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Who is Randy Scheunemann? He is the principal foreign policy adviser to John McCain and potential successor to Henry Kissinger and Zbigniew Brzezinski as national security adviser to the president of the United States. But Randy Scheunemann has another identity, another role. He is a dual loyalist, a foreign agent whose assignment is to get America committed to spilling the blood of her sons for client regimes who have made this moral mercenary a rich man. From January 2007 to March 2008, the McCain campaign paid Scheunemann $70,000 -- pocket change compared to the $290,000 his Orion Strategies banked in...

Batman is a neocon By Sharon McGovern In conservative circles there is a tradition of wailing and gnashing teeth over American movie culture. It’s well deserved. There is much about the industry that is despicable, movies are dauntingly complex to make, and most of what passes as film criticism—which might serve as a corrective or guide—is degraded and lame. It’s a near miracle that decent movies are made at all, let alone any that would please the notoriously fussy and uptight Right. The folly of the war in Iraq has been a defining theorem in Hollywood for the past few...

Why has Republicanism failed? Republicanism has failed and will fail because of single of idea which America under President Bush has become fixated upon. The new idea and hegemony of Bush and America is the realization of freedom. It has been American’s claim to an absolute idea predicated on the absolute strength of such an idea in the world for other regimes to become and emulate. Is not” You are either with us or against us” a favorite slogan of this moment in history?

Perhaps because I'm a neocon, and not a dyed-in-the-wool, native-born conservative, I look at John McCain, with all his flaws, and still think that he's a pretty darn good candidate for our time. More importantly, I think that Obama is a very dangerous candidate precisely because of the time in which we live. I therefore find disturbing the number of conservative purists who insist that they're going to teach John McCain -- and everyone else, dammit! -- a lesson, either by sitting out the election or by throwing their vote away on a third party candidate. This is a kind...

"Frankly, I can be wrong, but I do not think that America can carry to the presidency a candidate as on the left as Barack Obama." Norman Podhoretz, May 14, 2008 Check the link for the complete interview on Iraq, Iran, the WoT, neoconservatism and US presidential elections.

SPIEGEL ONLINE: Mr. Kaplan, in a recent publication, the US National Defense University described the Iraq War as a "major debacle." According to the latest statistics, 500 insurgent attacks are still taking place each week. Still, you are convinced that there is a "learning curve" for the US Army in Iraq. What exactly has been learned? Kaplan: One attack is one too many. But a while ago there were 500 attacks a day. So empirically, the situation has improved -- whether measured in terms of Iraqi cilivans killed or American soldiers attacked, insurgents captured or the number of intelligence tip-offs....

From our earliest days, Americans have supported the promotion of democracy around the world, often by force and without undue heed to international institutions. William Henry Seward, a founder of the Republican Party and Lincoln's secretary of State, argued that it was America's mission to lead the way "to the universal restoration of power to the governed." A generation earlier, statesman Henry Clay championed the idea that America had the "duty to share with the rest of mankind this most precious gift" of liberty. Both world wars, Korea and Vietnam would be inconceivable without accounting for America's dedication to the...

...Which brings us back to the question of whether “neoconservatives” dragged the United States into war in 2003. As a purely practical matter, the suggestion has always presented a puzzle. How did they do it? Few people considered George W. Bush a neoconservative before 2003, or Dick Cheney, or Donald Rumsfeld, or Condoleezza Rice, who actually made a point in the 2000 campaign of saying that she was a “realpolitiker.” Then there was the matter of public opinion. The war was, as American wars go, immensely popular, both before and immediately following its launch—more popular than the wars in Kosovo...

America’s war on terror has come full circle. By pledging his support of Kosovo’s declaration of independence from Serbia, President George W. Bush has sanctioned the genocide of thousands of Serbian Christians in the Balkans and the creation, thanks to al Qaeda, of a radical Muslim state at the doorway to Europe. After announcing their independence from Serbia on February 16, thousands of ethnic Albanians (Muslims) took to the streets waving American flags and singing patriotic songs. While the national press provided glowing coverage of these demonstrations as proof that the “Kosovars” were adamantly pro-America, few media outlets took notice...

