Tonight it is National Security Council spokesman Mike Hammer speaking instead of President Obama. Regarding this weekend's violent crackdown on protesters in Tehran which has killed at least five people, Mr. Hammer condemned the "unjust suppression of civilians" and quoted Mr. Obama's Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech saying, "It is telling when governments fear the aspirations of their own people more than the power of any other nation". (source) Why are we getting rehashed rhetoric from a third party instead of hearing from the president himself?

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Just as with the terrorist attempt to take down Flight 253 two days ago, the president continues to avoid making any on-camera comments directly to the American people regarding these important events. Could he be concerned that any such video footage may come back to haunt him in future political campaigns? Did he decide after last summer's "I don't know the facts...but the police acted stupidly" statement that he's better off politically if he keeps his thoughts to himself? Or was it after last month's "caution against jumping to conclusions" in the aftermath of the Fort Hood attack?

Whenever and why ever he decided to avoid one of the tougher parts of his job, he is undoubtedly avoiding it. A real leader does not read volumes of prepared policy rhetoric from a teleprompter and then hide behind spokespeople's statements when a real message needs to be delivered.