Via the modest purveyors of "enlightened ideas and media" at Open Culture (we swear - that's really their slogan!), here's the latest excuse for letting Iran get the bomb:

Just to bring you folks at home up to speed: we shouldn't do anything about Iran's nuclear ambitions, because it would bolster Ahmadinejad against the more "moderate" clerics who... also want the bomb! This is getting to be like arguing with fifth graders (or, more appropriately, graduate students): they say something that everyone is just supposed to agree is bad (bolstering Ahmadinejad) even when it has absolutely nothing to do with what's really at stake. Theoretically, attacking Iran's nuclear facilities will also cause butterflies to flap their wings in the Amazon, depreciating the Canadian penny. Which might be bad - but is not a reason not to prevent Iran from getting the bomb.

Prolonging Ahmadinejad's administration might be bad in some abstract sense where all things are equal, although the other choice is Rafsanjani - who has declared his intention to nuke Israel as soon as Iran gets the bomb. But all things aren't equal, and Iran is rapidly developing nuclear weapons. When we tell you that self-styled liberal sophisticates show off their self-styled erudition by ignoring the obvious and citing the irrelevant, this is exactly what we're talking about.

References:
* Next Stop Iran? Podcast Perspectives from Two Sets of Experts [Open Culture]
* Los Angeles Times Dishonest about Pentagon-Funded Report, Recommends Israel Disarm [MR]
* The Denial of the Obvious By Reference to the Irrelevant: Center-Left Foreign Policy and Democratic Politics [MR]

Previously:
* Liberal Back-Patters Get Dismantled by Real Life Expert
* Treating Genocidal Fanatics Like Statesmen Is A Bad Idea (When Did This Become Controversial?)
* Things That Are Awesome About The Recent "Don't Worry About the Strange, Nazi-Like Iranian Behind the Curtain" LA Times / CFR Article