Is Obama Accepting the Unacceptable?

The boss notes that during tonight's press conference Obama seemed to have dropped the audacity that characterized his campaign rhetoric in favor of a new incrementalism and persistence on everything from the economy to energy to education. Obama also said he was only seeking "steady progress" in his dealings with Iran.

"When it comes to Iran, you know, we did a video sending a message to the Iranian people and the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. And some people said, 'Well, they did not immediately say they were eliminating nuclear weapons and stop funding terrorism.' Well, we didn't expect that. We expect that we're going to make steady progress on this front."

Obama seems to have conceded here that Iran is working towards a nuclear weapon, just as it continues to fund terrorism. It's an odd locution from a president whose administration continues to stand by the conclusion of a 2007 NIE that found Iran no longer possessed an active bomb-making program. DNI Dennis Blair stood by that conclusion on the Hill just two weeks ago even as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs Admiral Mullen was telling reporters "that Iran is on a path to develop nuclear weapons." Obama got dangerously close to conceding the obvious tonight. As Kristol says, "steady progress" is no standard for success against such a threat:

Is stopping Iran from getting nuclear weapons really like improving health care or advancing the Middle East peace process? I would have thought not. The American (and European) position -- and the position of candidate Obama -- has been that this Iranian regime acquiring nuclear weapons is "unacceptable." If that's so, then there's a deadline, so to speak, to all the incremental efforts. And since, by all accounts, that deadline is fast approaching, there would have to be a certain speed to the hoped-for "steady progress." President Obama seems to evince no sense of urgency about Iran's nuclear program. Did his relaxed statement about Iran tonight suggest he has quietly decided to accept the previously unacceptable?

Read the whole thing here.