44, Where Are You?

Since Iran went off the hook and 44's rather underwhelming "wait and see" approach (which seemed awful anti hope and change btw) Supreme Leader and his minions double teamed the response in the streets and in DC.

Hot on the heels of chanting their fav encantation -- that Great Satan was once again 'meddling' in the internal affairs of sovereign Persia -- followed closely by Supreme Leader's 90 minute yawn a thon that threatened a serious crack down on the Green Wave.

This is significant -- 1st off the regime has yet to unleash the full power of all their control mechanisms like the Revolutionary Guard and the full wrath of the Beseejis.

2nd -- Supreme Leader actually conferred legitimacy on the people. Consider -- the regime has a serious contender in this regard. Iran's own people are raising cain about clerical rule in a computerized Police State - a closed society that fears face book, fun and free choice.

Governing the state with out the consent of the people -- despite 30 years of it -- does not confer confidence or legitimacy on the ayatollahs or their minions.

So now, the ball is back in 44's court.

Great Satan's premier Regime Changer (with Philippines, SoKo, Re unified Germany, Collectivist Russia and of course Iraq under his belt) lays out a very cool game plan


"The reform the Iranian demonstrators seek is something that we should be supporting. In such a situation, the United States does not have a "no comment" option. Coming from America, silence is itself a comment -- a comment in support of those holding power and against those protesting the status quo.

"It would be a cruel irony if, in an effort to avoid imposing democracy, the United States were to tip the scale toward dictators who impose their will on people struggling for freedom. And if we appear so desperate for negotiations that we will abandon those who support our principles, we weaken our own negotiating hand.

"That does not mean that we need to pick sides in an Iranian election or claim to know its result. Obama could send a powerful message simply by placing his enormous personal prestige behind the peaceful conduct of the demonstrators and their demand for reform -- exactly the kind of peaceful, democratic change that he praised in his speech in Cairo.

"Like the rest of the world, President Obama must have been surprised by the magnitude of the protests in Iran. Iranians are protesting not just election fraud but also the growing abuses of the Iranian people by a dictatorial regime. Now is not the time for the president to dig in to a neutral posture. It is time to change course."

Specifically -- taking a tough as nails stance -- against Iran's regime -- is an almost once in a life time opportunity to wipe clean and draw again then entire ME -- in Great Satan's interests:


"Like all revolutions, it has far outgrown its origins. What's at stake now is the very legitimacy of this regime -- and the future of the entire Middle East.

"This revolution will end either as a Tiananmen (a hot Tiananmen with massive and bloody repression or a cold Tiananmen with a finer mix of brutality and co-optation) or as a true revolution that brings down the Islamic Republic.

"The latter is improbable but, for the first time in 30 years, not impossible. Imagine the repercussions. It would mark a decisive blow to Islamist radicalism, of which Iran today is not just standard-bearer and model, but financier and arms supplier. It would do to Islamism what the collapse of the Soviet Union did to communism -- leave it forever spent and discredited.

"In the region, it would launch a second Arab spring. The first in 2005 -- the expulsion of Syria from Lebanon, first elections in Iraq and early liberalization in the Gulf states and Egypt -- was aborted by a fierce counterattack from the forces of repression and reaction, led and funded by Iran.

"Now, with Hezbollah having lost elections in Lebanon and with Iraq establishing the institutions of a young democracy, the fall of the Islamist dictatorship in Iran would have an electric and contagious effect. The exception -- Iraq and Lebanon -- becomes the rule. Democracy becomes the wave. Syria becomes isolated; Hezbollah and Hamas, patronless.

"The entire trajectory of the region is reversed.

"All hangs in the balance. The Khamenei regime is deciding whether to do a Tiananmen. And what side is the Obama administration taking? None. Except for the desire that this "vigorous debate" (press secretary Robert Gibbs' disgraceful euphemism) over election "irregularities" not stand in the way of U.S.-Iranian engagement on nuclear weapons.

"That's our fundamental interest. And our fundamental values demand that America stand with demonstrators opposing a regime that is the antithesis of all we believe.

"And where is our president? Afraid of "meddling." Afraid to take sides between the head-breaking, women-shackling exporters of terror -- and the people in the street yearning to breathe free. This from a president who fancies himself the restorer of America's moral standing in the world."

And this is the moment we've been waiting for.

Art - "Regime Change"