NEOCON CONTROL
03-03-2011 - John F. McManus - John Birch Society
Many Americans, including a growing number of political figures, claim to be conservatives. Not only do some attach this label to themselves, media operatives fasten it on a veritable parade of others, some of whom they wish to harm with the label and some of whom they seek to boost, however unworthily. But the wide-ranging views, some even contradictory, issued by these individuals should result in a good deal of head scratching. Why? Simply because, currently, there isn't any commonly accepted definition of what it means to be a "conservative."
This identity dilemma was starkly illustrated during the recent 2011 Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).
Still another indication of this identity crisis can be seen in this year's CPAC presentation of the "Defender of the Constitution Award" to former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, arguably one of the most notorious recent offenders of the Constitution.
In his 1995 book Neoconservatism: The Autobiography of an Idea, the late Irving Kristol wrote:
"It describes the erosion of liberal faith among a relatively small but talented and articulate group … (which gradually gained more recruits) toward a more conservative point of view: conservative, but different in certain respects from the conservatism of the Republican party. We … accepted the New Deal in principle, and had little affection for the kind of isolationism that then permeated American conservatism."
There you have it, and it comes from the godfather himself. Neoconservatives seek unconstitutional, socialistic big government (à la Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal) while they champion America's meddling in the rest of the world's affairs, even to the making of war. They have succeeded in making repugnant any slight leaning toward, or even mention of "isolationism." Change that once-useful term to "non-intervention in the affairs and wars of other nations" and most Americans will nod in agreement. But many have been scared away from such good sense by fear of being labeled an "isolationist."
According to their own leaders, neoconservatives want government programs to deal with any and all problems, meaning they want a larger and more intrusive and socialistic-style government. In keeping with their desires, they favor spending enormous sums of money, some of it financed by onerous taxation and much of it acquired through borrowing. Increasing the National Debt, a necessary consequence of outlandish spending, has been a regular item in the neocon agenda.
Also, neoconservatives prefer world government to independence. Some are outspoken champions of the United Nations, others merely mildly critical of the UN but supportive of our nation's entanglements in the world body and its various offshoots such as NATO, IMF, and WTO. As for the Declaration of Independence and its insistence on America being a sovereign nation, they never mention it. And the attitude of the typical neocon toward the U.S. Constitution varies from disdain as a relic of a bygone era to a need to "reinterpret" it to meet current needs.
Yet, in his 1995 book, Neoconservatism, Irving Kristol candidly stated, "I regard myself lucky to have been a young Trotskyite and I have not one single bitter memory." His attitude toward Trotsky was enthusiastically shared by his neocon ally Norman Podhoretz.
The year 1972 was pivotal in the rise of neoconservatism. Its importance began when Max Shachtman, a Trotskyite and former Communist Party member, along with his followers, surprised many socialists by backing Richard Nixon for President. Considered a conservative by most Americans because of his mostly undeserved reputation as an anti-communist (neocons detest communism while they back its socialist partner), Nixon famously adopted Keynesian economics and even imposed wage and price controls on the nation, two key indicators of his socialist leaning. During that year, many neocons became especially disenchanted with George McGovern, the Democratic Party's choice for President. The outrageous excesses of his anti-Vietnam War entourage actually drove neocons toward the GOP.
However, as President, George W. Bush made nation-building a central element of American foreign policy — and his neocon enablers successfully deluded legions of "conservatives" into accepting this heresy, all in the name of promoting democracy in Islamic lands.
In summation, neoconservatives can be identified as advocates of more government, increased spending, international entanglements, and misuse of America's military. They also refuse to rely on the true meaning of the Constitution, preferring instead to support the tortured meanings supplied by liberal judges, liberal pundits, and the liberal mass media.
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