Late yesterday, President Obama chose to repeat the words of State Department spokesman Ian Kelly earlier in the day: Both said they were “deeply troubled” by events in Iran. When asked if the U.S. would go beyond that to condemn the actions of the regime, Kelly answered: “I haven’t used that word, ‘condemn.’ We need to see how things unfold.” Question for White House spokesman Robert Gibbs: As “things” have continued to unfold, is President Obama now willing to condemn the brutal actions of a violently illiberal regime? If not, what would the regime have to do to generate clear moral and political condemnation from our “deeply troubled” president?
