Revolutions (if that is what this is) are brutal.  The American Revolution was brutal too.  That's normal.  What we don't want is to help this "revolution" take over the government because we either:

Succeed, and have a new Iranian state with questionabe legitimacy that will topple at the drop of a hat into chaos because they have given up their independence to the US.

or

Fail, and have to deal with an even more belligerent Iran.

Obama is being smart about this.  Cantor is an idiot.

It is interesting that they want the President to "take a stand and be forceful", however when countries in Africa experienced the same type of unrest, no Republican 'STOOD' and said anything.  Is it that you just want to be the party that objects to what ever the current president does?????

Obama is such a light weight. Newsflash Obama, Iran is already making statements that we are meddling,
DG, Houston, TX (Sent Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:15 PM)
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Yeah so??  Iran is making the statement(s) with…ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to back it up with!

All of a sudden you believe them to be credible?

Yeah riiiight!

Neville Chamberlain had more balls then Obama.

Here's republician leadership for ya. What if McCain and Palin had won?! Talk about a disaster. We would be in deep s*** right about now. The president is doing the right thing...kepp it steady and calm. We don't have a bone in this fight. It is the people of Iran's choice and right, not our meddling.

Were these the same Republicans that were itching to bomb Iran? Therefore emboldening anti-Western sentiment in the region?

If Cantor read the Huffington Post he'd have an idea that the Iranians are dealing with those incidents right now. There was a physical Parliament fight over the very issue of the abuse and it has become a crusade to expose those who beat those students. Like someone said Obama is empowering the opposition by staying out of it and removing the conservative(in Iran) leadership's greatest propaganda tool. The Iranians are more than capable of handling their own affairs and unless called upon specifically..the U.S. will respond in unison with the INTERNATIONAL community.

I don't know what's more pathetic; the fact that I have to EXPLAIN this to people or the fact that the people who always bring this up probably think our foreign policy should be based on John Lennon songs.
M.D. Chapman, Attica, NY
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The fact that you're trying to defend it is pretty pathetic. Obviously millions of us viewed the same thing. He should have never made a joke of that nature.

Would we still have a cold war if Reagan didn't tell Russia to "tear down that all?"

Get a spine Obama.

DG, Houston, TX (Sent Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:15 PM)
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Do you really think Reagan telling the commies to "tear down this wall" is what ended the cold war?

Aren't you righties the same people that keep saying that President Obama can't accomplish anything with words? Yet the great god Reagan simply said tear down this wall and that was it, the end of the cold war and the soviet union.

I suspect Gorbachev would be very discouraged to know that he was not the reason for breaking up the USSR and that it was in fact the great Reagan.

Aren't you righties the ones that tell us how great Reagan was and how his deficit spending in the 1980s restarted our economy, yet when President Obama spends money we don't have he is ruining this country?

The only reason cantor is speaking up is because he wants to go against everything and anything President Obama does. Had President Obama been more firm, no doubt Cantor would be telling us how dangerous Obama's actions are. Cantor is a pompous idiot that is unqualified to determine US foreign policy. He is nothing but a party of No cheerleader.

The sub-text of Cantor's remarks is that Obama's Cairo speech was so successful that it actually did unleash the forces of freedom and democracy in Iran. Obama's success created the very breathing space in which Cantor complains.

It is interesting that they want the President to "take a stand and be forceful", however when countries in Africa experienced the same type of unrest, no Republican 'STOOD' and said anything.  Is it that you just want to be the party that objects to what ever the current president does?????
EF Johnson, Sunrise, FL


Those countries in Africa. Were they close to finishing development of a nuclear weapon? Had they stated once they got a nuclear weapon their first order of business would be to destroy Israel?

Now you know the rest of the story.

Protectionism and isolationism is not what the United States stands for and not what has made the United States great. Reagan said it best: "Tear down this wall". Barack Obama, tear down the wall of liberalism around you and tell the world and Iran to let freedom ring!
B. Franklin, Philadelphia PA (Sent Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:42 PM)

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Why would you invoke Reagan in a post you credit to Franklin?  

And being isolated from foreign wars is exactly what made us great.   It wasn't until World War I that the World started to tear at itself.  Incidentally this was the era when th idea of "America should make the world safe for democracy." came into being.  I know that sounds like a Bushism but he was repeating a Woodrow Wilson senitment.  Read some history please before you play the Founding Father card in your posts.

Also to anyone who gets tempted to make comparisons to the American War for Independence and this or really any Revolution that's aim is to overthrow the state, please realize they are not the same.  America's aim was not to overthrow Britain but rather to remove themselves from the oppresion Britain brought on them.  They had already been governing themselves for decades they simply wished to make it official and exhausted many attempts to do this peacefully before they went to war.

It was one of perhaps two conservative revolutions since the Americas were colonized by west (the other being the Original Mexican war for Independence from Spain).

