OBAMA ON IRAN - AT 8:56 P.M. ET:  President Obama has now commented on the situation in Iran.  This is what he said, reported by Jake Tapper at ABC:

...it would be wrong for me to be silent about what we’ve seen on the television over the last few days 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."

COMMENT:  Well, it wasn't exactly "Give me liberty or give me death," but, given the rhetorical mush of this administration, we could have done worse, although not much worse. 

The president went on to say that the election mess in Iran won't interfere with his attempt to engage that country in what he called "diplomacy without illusions," a phrase that I suspect had its origin in President Kennedy's reference to himself as an "idealist without illusions."  The difference is that Obama has illusions, and they can kill us.

June 15, 2009