On Iran, GOP leadership bankrupt

Daniel Larison speaks truth:

One reason why Cantor and Pence have been demanding that the President take a stronger public line in support of the protesters in Iran is that supporting Mousavi's voters openly is the emotionally satisfying, easy, almost mindless thing to do, so it is very appealing for opposition figures who have no ideas. But there is more to it than that. All of this comes back to the problem of Republican denial about why they lost power. They are supremely confident about their views on national security and foreign policy, and they cannot conceive that a majority of the country would reject them because of the policies they advocated and enacted. Worse still, they remain wedded to the hectoring, moralistic and aggressive approach of the last administration, in which sanctions and condemnation are the only "soft" tools they understand. They are so wedded to this approach that that they think this is not only the best kind of foreign policy, but that anything other than this is fecklessness and surrender.

This impulsively Romantic habit of mind that many (most?) conservatives have is deeply irritating, and deeply irresponsible. I remember arguing with a Republican friend about democracy in Iraq. Every prudent objection I'd make about the difficulty, even the folly, of trying to impose liberal democracy on a country with no history of it was met with some version of, "So you don't think Iraqis are good enough for democracy?" The simplistic point was that to draw prudent, realistic conclusions about the possibilities of what might be accomplished in Iraq was to reveal one's moral cowardice, and even one's racism. This kind of emotionalism makes a rational debate about policy difficult, and even impossible. It's the equivalent of shouting "Racism!" to shut down a debate about affirmative action.

It's a form of moral vanity, to indulge oneself in public displays of solidarity, without regard to the consequences. It takes a special kind of self-regard to think that the cause of the Iranian protesters will be advanced by the leadership class of the United States endorsing them and rallying to their side. The best thing we can do for those brave people is for our leaders to keep their mouths shut. It's at a time like this that I'm grateful we don't have swashbuckling John McCain as president.

UPDATE: Marc Ambinder, on Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei's blustery, defiant speech today, blaming the West for Iran's turmoil:

[T]he millions of protesters know whether the U.S. is meddling or not. If they're not and Khamenei says they are, he's not credible -- even less credible. If they are, and Khamenei says they are, then he's correct. And anger might well turn toward the United States.