It is hard to keep up with the diversions coming from the White House these days. The headlines today are full of stories about Obama meeting with Gates and the ‘stupid’ cop who harassed his good friend. They evidently are going to have a beer. In fact there were lots of questions about this particular incident in yesterday’s press conference, but no questions on why the United States decided to pull the visas of several members of the Honduras Government. Our government and many of their media friends call it a coup. Some coup. While the uneducated call for a return to democracy, the interim President says November elections will go on as planned. So as Obama and Clinton continue their hard line against Honduras protecting their constitution, they still refuse to do so with Iran. In this same press conference the media did not dare ask a question about prison abuse against protesters in Iran which has included being beaten to death, having fingernails ripped off, and being forced to lick toilet bowls. I thought detainee abuse was a big deal to these people. Where is Al Qaeda for that matter. I understand that they really do not like when Muslim detainees are abused. I guess it doesn’t really matter though. I doubt Mr. Gibbs would have given a direct answer anyways. Much like he avoided the only other question on Iran
Question: Last week, the Senate unanimously passed a resolution that directs the President to impose crippling sanctions on Iran if the regime hasn’t accepted the U.S. offer of engagement by the time of the G20 in September. And I was wondering, has the President, or other administration officials, engaged in discussions with our international partners about specific sanctions against Iran?
Mr. Gibbs: The international community has a standing offer dating back to April for engagement through the process with Iran that we have not heard back from on. The G8 said that in September, the international community would take stock of where we are on Iran. And we anticipate that that will take place in September. I don’t want to get into hypotheticals, of what if, past that.
Question: Any specific plans, though, if the situation – (cut off)
Mr. Gibbs: Well, again, I think that’s — I’d carve that into the hypotheticals.
Mr. Gibbs answers even the easiest of questions this way though so it is completely expected. And if they are not avoiding questions or creating diversions from real problems, they are diverting responsibility. Obama has always enjoyed a little Bush bashing, but as his approval ratings have started to fall (was at 49% last week), it has really come into play. The NY Times pointed out recently that during a press conference last week Obama mentioned the Bush administration 9 times. I think it is a little too far into his Presidency to continue to blame others for his poor policies and his inability to change the Washington culture. But I am rambling. Call it a diversion from the fact that I couldn’t figure out what to write about today.
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