STEPS!  THERE ARE STEPS TAKEN! - AT 5:53 P.M. ET:  I post this to assure you that steps are being taken.  From Reuters:

The White House has begun to take steps to confront Iran's unwillingness to "pursue its responsibilities" on the nuclear issue, spokesman Robert Gibbs said on Tuesday.

"We've begun to take those steps, if Iran is unwilling to pursue its responsibilities," Gibbs said.

Steps.  More steps.  I'm so grateful.  Peace in our time.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad on Tuesday dismissed a year-end deadline set by the Obama administration for Tehran to accept a United Nations-drafted deal to swap enriched uranium for nuclear fuel.

The deal aims to diminish Iran's stockpile of enriched uranium, easing the West's fears that the material could be used to produce a nuclear weapon. Iran, which denies it seeks to build a bomb, has balked at the deal's terms.

COMMENT:  I'm glad they're taking steps.  Gibbs also told Iran to take next week's deadline seriously.

No doubt this will have as much impact as previous warnings.  The president will get up on January 1st, maybe still wearing his party hat and tooting his tooter, and realize that he's got to produce something for the Iran account. 

Fox News is reporting comments by unnamed administration officials to the effect that nothing much will happen right after the first of the year, but that something will happen by the end of January.

The steel in that statement is inspiring, isn't it?

December 22, 2009