The "neocon" has become the liberals' all-purpose monster. Almost any manner of horrific policy can be attributed to it. Since no one knows what it is, it can be constructed before our eyes -- red eyes, cloven hooves, horns, a tail, and a deep, unbridled desire for endless war and death. A neocon is a "superhawk." It has no known domestic policy. It is the all-purpose, generic Bad Guy who is constantly moving behind the scenes to advance policies that beggar the imagination in their cruelty. And this from a guy who starts his article by talking about the "scorched earth of Iraq." You can hear the ax grinder starting up right there. Whirrrrrrrrrrrrrr. By now, almost everyone has figured out that Bush sees a role for a Bad Cop in international diplomacy. Since no one at the State Department can play that role, Rumsfeld & Co. have been pressed into service as the fist in Colin Powell's glove. As sensible and effective as this measure has proven to be, the concept seems to elude liberals, especially press liberals, who see only a "rift" or "struggle" between clear-headed, rational appeasers at the State Department and these frightening new interlopers, the evil Neocons — spawn of the Pentagon. This must be the 500th article that liberal deep thinkers have dumped on us in which they claim that now, at last, Bush must choose. Will it be the Good Cops or the Bad Cops? I hate to tell them this, but the answer is "yes." |
I'm not sure I'd look to Business Week, the New York Times, or any other nest of liberal ax-grinders to tell me what the "neocons" are up to, what they are for or against, or even what the word means.