No Time for Irresponsible Partisan Rhetoric

The Republican minority spends an inordinate amount of time thinking of ways to stall legislation, keep nominees from being confirmed and condemn presidential proposals. By using procedural measures to stymie administration programs and hold up appointments, they have managed to confound reasonable decision-making procedures. And by working tirelessly to feed the propaganda mill it has created, the minority seeks to appropriate more power than the electorate was willing to give it last November.

However, attempting to turn events in Iran to their advantage takes partisanship way beyond acceptable limits of political discourse. But perhaps it was too much to expect that Republicans would hold off criticizing the president for his measured response to Iran's election results, a position with which, incidentally, most Middle East experts concur.  As Iranian-American sources explain, the pointed comments President Bush made in the past, ostensibly to show support for 'the people of Iran', elicited instead pleas from rank-and-file Iranians for him to stay out of their internal affairs.

And could anything be sillier or less relevant than Republican claims that, when the majority sought to curtail their endless amendments to proposed legislation in the House, they could identify with Iranian feelings of disenfranchisement - - unsettling indicators that a lot of exceptionally stupid people walk the halls of Congress. In response merciless jibes have emerged from the Twitter class: e.g. 'After running through the sprinkler this morning I claim solidarity with the victims of Hurricane Katrina' and 'having almost been hit by a cab in D.C. reminded me of Tiananmen Square.'

When anti-war demonstrations at the 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago were met with a violent, heavy-handed official response, the chant went up "the whole world is watching." It was not a proud moment for the nation, but our form of government always manages to get us past moments of imperfectly realized ideals. Iran has no similar bedrock democratic mechanism to propel it through the tumult of public outrage. There, societal change is subject to disruptive swings, and contentious elements complicate the political landscape. Democracy or liberalizing trends are not easily accomplished; throw in religion as a factor of government and the entire process becomes just that much more complex. In his speech Friday Ayatollah Ali Khamenei referred to Iran as the world's only "religious democracy", something of an oxymoron for most of us.

President Obama reminds Iran that the whole world is watching despite its attempt to stifle standard forms of communication. Whether the leadership will tilt toward softening its position with respect to the demands of its citizens and its treatment of them or further isolate itself from the world community is an open question; however, people here need to be careful not to make assumptions regarding a country about which they are largely uninformed. Some members of Congress, in their zeal to exact partisan one-upmanship, have shown an unprecedented level of disrespect for the president as well as a troubling lack of understanding about the nature of geo-political stresses and strains in the region.

Even had Iran's presidency changed hands, its nuclear ambitions and other concerns may not have been substantially altered. Whatever the outcome, Iran will be a different place going forward - - requiring both statesmanship and a more cooperative spirit among our elected officials. Now is not the time for members of Congress to subvert the president's ability to conduct foreign policy. An earlier Congress abdicated its constitutional responsibility to declare war, and allowed a wayward administration and a cadre of determined neo-cons to take us into a costly misadventure in Iraq.

As a more responsible leader deals with another authoritarian regime he shouldn't be second-guessed or bullied into taking precipitous action. This time around we must not allow ideologues to influence foreign-policy decisions that serve neither our interests nor those for whom we would wish to shape a political future. Questions about the fairness of Iran's recent election and the ensuing protests should not become fodder for partisan talking points or for various factions to pursue their special-interest agendas. Rather this is a time for the various agencies of government to work towards common ground, and to promote hopefully, a coalition of disparate political entities both here and abroad.