What action do these idiots want the President to take?  Any action could be detrimental to the protesters and could have serious ramifications for us!  To enable democracy we need to make careful, calculated comments to ensure that we don't upset the process.  What we don't need is to create a situation were we piss off the current regime and they decide to go ballistic on the opposition.  We need to make sure what we say and do will allow the current process evolve and the people of Iran will be able to settle THEIR election.  I think the President is doing exactly what WE need him to do!  I don't think comments from the Repukes like the one mcdunce made during the campaign!  This requires a delicate hand to ensure the situation does not get out of hand.  We need to remember this one final important thing-----We can not FORCE OUR WILL UPON OTHER PEOPLE-----this is their (Iranian) election not OURS!

I am just curious; have nashville fan and mfsierra ever had a job or have they been slurping at the federal hog trough free for all for so long they forgot how to get things like health care and food any way other than taking it from a person (probably a repub) who has a job or even two?
Stew, employed taxpayer (Sent Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:57 PM)

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This is so typical of you right wing idiots (and some of you lefties, too).  You have no solutions, know no facts, can't give a well reasoned or well thought out response so you attack the person.  Never mind you don't have a clue about them, what they do or even how they do it, all you know is to insult them like a 6 year old.  Obviously, your parents did not teach you any manners.

Cantor opens his mouth and removes all doubt, yet again, that he is indeed an idiot.  I can't believe all these Republicans coming out and calling for American intervention internal Iranian Domestic Affairs.  I wonder if Iran had tried to have an effect on the outcome in 2000 they'd be singing a very different tune.  But for these bunch of do-nothings, if Obama is for it, they're automatically against it.  If he says "It's up to the Iranian People", they say "We should interfere and do whatever we can to 'help'".  Yes, they're kind of help will get more and more of those protesters killed.  Idiot Republicans, as usual.

Jonathan, Flint MI:  And being isolated from foreign wars is exactly what made us great.

Really? So you're thinking that WWII thing was a waste of time?

And here I thought freedom is what made us great.

Americans don't seem to understand that Ahmadinejad is immensely popular in Iran. He won by a landslide. I don't see how this could come as a surprise to anyone who pays attention to global politics.

As for the President of the United States, that position is seen throughout the world as the spokeperson for freedom and democracy.

Kelsey, Redding Ca (Sent Thursday, June 18, 2009 3:39 PM)
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Actually, that is the great American fantasy and one reason we are so hated by so many. Many do see us that way. But many also see us as a bully and a meddler that props up dictators and cruel leaders that take away freedoms but are "friends" to the United States. Especially if it helps our military or big business!

You might want to read some history. Look at what we did in South Vietnam, South America, and Central America, and of course, what we have done in the Middle East! First, we helped overthrow the democratically elected government of the Republic of Iran. Then, when they when Iraq invaded Iran, we supported Saddam Hussein. But later, we decided he was a tyrant that the world was better for without.

No doubt the Iranians and other middle eastern countries have good cause to accuse us of meddling and be concerned about what our intentions are!

What is Cantor's stand on Darfur and Sudan or on Somalia?

He already did:

"America does not presume to know what is best for everyone, just as we would not presume to pick the outcome of a peaceful election. But I do have an unyielding belief that all people yearn for certain things: 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. Those are not just American ideas, they are human rights, and that is why we will support them everywhere.

There is no straight line to realize this promise. But this much is clear: governments that protect these rights are ultimately more stable, successful and secure. Suppressing ideas never succeeds in making them go away. America respects the right of all peaceful and law-abiding voices to be heard around the world, even if we disagree with them. And we will welcome all elected, peaceful governments - provided they govern with respect for all their people."
Barack Obama, Cairo 2009

Did you think this speech was given a week before the Iranian elections by accident?

America's aim was not to overthrow Britain but rather to remove themselves from the oppresion Britain brought on them.
Jonathan, Flint MI
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Fair point.  The argument, though is that the apparent goal for these protesters is to place their own candidate in office and have new leadership.  If the US claims a stake in installing that leader, his legitimacy becomes questionable, however it occurs.

It's certainly possible that the Ayatollah will decide that the election was fraudulant and ask for a revote, during which Ahmadinejad (sp?) will be removed, and the whole thing will proceed peacefully.  In that case, the new leader would still be tainted by US support and the politics involved in cooperating with the US would be that much more complicated.

More likely, I think, the leadership of Iran will not change without a fair bit of upheaval, and for that I think the word "revolution" is appropriate.

Now what? Does Cantor want Obama to invade Iran like Bush invaded Iraq? I wish the republicans would just shut-up. Bush and Cheney did enough damage to this country with their cowboy foreign policy.  

Loud mouth, Eric Cantor would have us meddle in something that is not our affair nor would our intervention do otherwise than exacerbate the issue except to make the United States to beat is symbolic chest with its fists.  

How typical of the GOP in the days of the Obama Administration - that is to say - off the mark and sad signifying little.

I would hope the President continue to give the courtesy of listening and then ignoring that which is crazy talk.

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