Posted on 10/17/2011 1:07:56 PM PDT by libertarian neocon
It seems Herman Cain really stepped in it with some neoconservatives this weekend thanks to his appearance on Meet the Press, especially this portion:
MR. GREGORY: What about foreign policy advisers? Who, who has shaped your thinking about the U.S. in the world and foreign policy?
MR. CAIN: I've looked at the writings of people like Ambassador John Bolton. I've looked at the writings of Dr. Harry--Henry Kissinger. KT McFarland, someone who I respect. So...
MR. GREGORY: Would you describe yourself as a neoconservative then?
MR. CAIN: I'm not sure what you mean by neoconservative? I am a conservative, yes. Neoconservative, labels sometimes will put you in a box. I'm very conservative, but...
MR. GREGORY: But you're familiar with the neoconservative movement?
MR. CAIN: I'm not familiar with the neoconservative movement. I'm familiar with the conservative movement. And let me define what I mean by the conservative movement. Less government, less taxes, more individual responsibility.
As COMMENTARY readers know, neoconservatism has a long and honorable history as the movement that helped mobilize the country to oppose détente and the Soviet Union as well as having played a key role in critiquing the failures of the welfare state. During the Bush administration, leftists used the word as an epithet seeking to demonize those who believed not only in the need to fight the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan but also in the whole idea of promoting democracy abroad. After all that, it truly says something about a public figure who would admit to never having heard the word or knowing what it means.
He told David Gregory he likes both John Bolton and Henry Kissinger as foreign policy thinkers. (What — he curries favor with the despots only on odd-numbered days?) These pairs of conservatives are polar opposites, of course. It is sort of like picking Justice Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg as your favorite Supreme Court justices — it suggests a lack of understanding of the diametrically opposed views they present. More to the point, it raises doubt as to how Cain could make national security decisions with no vision of his own or familiarity with the issues.
Much ado about nuttin...
Neoconservative is EliteSpeak for Jew.
Liberals always use the Neo-Con term as an insult. I don’t know what the heck it means either.
Anyone?
The interviewer was trying to slap a label on Cain, and Cain wasn’t playing along.
Nothing more.
I could probably name a few people who are always described as “Neo-cons” (like Rumsfield or Scooter Libby), but damned if I know what the neo-con “movement” is, or what makes one a part of it. It’s a label the media likes to use that is irrelevant to regular folks like me. And Mr. Cain.
Yeah .... glow-in-the-dark lie.
Do I wish Herman Cain were better versed in foreign policy, you bet.
///
agreed. but certainly Romney and Perry aren’t wizards in that area either.
but at least Cain fundamentally understands the dangers of Islam, which puts him way out in front of the pack.
...just as his talk about “alligators” is simplistic (and was a joke!), but shows he understands the seriousness of the problem, and will try to DO something about it,
instead of just TALK.
...the perfect is the enemy of the good.
Looks like Cain has learned how to avoid notch questions.
He’s a smart man.
“Liberals always use the Neo-Con term as an insult. I don’t know what the heck it means either.”
It seems to mean different things to different people. As Jacuerie mentioned here, it used to be something to call a Jewish conservative. It also has been used to mean liberals who have moved to the right. In the foreign policy sphere it is supposed to describe someone who believes in an activist foreign policy, especially one that supports democracy, though I think it is morphing now to mean someone who believes in a strong defense. But who knows? It was a stupid question (one of many) from Gregory.
Domestically neocons (such as Ben Wattenberg and Charles Murray) opposed the welfare state based on emprical evidence that most welfare state policies made things worse. Libertarians oppose welfare policies on principle regardless of the empirical data.
Foreign-policy-wise libertarians take a live and let live approach, whereas neocons are much more proactive in attempting to impose free market democracy on other countries in hopes that it will increase overall global stability.
It doesn't seem possible for those two political philosophies to mesh very well, if at all.
He didn’t say he liked Bolton and Kissinger. He said that he looked at writings of Bolton and Kissinger.
I, on the other hand, love Bolton.
Cain/Bolton 2012
I’m no fan of David Gregory, but I caught a few minutes of this interview, and I imagine he was struggling to keep a straight face. He must have wondered if he was talking to an 8-year-old or something. Cain was totally stumbling and shining with ignorance.
You have to realize, Cain is being featured prominently in MSM now in order to showcase what a dummy this GOP candidate is. You don’t see them giving equal time to knowledgeable, smart candidates like Santorum and Gingrich, for example.
“How is it possible for someone to be both a libertarian and a neocon?
Domestically neocons (such as Ben Wattenberg and Charles Murray) opposed the welfare state based on emprical evidence that most welfare state policies made things worse. Libertarians oppose welfare policies on principle regardless of the empirical data.
Foreign-policy-wise libertarians take a live and let live approach, whereas neocons are much more proactive in attempting to impose free market democracy on other countries in hopes that it will increase overall global stability.
It doesn’t seem possible for those two political philosophies to mesh very well, if at all.”
I think the reason why you don’t think the two philosophies mesh is that you define both too narrowly. I always defined libertarianism by the policies promoted, not why you are promoting them. Also it is the belief of most libertarians I know that empirical evidence supports libertarianism. So I think your distinction between domestic neocons and libertarians doesnt hold water. Also, isnt Charles Murray considered a libertarian?
On Foreign Policy, Im not sure neocons want to impose anything on anyone. Generally the countries that neocons target have had a dictatorship imposed upon them and neocons want to free the citizens of that country to get the country that they want. So you could view a libertarian neocon as someone who wants to promote freedom both here and abroad.
He just didn't want to answer the question -- didn't want to get boxed in on the whole neo-con vs. anti-neo-con thing.
Either Commentary's man/child was a complete idiot, or they don't want Cain because he can't win or they think him a loose cannon.
It’s like pornography. You can’t define it but you know it when you see it.
Neocons are little better than liberal Democrats.
I wonder if you know that NEOCON is a dismissive term used by libtards.
Are you that clueless? It’s even in your handle? What’s up with that?
Are you a professional liberal(tarian) troller?
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