re: #194 Cato the Elder

Supporting the protesters right to carry out peaceful demonstrations isn’t asking too much. Asking for the government to show restraint against attacking unarmed demonstrators is appropriate without showing that the Administration backs the protesters.

There are things that can be said short of open support of the protesters, giving the Administration the flexibility to act based on events as they unfold literally by the minute. The concern about saying anything has frozen the Administration into silence after that initial flurry of ill-begotten comments about working with the Ahmadinejad government.

For an Administration that is supposed to have a way with words, their silence is deafening.

Heck, you can get Gibbs to come up to the podium to make a statement talking about the US respect for human rights and the free and fair elections and that the Iranian response to demonstrations over questions with violence undermines their legitimacy. It’s a statement of fact, but by phrasing it that way, it leaves the door open to the fact that Ahmadinejad could have indeed been the winner, Mousavi could have been the winner, and still castigates the regime for the violent crackdown against protesters who see the regime’s actions since the election results announcements as illegitimate.

Add to that a statement that we support liberty and freedom against all unjust regimes around the world.