LOOK IN DARK SPACES - AT 8:29 P.M. ET:  From the Voice of America:

The State Department said Friday U.S. officials are looking for a reciprocal gesture from Iran after President Barack Obama's conciliatory holiday message to the Iranian people and government Thursday. Mr. Obama said in a broadcast for the Iranian new year holiday Nowruz that the United States wants "honest engagement" with Tehran based on mutual respect.

State Department officials say the broadcast overture by the President is only one of several gestures planned by the administration to back up its expressed interest in better relations with Iran. And they say they're hopeful Iran will at some point respond in a similar fashion so that the two countries - without formal relations for three decades - can open a real dialogue.

COMMENT:  One of several gestures planned?  Really?  I'd love to know what those "gestures" are.  Why don't the Obamans wait for some reciprocity before going further?  Must we grovel?  With each passing day the Iranians get closer to a nuclear bomb.  What, precisely, is this new administration doing to stop it?  Not much.

March 20, 2009