This is another talking point that grates on me. Last night my friend Kirsten Powers used it on the Special Report panel as if she was scolding her colleagues. In the Post story mentioned below, we get a version of it as well. “We’re trying to promote a foreign policy that advances our interests, not that makes us feel good about ourselves,” a senior administration official said. This from an official who is in mid-whine about how the administration isn’t getting enough credit for inspiring the protests — no desire for feeling good about yourself on display there!

Regardless, the “this isn’t about America” refrain is incredibly condescending. Moreover, it’s not a particularly interesting or accurate insight. Of course, this isn’t about America at the “well, duh” level. But in America, the argument is about what America should do. The changes in Iran aren’t about Belgium either, but in Belgium they’re having a conversation about what Belgium should or can do. In America we’re having a debate about what America should, or can, do. Funny how it works that way. And since America’s interests in Iran are very, very significant and our commitment to democracy is at the core of our national identity, that debate is going to be a serious one.