Obama on Iran

Courtesy of the White House: President Obama

White House Blog: Statement by President Obama on Iran. The President stated the following, " The Iranian government must understand that the world is watching. We mourn each and every innocent life that is lost. We call on the Iranian government to stop all violent and unjust actions against its own people. The universal rights to assembly and free speech must be respected, and the United States stands with all who seek to exercise those rights....The Iranian people will ultimately judge the actions of their own government. If the Iranian government seeks the respect of the international community, it must respect the dignity of its own people and govern through consent, not coercion....Martin Luther King once said - "The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." I believe that. The international community believes that. And right now, we are bearing witness to the Iranian peoples’ belief in that truth, and we will continue to bear witness. " It seems President Obama does not want to be on the wrong side of history, even as expected the religious elite keep control in Iran, the Obama idea of talking to Iran is out of the window. The images from Iran used in a thirty second political commercial would make it very difficult for Obama to talk to the present regime, he would face mauling from the right and Blue Dog Congressional Democrats would disown him, they are up for election next year. Those Conservative Democrats in the House will not allow Obama to define them as appeasers. Thus in many respects the protesters in Iran have defined their government but also gutted the Obama policy of talking to Iran with the present regime in charge.