BRING IN AL GORE'S LAWYERS - AT 7:43 A.M. ET:

TEHRAN, Iran -- Iran's supreme leader ordered Monday an investigation into allegations of election fraud, marking a stunning turnaround by the country's most powerful figure and offering hope to opposition forces who have waged street clashes to protest the re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

COMMENT:  On what basis is this a "stunning turnaround"?  What "hope" is offered to the opposition forces?  Investigations are held all the time in dictatorships, with the results decided in advance.

We've seen an eruption of violence in Iran in response to Friday's "election."  The strength and courage of the opposition is one major story here.  The other is the Obama administration's remarkable indifference to the democratic yearnings of millions of Iranians.  Are they afraid that uttering the words, "We support you," will disappoint the realists?  Sound too much like Bush?  Be "unsophisticated," possibly the worst label the Obamans fear?

Indeed, the administration seemed to be at pains to suggest that the election, and its violent aftermath, would have no real effect on Obama's desire to "reach out" to Iran.  When policies don't change in the face of persistent facts, those are no longer policies.  They're ideologies.  That is what we must fear about this administration, that it is stuck on ideology, and pursuing it with the zeal of a teenager who's had no experience in life.

Act II is coming.

June 15, 2009