BY CLIFFORD MAY As America's ambassador to the United Nations, John Bolton was the White House's most effective defender. Now, as an ex-diplomat, he has become among the administration's toughest critics. But he critiques from the right, not the left, which probably explains why the elite media are not eager to focus on what he has to say. The son of a Baltimore firefighter who attended Yale Law School on scholarship, Bolton combines a combative nature with a keen intellect. He is a conservative without the prefix - neither neo-con (he's skeptical about nation-building and democracy promotion) nor paleo-con...

The most popular political slur of our time is the term “neocon.” Politically engaged people of several ideologies use the term regularly and although they mean different things when they use it, the term is always intended to be an insult, like the terms “neo-Nazi,” and “fascist,” also favorite slurs of the same ilk using “neocon.” I was first called a “neocon” by known Democratic Socialists upset by my writings in favor of America’s founding principles, Life, individual Liberty and the right to pursue Happiness in a free market society where all things are possible through individual achievement and reward....

Like most Toogood Reports readers, I observed this year's battles within the conservative ranks with profound discomfort. In my mind, there are far too many real enemies out there to waste time and print fighting one another. It seems that the world of conservatism has been split up between the "conservatives" and the "paleo-conservatives" or between the "conservatives" and the "neo-conservatives." Both sides present themselves as the bona fide article and the other side as the one in need of a prefix. Personally, I just want to spit up this strife the same way the bleachers of Wrigley Field do...

Democratic Presidential hopeful Barack Obama is taking heat from liberals and conservatives alike for his comment that he wouldn't hesitate to send U.S. troops into Pakistan to capture or kill al Qaeda leaders. Actually, it's the best thing we've heard yet from the junior U.S. Senator from Illinois. "I understand that [Pakistan President Pervez] Musharraf has his own challenges," Mr. Obama said in a speech Wednesday at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, in Washington, D.C. "But let me make this clear. There are terrorists holed up in those mountains who murdered 3,000 Americans. They are plotting to strike...

It's no wonder that sensible people just shake their heads and wonder what's wrong with the extremists of the far left when they come up with such off the wall nonsense and then try to pass it off as real political analysis. It just makes people who have even the slightest clue about what is really going on in the world double over with laughter. Such is the case with today's comedic attempt at political forecasting by nut in residence Ed Garvey of the Madison, Wisconsin Capital Times. Columnist Garvey, in true nutroots fashion, thinks he has hit on the...

Barack Lieberman? Democratic NeoconsPresident Kennedy once described his gift for rhetoric as the ability to "mobilize the English language and send it into battle." In a speech to the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations Senator Barack Obama employed the same language of American value promotion that Kennedy used to inspire a generation to government service. His rejection of the "notion that the American moment has passed" along with belief that "America is the last, best hope of Earth," stands in stark contrast to the defeatism prevalent in the modern Democratic Party.Obama's Monday night foreign policy speech is more than just...

University Of Manchester 24 April 2007 New find reveals macabre tale of 400-year-old ‘neo-con’ Boxes in a Spanish nunnery containing documents which lay barely noticed for hundreds of years have given a unique insight into the gruesome life and times of one the first female missionaries to Britain. Luisa de Carvajal’s writings also helped historian Dr Glyn Redworth from The University of Manchester to discover new evidence confirming that a Gunpowder Plotter executed in 1606 was probably innocent. Dr Redworth, who is based at the School of Arts, Histories and Cultures, is the first historian to examine hundreds of letters,...

THE American legal system has rediscovered the virtue of one of the most ancient forms of punishment—public humiliation. Prostitutes' “Johns” can now have their names aired on television. Mail thieves can find themselves wearing a sandwichboard giving full details of their crime. And people who deface Nativity scenes can end up parading through town accompanied by a donkey. And neoconservatives? These too, it seems, are now being subjected to a grand exercise in public humiliation. Paul Wolfowitz is hanging on to his job at the World Bank by his fingernails. Lewis “Scooter” Libby, a Wolfowitz protégé, is facing prison; Douglas...

