policies. and following that it's "q&a" with historian douglas brinkly. >> the ffrlt c.c. should be a model for transparency, openness and fairness. >> monday on "the communicators" a discussion on julius genachowski's president's obama's person to lead the f.c.c. and fawn johnson, what the f.c.c. would look like under a new chairman monday at 8:00 on c pan 2. . communicators." >> "washington journal" continues. host: we want to welcome jon- christopher bua, white house correspondent for british television. tony blankley is here for the

summer. [laughter] what is next for iran? what is next for iran? guest: this is a moment where the years of history are changing. where it will go into high gear, or out -- not to get lost in a metaphor, but i do not think that the iranian relationship to the people will be the same, even if the regime old son. -- holds on. this is potentially a transition moment for the iranian people. host: you posted on your blog, the world is watching. guest: these protests have gone from protesting election results to protesting the

behavior of the supreme leader. the entire region, going into dangerous waters, that is where the rubber is meeting the road. although it is getting less measured as the days go on. host: you wrote in your blog that it would be like a conservative candidate swamping bellcore in all for a liberal -- al gore swamping in a liberal county. guest: i think that mr. mir hossein mousavi, in his own town, was swamped. that makes no sense at all. guest: i was talking to end iranian experts this week in washington. his guess, fairly inform, was

that the ayatollah khamenei wanted a big victory from -- for ahmadinejad. the word went out. they all became overly successful, getting into the 60's, when they probably needed an election of 57%, not 62%. they overplayed their hand. all of the thousands of people who are responsible, and the boat got higher than the regime expected. -- vote got higher than the regime expected. it strain plausibility. you might not have had people in the streets were not for a small percentage. guest: 1972, nixon decided to manipulate that election a little bit. guest: i would not want to comment on that. guest: i am saying that the over the top behavior is something

that the government wanted to do and it has come back at them. host: basically, according to this, "we cannot fight their battles for them nor, as conservative hawks fantasize, trigger regime change." saying that the president is doing what needs to. guest: we are all guessing. not just republicans and the old guard feria -- old guard. . the secretary of state has been urging all week that the president changes town. we will see. part of it depends on how much value new place on a chance that any american president was going to negotiate with ahmadinejad and did the end of the nuclear program.

you would not shift earlier. this is a moment where the american people can seem to be friends of the new order in iran. guest: it is against the nature of our country to not stand for freedom. host: "president obama, caught in a political version like many european leaders, caught by surprise. the paramount goal of keeping alive the chances for nuclear goal in iran." guest: we do not know what the government there will look like in one day, two days, three days. the measured and pragmatic response, henry kissinger and

madeleine albright, saying that this kind of response is warranted. there is a huge unknown factor. the thing that you do not want to happen, these thugs, which is kind of like the brown shirts, the revolutionary guard, banging heads. they are assuming that these people are foreign invaders. when that happens, it becomes a nasty situation. host: it is interesting, henry kissinger, jim baker, both real politicians. they have been criticized within their party and by the other party for that. the idea that the liberal democratic party would be relying on henry kissinger's approach to politics? the argument against the real politicians by liberals and conservatives has been that they

failed to measure the concerts -- the power of the people in diplomacy. there are moments when that applies. a lot of the time, real politics makes sense. it may be a time when you do not want to be too cold recalculating in public. guest: there was similar language from the president yesterday afternoon. some saw it much more than hard work much more opposed, but what can you really physically do? guest: is not a pervert comparison, but when reagan spoke, we have talked to people who work in cited the time and their hope was kept alive, even

as reagan successfully negotiated. guest: i agree. it does it symbolically give hope to people in the streets, they think that maybe now is the time. some of the folks i have spoken to, they are pleas that the president is not coming down to hardly. host: speaking of regime change and elections, let's look at some of these headlines. when you were there last week, from "the daily telegraph." "the london times," "the guardian," "i could walk away from this tomorrow."

