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Hot dogs in public, credit-taking in private: the White House’s search for an Iranian domestic strategy.

Gird your loins.

By: Moe Lane (Diary)  |  June 23rd, 2009 at 11:00 AM  | 

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Question: What do these two stories have in common?

Iran Unrest Reveals Split In U.S. on Its Role Abroad

[snip]

Obama’s approach to Iran, including his assertion that the unrest there represents a debate among Iranians unrelated to the United States, is an acknowledgment that a U.S. president’s words have a limited ability to alter foreign events in real time and could do more harm than good. But privately Obama advisers are crediting his Cairo speech for inspiring the protesters, especially the young ones, who are now posing the most direct challenge to the republic’s Islamic authority in its 30-year history.

[Via The Campaign Spot]


US says hot dog diplomacy still on with Iran

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The United States said Monday its invitations were still standing for Iranian diplomats to attend July 4 celebrations at US embassies despite the crackdown on opposition supporters.

President Barack Obama’s administration said earlier this month it would invite Iran to US embassy barbecues for the national holiday for the first time since the two nations severed relations following the 1979 Islamic revolution.

[Via Weasel Zippers, via Hot Air]

Answer: Both demonstrate that the administration’s only real focus on any issue is its effect on domestic policy.

The President has scheduled a press conference for today: and while there are pleas from inside Iran itself for more support (H/T Gateway Pundit) the preliminary indications that he’ll avoid doing that, on the ostensible grounds that it might help a regime that is right now shooting down protesters in the streets*.

That is, more than having them over for Fourth of July celebrations.

Truth be told, this press conference is for domestic purposes: the White House is watching its control slip over the news cycle, and this will give control back to it for the day, or at least the hour. I wouldn’t begrudge it if I thought that it’d do anything useful with said control; or even if the President would just revert back to his campaign-era habit of dealing with foreign policy questions by waiting 72 hours and then repeating everything that John McCain said. At least then we’d see something done, if for the wrong reasons.

All that being said, the Iranian situation is going to keep escalating. A shame that we’re apparently not going to influence it in any significant way, but then this administration is singularly uninterested in anything that happens after Election Day, 2012 anyway.

Moe Lane

*And then charging their families a bullet fee.

Crossposted to Moe Lane.

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  • smitch61

    I am going to go out on a limb here and state that if this man allows this so called “picnic” to go on as scheduled and to validate this cruel dictatorship….. He is finished. His polls will hit the floor and talks of impeachment will abound…He is insane.

  • bobojake

    If they come to the Embassy Barbecue.
    Now if they want a real deal they should come to the TEA PARTIES protesting obamas horrendoust tax and spending. They will have a real good time and their won’t be LIARS reading words off FLASHCARDS.

  • http://andrightlyso.com/ civil_truth

    Read Orwell, and then read how the Communists of the 30s and 40s twisted themselves into pretzels as they followed the political twists and turns of the Soviet Union’s foreign policy. A few like Orwell became disenchanted, but most obediently sacrificed all principle to follow their leader

    In other words, for Obama’s followers and his clients in the media, no matter what Obama does, he’s right – and not only right, he’s the most brilliant and inspired leader the U.S. has ever had…no, make that in the history of the world.

  • djemi

    If the opposition in Iran win this and I think in the end they will, it’s bad for BO. Why? Because if Iran becomes the Democratic Islamic Republic, it will prove the Bush was right all along and that BO was wrong. Now if BO was wrong on forgein affairs he will be meet with more descent on his Domestic agenda, won’t he. The Blame it on Bush mantra will start to sound like a lame duck excuse.

  • IJB

    Obama’s hard-core is probably around 30% of the populace (and that may be *at best*).

    I’m guessing the other 70% will take a dim view of our diplomats serving hot dogs to Iranian government officials, at the same time that the Iranian government is tearing babies out of their cribs and throwing them on bonfires & shooting pregnant women down in the streets back home.

    I am thankful for one thing: my (and many others’) predictions that this guy would be Carter II seems to be coming to full fruition. The result of this will be: 1) the Democrats won’t hold the White House again for 12-20 years, and 2) the next time they do, it’ll be in the form of a Clinton-esque moderate and not a fire-breathing commie a la the current Administration…

  • 6eorge Jetson

  • 6eorge Jetson

    Just clarifying. It’s not how I initially interpreted “them” at first glance.

  • Marcus_Traianus

    The only thing he inspired in complete confusion about any point he was trying to make. I think this point encapsulates the general feeling;

    As for Obama’s speech itself, Khalil said it was “very typical of western perception and of a newly-elected president.” – Gulf News

    What IS inspiring? How about the most vibrant, nascent Middle East democracy (save Israel) right next door in Iraq? Gee, do you think the Iranian students know anything about the freedoms and change that inspired? I am SURE the MSM is just getting around to making that point……someday five years from now.

  • briann

    I?m guessing the other 70% will take a dim view of our diplomats serving hot dogs to Iranian government officials[...]

    I’m guessing that at least 40% will never hear a peep of this. This is the real problem with the heavily biased media; we have a President that is actively selling us out to our enemies and noone even knows about it.

    I agree that Obama looks alot like Carter II, and I also hope he meets the same fate. I seem to remember that Carter initially had heavy media support but they turned on him. Anyone else remember that? Anyone know why?

    -Bri

  • The_Gadfly

    and tell them they were all beef frankfurters.

    But then again, I am a rotten, mean bastage about that sort of thing.

  • The_Gadfly

    By a series of unfortunate coincidences, I found myself driving to work around 11:00 this morning, which meant the talk show on at that time was Joe Scarborough. Apparently MSNBC decided that unlike the rest of the weekend newsies, they would not have wall to wall coverage on breaking events in Iran. And Scarborough apparently won the ratings for his time slot this weekend. He and his co-host said while they would have preferred wall-to-wall coverage personally, since editors and producers are paid to air shows that attract people, like it or not they made the right decision.

  • The_Gadfly

    to make a speech that could well turn the tide for the activists in Iran. Imagine a speech in which he noted the similarities between what the citizens of Iraq are doing with the actions taken by our founding fathers against a tyrant in an earlier time. Then connecting that with his studies of the Koran and how the fanatics in Iran had abandoned the true meaning of Islam, and that now was the time for the other peaceful adherents of the religion to stand in solidarity with their Muslim brothers in Iran who were being oppressed. Then finally working his way into condemning the cowardice of the tyrants who, like all tyrants before them, attempted to blame “foreign sources” for the troubles they themselves had caused at home.

    You know there are speech writers out there who could work that outline into something like Reagan’s Brandenburg speech. And much as I hate to say it, you know that so long as The Big 0 has a teleprompter in front of him, he could deliver it with the same flair as Reagan would have. That sort of speech might not be the end of the fight in the Iran, but it could be end of any chance the mullahs had of winning.

  • mom2oneson

    he could bring up Iran’s history too..they would love that. :)

    Another thing is, when someone thinks there is someone strong behind them they don’t pick on them as much or they find a new target. I wonder if the council would have found a different result if he had said something better.

  • rfpzzzzz

    Will Obama call the public beatings and killings torture? He had no trouble calling 30 seconds under water a reason for the US to lose standing as a decent nation. He apologized and criticized us ad nauseum. What will he say about Iran’s video history?