Whether or not the neocons are ready to face it, their moment has passed. At the Defense Department, ...Donald Rumsfeld has been replaced by Robert M. Gates, a member of the Iraq Study Group and of the realist school associated with the previous President Bush. Over at the State Department, ...Condi Rice is returning to her realist roots and taking charge of foreign policy. She has adopted gingerly some of the recommendations of the Iraq Study Group, ...embracing shuttle diplomacy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and even raising the possibility of conversation with Syria and Iran. She has empowered career diplomats...

Sensing Shift in Bush Policy, Another Hawk Leaves By DAVID E. SANGER Published: March 21, 2007 WASHINGTON, March 20 — Among the hawks in the Bush administration, Robert Joseph long occupied a special perch. Robert Joseph, an arms control expert, is the latest hawk to leave an administration that many conservatives say has lost its clarity of mission. As the architect of much of the administration’s strategy for countering nuclear proliferation, he helped engineer the decision to exit the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty, worked secretly to squeeze Libya to give up its nuclear weapons program, and created a loose consortium of...

Fifty years ago Edgar Smith shattered the rural serenity of northern Bergen County when he bludgeoned a 15-year-old girl to death with a baseball bat and a rock.  The March 1957 crime changed Ramsey forever and began a strange odyssey that is still taxing the judicial system today.Smith was sentenced to death -- then won his freedom with the help of William F. Buckley. But he was soon back behind bars after he kidnapped and stabbed a California woman.  Now, the 73-year-old killer is again up for parole.  "I'll do anything I need to do to keep him in prison,"...

The neo-conservative dream faded in 2006. The ambitions proclaimed when the neo-cons' mission statement "The Project for the New American Century" was declared in 1997 have turned into disappointment and recriminations as the crisis in Iraq has grown. [snip] The neo-conservatives were called that because they sought to re-establish what they felt were true conservative values in the Republican Party and the United States. They wanted to stop what they felt were the isolationist tendencies that had developed under President Clinton, and even under the pragmatic President George Bush senior. They saw the war in Iraq as their big chance...

"...So, is neoconservatism dead? Far from it. Neoconservative ideas have been vindicated again and again on a string of major issues, including the Cold War, Bosnia and NATO expansion. It is the war in Iraq that has made "neocon" a dirty word, either because Bush's team woefully mismanaged the war or because the war (which neocons supported) was misconceived. But even if the invasion of Iraq proves to have been a mistake, that would not mean that the neoconservative belief in democracy as an antidote to troubles in the Middle East is wrong, nor would it confirm that neoconservatism's combination...

WASHINGTON — President Bush's nomination of Robert Gates to be secretary of defense and other recent administration moves have raised concerns and even open disdain among some members of the "neo-conservative" wing of the Republican Party, the president's most ardent war supporters. The neo-cons say installing Gates, a career CIA analyst who served as the agency's director for two years under President George H.W. Bush, takes the administration one step closer toward repudiation of the once hailed "Bush Doctrine." See rest at link

It's blocked, but here is the URL - http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2006/12/neocons200612

The Democratic Leadership Council (DLC) is a more centrist element of today’s Democratic Party. After Sen. Lieberman’s primary defeat last week, I decided to go to the DLC website and see how the centrist Democrats were reacting to their defeat as well as the victory of the far left. There wasn’t a canned response at that time. I had hoped that the DLC would have prepared both win and lose positions in advance, but apparently the party just can’t figure out how to pander to their base of pacifists, appeasers, geo-political procrastinators, Bush-haters, socialists etc. while at the same time...

