“Throughout my life, I have always looked to Mahatma Gandhi as an inspiration, because he embodies the kind of transformational change that can be made when ordinary people come together to do extraordinary things. That is why his portrait hangs in my Senate office: to remind me that real results will come not just from Washington – they will come from the people.” –Barack Obama, quoted in The Hindu, July 12, 2008
There is the potential for a transformational change going on right now in Iran. Ordinary people are flooding the streets in the long-shot hope of doing an extraordinary thing. Real results come from the people? I wonder where our president’s sympathies lie this evening. I think I know.
Yet, given the United States’ history with Iran, there is almost nothing sincere that Obama can say that will actually help those people in the streets. Any sign of sympathy from America is likely to undermine the advocates of democracy. Still, Obama has the ability to surprise me. Just when I think he’s in a jam, he seems to do something more clever than anything I could have thought up on my own.