that is available from "the guardian." guest: lots of fun. a few brits may not have been asked to join his cabinet as ministers. but that is shrinking under the campaign. there is a 2004 law for the additional cost allowance, and this was the downfall. they wanted to balance out between haves and have-nots. it is about two houses. 3,000 miles away from capitol hill, you could have to maintain two residences. it is the same in great britain. what happened was that they listed all of those improprieties and unfortunately , many folks, including the

former defense secretary, have had tax reimbursements and expense reimbursement issues. it has really hurt gordon brown. host of this is what he said regarding yesterday, -- host: this is what he had to say regarding yesterday. "i would never return to those places or worry about it." he went on to say that under his leadership, labor could win the next election. guest: he has got to say that last statement. if he does not say that, they would be justified in getting a new leader. look, it is very hard to be at the tail end of a large dynasty. major after thatcher, brown after blair, the party is

exhausted. everyone has gone native. there tends to be more corruption at the petty level because they have been in power for too long. it's hard to be a leader that shows vigor to the nation at that point. brown has played his hand remarkably badly, including that line about fighting on. obviously much less heroic in churchill. blundering around, the fact that his cabinet is quitting around him, that is very shocking. i cannot remember the last time this happened. guest: it is a very different kind of system, as we all know in the states. these cabinet members are party members. when i tell people at sky news the same person might serve under a republican and democratic administration, they cannot believe it because it does not happen there.

we had a number of people under fdr. secretary gates. absolutely. it's unimaginable in the british system. also, steve, remember, tony, you know, wealth. gordon brown was never elected. the party put him in after tony blair left. host: when tony blair was running for a final term with labor support, the two of them would appear in infomercials. people knew that he would take over. guest: of course. guest: for many years he had been weaving to come up stage. guest: they cannot wait to stand for election. he has been pushing and pushing. he also had some problems with

expenses around the house. one of the braham expenses was firm in relief and pass control, which i thought was interesting in politics. host: our guests are with us for the full hour. you can give us a phone call or send us an e-mail journal@c- span.org, or use twitter, twitter.com/c-spanwj. both of our guests made the transition from campaigning to reporting periods j- christopher bua, now a political analysts. tony blankley, working for ronald reagan, former editorial page editor, now working for "the washington times." st. louis, missouri. good morning. caller: hello. about the iran situation, i hope

that what they're wanting to do, the people that are trying to overcome the people in iran, like ahmadinejad, began to converge on the main government offices. with the communication explosion in the last couple of years, people will not tolerate talking people will not tolerate talking to regimes so, you can comment on that. >> before you comment on the caller's point, you have been around this town for a long time. we have been looking at these pictures. this new social networking that is influencing the discussion. >> it is extraordinary. we have all been sitting at home with blood flowing out of

her eye on the streets of tirana in real time. -- a tehran in real time. to have that kind of access at the moment is unprecedented. usually, you have to wait for correspondence to file stories. we have to be careful and understanding that even with the technology, it is still very hard for the people. i agree, by the way, with the caller. i hope that people stormed the bastille. i have been in different marketplaces around the world and it takes a lot of courage because there are people that are going to get shot. that is why burdines -- that is why regimes hang on.

the people have to pay the price in that streak. guest: it takes enormous courage. in my lifetime, and i remember budapest, the velvet revolution. we have come such a long way. really, the american people in the american youth are seeing something special. they are seeing that these kinds of changes are so needed by young people of a completely new generation. this generation is sons and daughters of the revolutionary republic revelation -- generation. 3/5 of a country is under 30, they are saying that they want to be like kids in france, the

u.s., great britain. that has empowered them to say enough. it has become about their own personal freedom. guest: wonderful as digital by analogy is, ultimately, you have got to get the passion on to the street. in these situations you cannot just say talk to each other, somebody has got to knock down a door in reality, opposed to virtual reality. the other irony is that this regime came into power on the new technology. ayatollah khamenei sending out audio tapes with messages of persuasion and propaganda for years. he was using what was the high technology of audio tapes. he was able to give millions in the street. now we have got twitter and facebook. >> remember, ted koppel started

nightline that way. that is how it started in the u.s., broadcasting every night about those hostages. host: is this your first time on c-span? guest: years ago, i was not quite communications director, but i might as well have been. we talked about third parties in a round-table discussion. we talked about ross perot and a third parties would make any difference. interesting, not a segue, but we talk about the deficit. ross perot made people aware of the deficit and deficit spending. that was in 1992, when i came to washington and work on the first clinton campaign. host: tony blankley, on this official day of summer, that is definitely a summer suit.

you can wear that for the next three months. [laughter] kentucky, good morning. caller: i want to comment on this iran situation. i am so sick and tired of everybody hollering that our president needs to step in, doing something. our president is doing what he is supposed to do, worrying about our own country. what is going on there has nothing to do with us. that this -- that is the iranian people's problem. people do not like the government the way that it is? stand up and do something about it. we did that during civil-rights. we came through that ok. the iranian people need to fight their own country. they need to do what they want to do to make a right to them. -- make it right to them.