Neoconservatism is hard to pin down as discrete political theory; Mr. Podhoretz [prefers] "tendency." In any case, as a practical matter, it denotes the mentality of those who moved from somewhere on the political left to somewhere on the right, primarily during the late '70s. It had "two ruling passions," according to Mr. Podhoretz. On the one hand, the neocons were repulsed by the countercultural '60s radicalism that came to dominate the American liberal establishment. On the other, they argued for a more assertive, muscular foreign policy (at the time in response to Soviet expansionism). ... The "war on terror,"...

EAST HAMPTON, N.Y.--If Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton, then Iraq was lost--according, at least, to the conspiracy-minded--on the pages of Commentary magazine and the other house organs of the neoconservative movement. Better yet, blame America's post-9/11 foreign policy on Leo Strauss, Albert Wohlstetter and Allan Bloom, regularly disinterred as the neocon godfathers. Yet however much one loathes lending credence to talk of a neocon conspiracy--call it Cabal Theory--it does possess a certain element of truth. That is, the Iraq intervention found its genesis not only in the immediate crises of the prewar period, but also in...

Neocons accuse Bush of appeasement in face of N Korea and Iran threat By Guy Dinmore in Washington Published: July 15 2006 03:00 | Last updated: July 15 2006 03:00 Appeasement is not a word normally associated with the muscular foreign policy of President George W. Bush. But on the eve of the annual G8 summit, some of his strongest supporters in the past now accuse his administration of wobbling before Iran and North Korea. As China and Russia seek to extract more time and better deals in the diplomatic tussle over the two remaining members of the US-nominated "axis...

"I respect and admire the French, who have been a far greater nation than we shall ever be, that is, if greatness means anything loftier than money and bombs." — THOMAS FLEMING, "HARD RIGHT," MARCH 13, 2003 From the very beginning of the War on Terror, there has been dissent, and as the war has proceeded to Iraq, the dissent has grown more radical and more vociferous. Perhaps that was to be expected. But here is what never could have been: Some of the leading figures in this antiwar movement call themselves "conservatives." These conservatives are relatively few in number,...

Olmert Asks Groups To Keep Low Profile WASHINGTON — The Bush administration's offer to open direct talks with Iran and reward Tehran if it stops enriching uranium is exposing a policy rift between neoconservatives on one hand, and the Israeli government and Jewish organizations on the other. Neoconservative analysts are blasting the administration, saying that holding talks with the Islamic regime would serve only to embolden it and undermine the anti-fundamentalist opposition in Iran. They argue that America's ultimate goal should be to change Tehran's theocratic regime. "The administration can't have it both ways. They can't embrace the regime and...

I am fed up!! I have been a defender of the faith.. A loyal subject of what I believe to be the truth.. the spirit.. the American Way... Finally though.. the liberals have beat me up so much that I just can't take it anymore!! I come here to Free Republic for some respite and find no comfort among my brethren. I have been a "neo-con" all my life. I was a "neo-con" long before it was popular. I was a "neo-con" when my commander in chief Ronaldus Magnumus' had his chief of Naval Operations Admiral Lehman sent me and...

SEVEN WEEKS AGO, I published my case against the Iraq war. I wrote that although I had originally advocated military intervention in Iraq, and had even signed a letter to that effect shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I had since changed my mind. But apparently this kind of honest acknowledgment is verboten. In the weeks since my book came out, I've been challenged, attacked and vilified from both ends of the ideological spectrum. From the right, columnist Charles Krauthammer has accused me of being an opportunistic traitor to the neoconservative cause — and a coward to boot. From the left,...

WASHINGTON -- It was, as the hero tells it, his Road to Damascus moment. There he is, in a hall of 1,500 people he has long considered to be his allies, hearing the speaker treat the Iraq War, nearing the end of its first year, as ``a virtually unqualified success.'' He gasps as the audience enthusiastically applauds. Aghast to discover himself in a sea of comrades so deluded by ideology as to have lost touch with reality, he decides he can no longer be one of them.And thus did Francis Fukuyama become the world's most celebrated ex-neoconservative, a well-timed metamorphosis...

