While I am opining

Photo by Vahid Salemi/AP

I fear that in the days ahead photos like the one above may capture the situation in Iran more than the green-tinged masses that have so moved and inspired us of late. The supreme leader's comments today do not bode well as it was in the "calm down, shut up, support your leaders" mode. Many fear crackdowns. Red may well be a more appropriate color than green. Sadly.

While I have been criticizing the president and his administration for a number of things lately, I want to say that he appears to be taking the reasonable and appropriate stance toward Iran. he has spoken on behalf of democracy and freedom but he has neither uttered threats nor unleashed the dogs of war.

Those who have been so eager to bomb Iran in recent years should be chastened by the thought that they would have been killing the hundreds of thousands now protesting an election that bears the appearance of having been stolen. The younger generation of Iran is not poisoned with hatred of the West or of the United States. On the other hand, they want to shape their own destiny. If we really believe in democracy, then we should be delighted at this. And we will keep our fingers (and guns and bombs) out of it.

Protesters have said they want us to stay out of this. They appreciate our moral support but a new Iran depends on being a product of the people of Iran. What a concept! US interference can only make things worse.

I therefore commend President Obama for his measured response. This sort of international diplomacy is one of the major reasons I wanted to see him elected and want him to succeed.

As for Krauthammer and Wolfowitz, two of the viler slime beings whose idiocy ever degraded the Washington Post, they can go Cheney themselves.

--the BB