Update: Calderone has updated his post–and, in fact, the folks paid to know this stuff at the White House did know this stuff!!

Change we can believe in is evidently rather upsetting for Mr. Calderone.

Meanwhile, back here in the 21st century in a world of real-time global communications…

If he is hearing this straight from Iran, it means that there in not one group, faction or ideal represented by the protests … it is a sizeable segment of the populace who have had it with the regime and are demonstrating to bring about change. They are not deluded that Mossavi is their savior, but many see a big change in him over the past 20 years and are also using the election fraud to launch protests against the regime.

The protests on Saturday had about 3 Million people, although not at one rally because the regime has set up barricades to prevent a repeat of Friday’s 9 Km long rally. People are protesting from their rooftops and what has incensed a lot more people and driven them to the cause is hearing that foreign mercenaries were brought in to subdue the protesters … Iranians are even more patriotic than Americans.

He just noted that Obama’s calling on Pitney was unusual, and that it looked coordinated, and then noted in an update that both the White House and Huffington Post confirmed that it was in fact coordinated. We seem to all agree here that this is accurate information, and further that it was an appropriate move on Obama’s part… what’s “bitchy” about Calderone reporting on it?

I’ve re-read the article looking for bias, and it looks like he’s presenting the information from a value-neutral standpoint. Just because the comment thread is flooded with birther-types howling scandal doesn’t mean that the article is promoting that view, does it?

Petro! @ 38. Many hugs, as always.

Y’know, I did think that Obama had been handling this well, right up to that latest statement. But now I really want to know: what did he mean by “spanning Iranian society”?

Petro, how can it be our job to internalize Obama’s political anxieties? Me, I’m close to flat out trying to write about Omar Khadr today. Obama is going to have to do without me, at least overnight. *wink*

See my response to gostof911 at #36…I know that our collective psychology in this country is conditioned to expect that our government will meddle in the internal politics of any country regardless of the consequences but take a breath and read your post…Obama has directed our response to this like Eugene Ormandy conducting the Philidelphia Philharmonic. Jesus, instead of tossing a dramatic polemic at the Iranian government and in the process isolating the masses in the streets of Tehran, Obama has encouraged the opposition while at the same time tryin’ ta direct public attention to the direct reporting from Iran bein’ telescoped through the blogosphere. The people of Iran are gunna work this out, they already have blood and bone in the battle, there is no turnin’ back for either side and for every death there will be a funeral and with every funeral there will be tens of thousands in the streets and twittering…we can only watch and listen and hope that our President can mobilize the rest of the world through the UN when the time is right!