Neoconservatism Is Dead

[kuzadd]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/brent-budows...ad_b_58154.html

Never has any philosophy been proven so wrong, so fatal, so disastrous for our country and so deadly for our troops as the views expounded by neoconservative theoreticians.

Their ascent to power meant tragedy, failure and death. Their arrogance and their imperial grandeur has alienated what Jefferson called the decent opinion of mankind. Their tactics have been pursued with contempt for alternate views, corruption of our democratic system, and condescension towards those who know far more about military affairs than they do.

In fact, one of the great specialties of the neoconservative movement is that so many who so ostentatiously failed to serve in the military, when their time came, so sneeringly question the patriotism of others, including those awarded medals for valor in combat.

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George Bush, Dick Cheney, and their fellow neoconservatives know better than Reagan about negotiating with enemies. They know better than Eisenhower about military industrial complexes. They know better than Ford about seeking diplomatic agreements to control the spread of weapons of mass destruction. They know better than Nixon about achieving breakthroughs with our major adversaries.

They are very good about hurling insults to attack their domestic enemies and very bad about supporting wounded troops, disabled veterans and homeless heroes.

Neoconservatives are very special people, in their own eyes. When things go wrong they become the party of perjury and pardons, the party of abuse of power and abuse of executive privilege to cover up their failures and crimes.

Neoconservatives champion the politics of fear, desperately seeking to frighten the people to justify their attacks on freedoms guaranteed by statute and constitution.

Neoconservatives embody the politics of profiteering, masterminding and organizing the most corrupt occupation in world history, staffed by ideological partisans, rewarding their campaign contributors, mismanaging tens of billions of lost and stolen dollars, under the imperial arrogance of a proconsul awarded the Presidential Medal Of Freedom.

Neoconservatives know better than generals, with their contempt for the Geneva Convention and their actions that civilized people call torture.

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And then they try to keep their secrets.

And then they lie about what they do.

And then they bear false witness to Congress.

And then they claim that criminal acts are protected by privilege.

And then they complain when confronted by the law.

And then they whine when juries convict their leaders of perjury and demand the first of many presidential pardons.

And then they escalate their catastrophic war over the objection of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

And now they want to continue this war in perpetuity and dump this disaster on the desk of the successor, to the man who calls himself the decider.

The decider, funny!!

And there they are, again, today, on the oped pages of the newspapers, in their discredited think tanks, on their hate ridden right wing radio, before the smirking courtiers of the cable networks, still claiming they are right and their deadly blunders must be escalated again, and again.

Neoconservatism is dumb, discredited, and dead.

While they cover up their dirty laundry, and plan their next wars, and hire their criminal attorneys, and lobby for their pardons, the clock is ticking, the day is coming, when a a grateful nation will celebrate their removal from the high councils of government, once and for all.

Neoconservatism is dead.

[August1991]

Strawman argument.

[B. Max]

[

While they cover up their dirty laundry, and plan their next wars, and hire their criminal attorneys, and lobby for their pardons, the clock is ticking, the day is coming, when a a grateful nation will celebrate their removal from the high councils of government, once and for all.

Neoconservatism is dead.

What load of bull. However I have no doubt that the progressives as they call themselves, and which is really just a cover word the old commies, drool at the prospect of a one party state where they silence all opposition.

[bush_cheney2004]

Strawman argument.

Agreed....the roots of "neoconservatism" grow not from just the current administration and cronies, but from American domestic and foreign policies over more than 200 years. To say that it is dead is to say that America is dead, which is hardly the case. If anything, the latest version of "neocons" is only guilty of being straightfoward about their intentions to use American military and economic power to further interests.

"Neoliberalism" was given a similar birth (from the Washington Monthly crowd) and death notice , but once again it was just a wordy way of noting that power and priorities have changed hands just as they always have.

[Guest coot]

Agreed....the roots of "neoconservatism" grow not from just the current administration and cronies, but from American domestic and foreign policies over more than 200 years.

That is patently untrue. Neoconservativism is a rejection of the constitution and what America stands for. It as an aberration that, fortunately, is on its way out.

[sharkman]

What parts specifically of the constitution do they reject? Links?

[bush_cheney2004]

That is patently untrue. Neoconservativism is a rejection of the constitution and what America stands for. It as an aberration that, fortunately, is on its way out.

See "History of the United States". Pay particular attention to domestic and foreign policies during "manifest destiny", wars, social revolution, protest, and incarceration. Don't pretend that such things were invented by "neocons", because if that were true, the USA would not exist in its present form.

[scribblet]

Agreed....the roots of "neoconservatism" grow not from just the current administration and cronies, but from American domestic and foreign policies over more than 200 years.

That is patently untrue. Neoconservativism is a rejection of the constitution and what America stands for. It as an aberration that, fortunately, is on its way out.

Boy what a crock of you know what - I'd like to see exactly what parts they reject and sources..... We do know that progressives don't believe in free speech, that became much clearer this week.

[B. Max]

That is patently untrue. Neoconservativism is a rejection of the constitution and what America stands for. It as an aberration that, fortunately, is on its way out.

No statement could be more wrong. The term neo conservative taken in proper context, is actually a red Tory. Often calling themselves fiscal conservatives as opposed to social conservative. What the left really mean when they use the term neo, are cultural conservatives and there is nothing new about that. Cultural conservative principals encompass both cultural and the economic side of conservatism. Where fiscal conservatism does not. Cultural conservatives are strict constitutionalists. Who know full well that limited government is only possible by adherence to a restrictive constitution that provides for limited government. Something the left and their activist judges continually attack.

[Sulaco]

That is patently untrue. Neoconservativism is a rejection of the constitution and what America stands for. It as an aberration that, fortunately, is on its way out.

No statement could be more wrong. The term neo conservative taken in proper context, is actually a red Tory. Often calling themselves fiscal conservatives as opposed to social conservative. What the left really mean when they use the term neo, are cultural conservatives and there is nothing new about that. Cultural conservative principals encompass both cultural and the economic side of conservatism. Where fiscal conservatism does not. Cultural conservatives are strict constitutionalists. Who know full well that limited government is only possible by adherence to a restrictive constitution that provides for limited government. Something the left and their activist judges continually attack.

Not exactly right. First off the US is generally more socially conservative. A red Tory in Canada would be a "New Democrat" of Clinton's like in the US. But neo-conservatives are not really "sociall liberal". They pay elss attention than other conservatives to social issues. But they do believe that "traditional values" are important in underpinning American success. In fact, in developing the philosophy (and I think Bush_Chaney is worng here - neo conservativism is new in America - not surprising generally because the US is relatively very homogeneous in it political philosophy - we are all offshoots of whigs) neo-con theorists acknowledged fusionism. Basically a view that maintenance of certain social traditions is neccessary for the success of a robust, defendable, capitalist America. This has been characterized as cynical.

As for specific views on social issues - neo-cons are quite varied. There are those who believe in more traditional values and those who do not. As above, the do agree however on the importance of values in general and specifically some fundamental values.