Iran again

It's not clear what it will lead to, but the big news coming out of Iran is that the Guardian Council, which I gather is a sort of wise overseer of the government, has agreed to a recount of the votes.

It could, of course, mean that this too will be a sham designed to legitimate the fraud; but I sense that it may be an honest move.

Meanwhile, despite criticism from politically motivated clowns on the right who say he should be declaring outrage, Obama has taken just the right stance: saying that we have no way of knowing whether the election results are valid, since we had no monitors in the country, but that Iranians need to feel their ballots matter, and he urged a recount. He also deplored the violence and the crackdown on peaceful demonstrations. He also said he didn't want to say anything that would inject the U.S. into Iranian internal divisions. It would be a mistake to make it seem that the protests were a U.S. backed uprising.

He also spoke directly to the Iranian youth: "And particularly to the youth of Iran, I want them to know that we in the United States do not want to make any decisions for the Iranians, but we do believe that the Iranian people and their voices should be heard and respected."

Just the right touch of restraint, respect for the people, but holding to the values of self-determination and the right to peaceful protest.

Ralph