Posted on 06/22/2009 11:19:45 AM PDT by Schnucki
Change may be the word he made his own during the election campaign but President Barack Obama's uncertain and timid response to the Iran protests suggests he views it as a slogan with little application beyond America's shores.
Just over two weeks ago, Mr Obama stood beneath the dome of Cairo University's Great Hall and gave a speech that stirred hearts throughout the Middle East and won him plaudits across the world.
Promising a "new beginning" in relations between the Islamic world and the West, he proclaimed his "unyielding belief" in a set of universal principles.
These included "the ability to speak your mind and have a say in how you are governed, confidence in the rule of law and the equal administration of justice, government that is transparent and doesn't steal from the people, the freedom to live as you choose".
Yet although his statements on the events in Tehran grew tougher over the weekend, Mr Obama has given the protesters – who are calling for the enactment of his Cairo principles – the cold shoulder. Change in Iran, it appears, is the last thing he wants.
Mr Obama stunned supporters of a potential nascent Green Revolution – perhaps a successor to the "colour revolutions" in Ukraine, Georgia and Burma and Lebanon's "Cedar revolution" – by stating that one Iranian leader was pretty much the same as the next.
"It is important to understand that although there is amazing ferment taking place in Iran, that the difference between Ahmadinejad and Mousavi in terms of their actual policies may not be as great as has been advertised," Mr Obama said loftily last week, minutes after his "Dirty Harry" moment in which he dispatched a fly to its maker with the words: "I got the sucker."
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
From Twitter a few minutes ago...
OrinocoPat RT @Marquietta RT @ObamaResistance: Obama has been more critical of Fox News than the Iranian govt! #tcot #Iranelection 7 minutes ago from web
Zero is not going unscathed in this...
I don’t think Obama should be asking for change in Iran...he should be in the parking lot at K-Mart...
LMAO!!!
This COULD have been one of his greatest moments in history...good thing he went out to the ice cream parlor instead!! WHEW! Reagan WILL forever live in the hearts of the repressive freedom yearning hearts of those hungering for democracy! sniff...I miss the Gipper!! :(
“Just words. Just speeches.”
LOL! Of course! People aren’t going to pay attention to a TELEPROMPTER!!!
Pres(id)ent Pantywaist
0bama struck the uprising in Iran a body blow when he declared that Mousavi was no different than Ahmadinejad, telling Iranians they were dying in the streets for nothing.
That's because Barky's got some skin in the image game.
He has nothing at risk in the new Iranian Revolution and hasn't the courage to give a d@mn.
It’s probably best Hussein stayed out of Iran. It’d be even better if he stayed out of the US.
Obama:
"...but just because I believe in them doesn't mean I'm gonna stick my neck out for them. Get real!"
That's cuz he would love to do to Fox and talk radio what the mullets are doing to their citizens.
Barry Soetero,DRUGSTORE COWBOY!
I am so sick of 0zer0 worrying about “meddling” in Iran as pro-democracy demonstrators are being killed.
I grew up in the rural midwest and learned long ago that the only thing you get from straddling a fence is sore crotch. You either have to get on the safe side of the fence and be a bystander, or get on the side where the action is and be a participant.
Everyone can now see who the bystanders are, and who the participants are.
....picking up cigarette butts in the parking lot.
It isn’t hard to guess what’s going on. Obama had it in his head that he was going to “change the game” by opening direct diplomatic relations with Iran. He was going to be the guy at the summit, shaking hands and saving the day. Didn’t want to ruffle feathers. Didn’t want to upset the regime, hurting his chances for rapproachment once the protests blow over.
Frankly, I think he’s befuddled. He hasn’t the slightest clue what he should do or say.
Yes, I wouldn’t argue against that at all.
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