Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

There is a transcript of the show available that includes the text for this particular segment.

The argument appears to be that negotiations must expand, particularly in the realm of human rights violations in Iran during the crackdowns after the June election. Whether it happens during the current talks or after their conclusion, the opinion is that without broaching these issues with the Iranian government, the Green Movement will lose confidence in the United States or even become convinced that America will forsake their cause if it helps secure a nuclear agreement.

I want to believe expansion of talks will happen, but I have a difficult time seeing it happen if the nuclear talks do not reach an agreement. If they do not, I don’t know where the political will to try and move talks onto a new topic will come from.

Even in the middle of these talks, there are proposals moving through Congress for additional sanctions on Iran. This in spite of the facts that many experts do not see additional attempts at sanctions as being an effective tool, and despite warnings from leaders in the Green Movement that sanctions will only help prop up the government. So if this is the state of affairs while talks are still going on, I’m not wildly optimistic about what happens if they fail. Particularly since while the pro-negotiation punditry is all for continuing to talk, the administration continues to consistently say that repercussions will be coming if talks do not reach an agreement.

I guess I think the pro-negotiation flank here is bordering on naive if they think anything will happen if the nuclear talks fail – at least, nothing will happen in the short term that they will like or think prudent as far as relations with Iran are concerned. But I hope I’m wrong.

• Just reading the tweets coming from people in Tehran can be both exhilarating, heart-breaking, and frightening all at once.

• On the other hand, it’s quite enjoyable to realize that you are suddenly engaging in conversation with someone in Tehran. Certainly that’s not a new experience for everyone, but I would imagine it is for the average U.S. citizen. The events of the past week have suddenly prodded open new lines of communication between people. There is something compelling about watching person-to-person dialogues open up, given our country’s poor history with Iran.

• On the third hand, as events on the ground continue to evolve, it’s very strange to find myself worrying for the welfare of a young woman I didn’t even know existed last week. Not that I begrudge having the feeling.

• Still on the worrying about danger front, I really want to punch out Republican politicians who compare their minority status plight to the Iranian demonstrators. The demonstrators are in a very dangerous situation. (The Republicans are only dangerous to us. I hope.)

• I like the green icon/web site theming that came out of this event. It’s OK by me if you don’t, but by the same token don’t criticize those of us who do.

I think that’s it. I hope this works out for the best.

But yesterday, listening to The Randi Rhodes Show (someone was guest-hosting but I didn’t catch the name), my wife and I tune in just as the show brings on Steve Forbes, of all people, to go on and on about why he thinks the stimulus is bad.

Steve Forbes? Really? On as left as you want to be Randi Rhodes?

I’m sorry, but when this is going on, the TV networks are not the problem.