guest of this president has two young daughters. this iconic young woman on youtube, the president's part has to be breaking. he must have to deal with it in a certain way for political purposes, but he has children in the knows about the suffering of young people being killed. these folks have a legal right to assemble, according to iranian law. now the nko is being declared a terrorist group, anti- revolutionary in great britain. so, what they are trying to do is they are trying to say that u.s. and foreign influences are driving this conflict. when that happens, it becomes

seditious. they will be hanging from the rafters as they have been. guest: the lady caller epitomizes what the great debates that has been going on in american politics, since the beginning. which is that they get involved in the world or stay home. they have had this debate for hundreds of years. john abbott -- john adams, woodrow wilson. george bush has been closer to wilson. the lady caller is closer to john adams. the fact is that nations and people and nations play critical roles. lafayette of the french held, without them the american revolution might have failed. there is no doubt that what reagan did in the 1980's helped to bring down the fall of the soviet union.

ultimately, the people have to fight their own battles. the iranians are going have to fight their own regime. that does that mean that the rest of the world has no interest. when the greeks fought for their freedom in the 18 twenties, romantic poets for, there was a rally for freedom that help them to throw off the yoke. we have to be careful, the president has to be careful not to act against our own interests. i think the american interest is usually for people gaining freedom. guest: you can actually quote the original historian -- host: you can? guest: note, but i can read it. it is a very dangerous place. the president has got to keep

the door opened. the nuclear issue is number one in that area, especially with israel going and going, getting in there, and the recent events in israel. speeches from netanyahu and all of that. it is a dynamic time. guest: i agree. every president's only responsibility is to american interests. the question is what is in our interest. if every president things that they have a responsibility beyond our interest, that is a constitutional error. host: the president, in a "parade magazine." america's most red. standing with his daughters. guest: i got that alert. they went and had ice cream. i called my colleagues in london and said that the president could be coming out with a major

statement. steven and i waited for that call. we are very attentive. well, they went out and had ice- cream. . guest: he is overexpose according to the principles of white house press, but perhaps he has figured out something the previous administrations did not. i still think he is in danger of it. every time the president has to take a stand publicly he

antagonizes some one. you would rather send out something other than the president if the white house has to send out a story. the president risks taking the brunt of being out there. i have seen his - show up faster than his positives have gone down which is a hint that he might be over exposed. so far he is doing fine at around 60%. guest: he has a lot on his plate and he wants not only his staff and others talking about the recovery program and the car bailouts in deficit, this regulatory plan -- it is hard to keep up. i call him the energizer. he has to get out there to sell this product. guest: the technical problem is that the more that any president is out there talking about issues the less the media will accept a substitute.

to the extent of the president can get others to be accepted by the media and public as effective spokespeople he or she is better off, but once you're out there more and more people expect you to be out there all the time. that is the danger. host: the front page cover of both papers here paperssue joins us from the british virgin islands. caller: good morning. i like the way that people can call and give their opinions. on the outside looking in a think that what president obama is doing makes sense because sometimes american metals too much. they need to take time out for themselves. -- america meddles too much. and let everyone has their own

opinion. sometimes you do have to intervene, but this time it is not the time. america needs to strengthen themselves, get on top and where there were. sometimes you just need to leave things to god and i think that is where america is going. the people who are suggesting that obama does something -- do they want to send their daughters or their child? they want to sending their spouse to fight? take that under consideration. when they are eager to fight the fight or intervene they must remember that america needs strengthening. that is the key thing. and they need god. guest: there is a lovely island there. what is the alternative? the former administration called

iran part of the axis of evil. since that time i think the supreme leader has more acolytes to build a nuclear arms. that did not work so i think something must work. the president is trying to keep the door open. to try to keep some dialogue open. host: with this time difference the associated press is reporting from iran. the daughters of the former president as well as others are arrested for participating in the purchase. guest: that is sad news. he is a national player. he is very influential. host: he is extremely critical of president ahmadinejad. guest: that's rare we had heard

he was trying to get his family out. he wanted to make a stand and protect his family. if his daughters had been arrested in makes it harder for him to do what he wanted to do. host: mike joins us from los angeles on the republican line. caller: of elect to speak to the iranian situation. the previous caller said it is none of our business. the changing of the regime, the terrorism over there, and of the suicide bombing -- it would be reduced. i think that iran has a major influence on terrorism happening in the least. i think with a change of regime this terrorism could be reduced. that is why america should take part in this overthrown of the regime. guest: it is interesting because the iranian