It brings no joy to issue a public rebuttal against a valued colleague, but there are moments that demand no less. The occasion is the publication of an essay titled "The Israel Lobby and U.S. Foreign Policy," written by two professors, John Mearsheimer of the University of Chicago and Stephen Walt, the academic dean and my colleague at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. In essence, their 82-page piece argues that U.S. policy in the Middle East has been hijacked by a pro-Israel "Lobby." "The core of the Lobby," they say, "is comprised of American Jews who make a significant effort...

As 'Neocons' Leave, Bush Foreign Policy Takes Softer Line Ms. Rice Changes Approach To Iran and North Korea; Democracy Still Key Goal Cheney's Waning Influence? By JAY SOLOMON WASHINGTON -- During President Bush's first term, Lawrence Franklin was part of a core network of neoconservative strategists at the Pentagon who pushed for taking a hawkish line in the Middle East. He advocated the removal of Iran's theocratic government and made secret trips to Italy in 2001 to learn more about Tehran's overseas intelligence operations, colleagues say. Now Mr. Franklin works nights as a parking valet at Charles Town Races in...

We received a letter from Christian Crampton in Newport Beach, Calif., saying: "Regarding your September Editorial ('Your Voice of Orthodox Catholicism, Without Any Strings Attached'), it brought out a word which I would like you to define for me. I've seen it occasionally in the NOR, but you used it more than 10 times in the Editorial. The word is 'neoconservative' (neocon)." Before the September Editorial and especially since then, many people have asked us what a neocon is. Your Editor has followed the neocons for over 35 years, and I have had dealings with many of them (but I...

PRESIDENT BUSH'S VISION OF SOUND economic policy has remained remarkably constant over the last five years--tax cuts, free trade, and a generous amount of immigration. And why not? Low taxes, free trade, and new immigrants have benefited our economy over the past quarter century, and helped produce a remarkably successful economic performance after the shock of 9/11. Yet all does not seem to be well. Americans are unhappy about the president's management of the economy and pessimistic about the future. Maybe popular sentiment is simply shortsighted, or uninformed. But there is another, more rational reason for voter discontent: Times have...

Though it has not been widely understood, among the neoconservatives’ many betrayals of their former principles and allegiances in recent years has been their betrayal of Israel—a fact that, among other things, ought to clear them of the false, vicious, and stupid charge that everything they do, they do for the sake of the Jewish state. The neoconservatives have betrayed Israel for the same reason they have betrayed other neoconservative causes such as the fight against racial preferences and the fight against cultural radicalism: they now believe in nothing except the promotion and expansion of American power under the rubric...

Who:Hello everyone, and good day. Anyone no matter your sex, race, religion, or creed can join this movement of peace and patriotism. I am founding a group mostly for young conservatives, but really for anyone that is proud to be an American. I urge you to join and share your beliefs, feelings, and ideas for the movement. What:A "Team of Patriots" that will stand up against unpatriotic lunacy. We will work for a better government and country without committing treason, libel, or slander. We strive for greatness without degrading the beautiful country we live in. We will stand up...

John McCain, a Neocon's Neocon, will be dead for '08 if Plamegate detonates in the way the Left hopes. Plamegate is a twofer-- it's designed to politically castrate/impeach Bush and to thin the GOP field for Hillary in '08. McCain's closeness with Chalabi-- there is footage-- will be the focus of the Clinton War Room. McCain is no winner in '08. The GOP base will have to be passionate for whoever the candidate is-- despite McCain's fiscal thrift, he can never make the base love or trust him. His Chalabi connection kills him with independents and mods assuming Iraq continues...

Fox News is reporting that the latest album by the Rolling Stones, "A Bigger Bang," is "less than a month old, [and] already out of the Top 50.""A Bigger Bang" is the album that features "Sweet Neo-Con," a rare poltical song from the band, and one that attacks President Bush and Condoleezza Rice as "full of sh-t."Fox also reports that the latest album by frequent Bush critic Barbra Streisand, "Guilty Pleasures," "has caused little excitement even among her rabid fans."Both the Stones and Streisand are acts that appeal to the adult segment of the music buying public. Approximately half that...

