respect for international law instead of the dead-end of a hardline political stance and a provocation that would lead nowhere,” he said.

Lastly, to those who say because of the “difficult” past relationship with Iran Obama cannot do more I only need remind you that the United States did not exactly have an easy relationship with the Soviet Union yet, except for the weakling President Jimmy Carter, we took a hard line with that country and, in the end, they were on the wrong side of history.

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