The Dish

Obama speaks out against the regime in his most forceful language yet:

Transcript after the jump:

The United States joins with the international community in strongly condemning the violent and unjust suppression of innocent Iranian citizens, which has apparently resulted in detentions, injuries, and even death.

For months, the Iranian people have sought nothing more than to exercise their universal rights. Each time they have done so, they have been met with the iron fist of brutality, even on solemn occasions and holy days. And each time that has happened, the world has watched with deep admiration for the courage and the conviction of the Iranian people who are part of Iran’s great and enduring civilization.

What’s taking place within Iran is not about the United States or any other country. It’s about the Iranian people and their aspirations for justice and a better life for themselves. And the decision of Iran’s leaders to govern through fear and tyranny will not succeed in making those aspirations go away.

As I said in Oslo, it’s telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation. Along with all free nations, the United States stands with those who seek their universal rights. We call upon the Iranian government to abide by the international obligations that it has to respect the rights of its own people.

We call for the immediate release of all who have been unjustly detained within Iran. We will continue to bear witness to the extraordinary events that are taking place there. And I’m confident that history will be on the side of those who seek justice.

Purportedly from today:

Or, at least, according to one of his readers, moving " towards the gutbucket swampland of blood libels" because he dares to criticize some settlers who are "a more or less normal group of people who are living in the land of their forefathers."

The neoconservative use of the anti-Semite card is so ubiquitous and so vile and so cheap it has become meaningless.

A seasonal kiss-in in Paris:

The Green Movement has strongly resisted all sanctions against Iran, and even more passionately opposes any military strikes. If Israel strikes, it will effectively kill the Iranian opposition movement, and set off a global wave of Jihadism which will kill many American soldiers and civilians. So how to respond to the Revolutionary Guards' continuing and mounting brutality?

The obvious answer, aired by Spencer Ackerman here, is very targeted sanctions designed to hurt the pocket-books of the regime's leadership, not its people. How one does this without appearing to hurt the very people we want to support is above my paygrade. But I'd be eager to air any specifics. What I do oppose is the "crippling" sanctions favored by Howard Berman and Hillary Clinton.

A lawyer explains:

Basically, Bristol wants custody, filed with a pseudonym and moved to have the case closed to the public or filed under seal (don’t know the exact rule in Alaska), the Court denied several motions, and forced the parties to litigate under their real names.

Bristol’s lawyers apparently thought Levi had broken some rules, so they filed a motion for an order to show cause (give reasons to the Court) why Levi should not be punished for something (which is unclear just from the list of the documents that have been filed.)

Other than that, doesn’t look like THAT out of the ordinary.