Will Agreement Shake Cooperation Between Seoul and WashingtonThe second part of the fourth round of the six-party talks, which reconvened on Sept. 13, went through considerable ups and downs prior to the announcement of a joint statement Monday. The South Korean government spent the last week engaging in last-moment negotiations to find an agreement over the light-water reactor issue, which North Korea would not abandon to the end, despite considerable tensions between Seoul and Washington. Some, however, are wondering whether Seoul’s assumption of a mediating role between the United States and North Korea might become a burden on South Korea-U.S....

About CLP The Campus Leadership Program, a division of the Leadership Institute, fosters permanent, effective, conservative student organizations on college campuses across America. Trained field representatives go to college campuses to identify and recruit student leaders who create and oversee organizations on each campus. Each local campus organization identifies, recruits and trains conservative college students who will promote conservative principles effectively. While the Leadership Institute works initially to help students develop their own organization, each local campus group is completely independent and directs its own day-to-day operations and decision-making. Each campus organization is independent of The Leadership Institute and all...

These shameless attempts by Gaffney, Mowbary, and Pipes to malign mainstream Muslim organizations and leaders are not driven by rational and objective considerations, but by paranoia, prejudice, and irrational fear of Islam and Muslims, says Louay Safi. Three militant neocon pundits spoke vehemently against the Bush administration’s gesture to include American Muslim leaders in discussions on how to deal with the rising tide of anti-Americanism and to restore the level of trust and support the United States enjoyed prior to the missteps the administration took under the neocons’ urging. Frank Gaffney issued a warning to Karen Hughes, the newly appointed...

...Richard Nixon, amid a similar low ebb of popularity with Vietnam, gave a famous speech in 1969. This was the year after the Tet offensive, which caused Walter Cronkite's famous Hagel-like throwing in of the towel. In that speech Nixon described a "great silent majority" in America. The idea, of course, was that the daily media attention commanded by the antiwar movement was missing a class of Americans who sat home seething at the behavior of the protesters. Today, because of the Internet, no one has to seethe in silence, as wired activists in both parties proved in 2004's high-tech...

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Arizona, New Mexico Issue Declaration SAN DIEGO -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said Wednesday he would consider joining his counterparts in Arizona and New Mexico in declaring a state of emergency to strengthen law enforcement along the border with Mexico. "We're talking about that right now," Schwarzenegger told a local radio station. "If we see a need for that, we definitely will do the same thing." New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson issued an emergency declaration on Friday to free up $1.75 million in funding to fight crime and illegal immigration along that state's border with Mexico. "Recent developments have convinced me...

It is 2021, tomorrow is the 20th anniversary of 9/11 It is up to an underground group of bio-mechanically enhanced conservatives led by Sean Hannity, G. Gordon Liddy and Oliver North to thwart Ambassador Usama Bin Laden's plans to nuke New York City ...And wake the world from an Orwellian nightmare of United Nations- dominated ultra-liberalism.

Christopher Hitchens is one of America's and the English speaking world's leading public intellectuals. He is the author of more than ten books, including, most recently, A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq (2003), Why Orwell Matters (2002), The Trial of Henry Kissinger (2001), and Letters to a Young Contrarian (2001). He writes for leading American and British publications, including The London Review of Books, The New Left Review, Slate, The New York Review of Books, Newsweek International, The Times Literary Supplement, and The Washington Post. He is also a regular television and radio commentator. For many years,...

Some once famously dissenting ideas now govern U.S. foreign policy, maturing as they go. BY CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER Thursday, July 21, 2005 12:01 a.m. EDT The post-Cold War era has seen a remarkable ideological experiment: Over the past 15 years, each of the three major American schools of foreign policy--realism, liberal internationalism and neoconservatism--has taken its turn at running things. (A fourth school, isolationism, has a long pedigree, but has yet to recover from Pearl Harbor and probably never will; it remains a minor source of dissidence with no chance of becoming a governing ideology.) There is much to be learned...