The Neoconservative Cabal

AEI ^ | 9/3/03 | Joshua Muravchik

[goldstategop]

I come from the "neo" tradition but see myself as a conservative. The neos have helped to remake American conservatism to the point where its a viable, muscular, and winning philosophy to mainstream Americans. Europe and Canada have nothing quite like it. And liberals are flummoxed cause we are ex-Democrats and know how they think. And the ideas we have championed have made America feared and respected abroad and are helping to bring about an American renaissance at home. Three Cheers For American Conservatism!!!

[elbucko]

...cause we are ex-Democrats...

That's what worries me. I've never been a Democrat. I've never been more than moderate as a Republican. I don't think I am a "Paleo-Con", but I am a "Conservative". Having said that, it begs the question; Why should "Moderate Conservatives" (Mod-Cons?) trust "Neo-Cons"?

[Timesink]

BBC Media Shenanigans/Anti-Semitism Alert! Search for the paragraph above that begins with "Perhaps the most dramatic effort to expose..."

[inPhase]

Hard to wade through the true, not true and opinionation.

But neo conservatism is not denied by the "cabal" listed here. They admit they were social and who knows what else liberals 10+ years ago. Google and news.google search on neocon, neoconservatives, and Rumsfeld plus, say, Feith, esp Perle, Wolf, Andrew Marshall, and a few other combos. This is how I was getting a lot of my news as I sought to understand some background issues re politics in DC.

They are very upfront. Elliot Abrams is part of this and I do not respect him for it, but he is additionally a brilliant writer giving many insights into this all (neocon.)

I only wonder how they grabbed control, if disagreement there (wonders never cease)

then why does the world call their presence (unarguable) controlling. Wish they'd go away myself, or crawl back to the demo worm holes.

[Poohbah]

When you read or hear the phrase "neoconservative cabal," the writer or speaker is not discussing a political alignment. He's blaming everything on the Joooooooooooooooooooooooooooos

[Poohbah]

From the article:

Perhaps the most dramatic effort to expose the hidden Jewish interest underlying neocon ideas

Yup, it's all the fault of the FJBs.

[William McKinley]

Balderdash.

As the article clearly points out, the term neoconservative as it is thrown about by people (apparently such as you) has no meaning.

There is no commonality of background, beliefs, or any other defining characteristic.

The old neoconservative movement was quite different than what the term now indicates. The current term doesn't seem to mean anything other than "hawk" or "someone the left and the paleocons don't like".

Some 'neocons' were liberals 10+ years ago. Many people derisively labelled 'neocons' today never have been.

[Chancellor Palpatine]

The evil space jews of the conspiracy strike again.

[BenR2]

From the article:

Perhaps the most dramatic effort to expose the hidden Jewish interest underlying neocon ideas

Yup, it's all the fault of the FJBs.

//////////////
Good catch. Apparently you have zeroed in on the operative phrase for the entire article. (Note, however, how the author cleverly BURIED this little tidbit in pages of stuffy prose.)

[elbucko]

Bump!

[William McKinley]

I am confused by your reply.

Are you suggesting the author here is writing a hit piece against Jews?

If so, I assert that you have badly misread the piece.

[zacyak]

Note, however, how the author cleverly BURIED this little tidbit in pages of stuffy prose.

The author himself is jewish and a rabid neocon to boot, are you implying that he is anti-semitic?

[dighton]

IMHO, the title badly serves the article, which is not anti-neoconservative. The same goes for Perhaps the most dramatic effort to expose the hidden Jewish interest underlying neocon ideas, which should be read as "purported hidden Jewish interest," "alleged ~," or the like.

No neoconservative was elevated in office after September 11, as Churchill had been to prime minister after the collapse of the Munich agreement, but policies espoused by neoconservatives were embraced by the Bush administration. Was this because Bush learned them from the likes of Wolfowitz and Perle? Or did he and his top advisers--none of them known as a neocon--reach similar conclusions on their own? We may have to await the President's memoirs to learn the answer to that narrow question, but every American has reason to be grateful for the result.

[William McKinley]

I am not sure what article you read.

This article is not anti-Jew.

[ellery]

Protocols of the Elders of Neoconservatism.

[fqued]

What, in 50 words, or less, defines a neo-conservative?

Please, anyone, a good, concise, non-derogatory definition.

[AndyJackson]

Elizabeth Drew made a similar point, if more opaquely: Because some . . . of the neoconservatives are Jewish and virtually all are strong supporters of the Likud party's policies, the accusation has been made that their aim to "democratize" the region is driven by their desire to surround Israel with more sympathetic neighbors. Such a view would explain the otherwise puzzling statements by Wolfowitz and others before the [Iraq] war that "the road to peace in the Middle East goes through Baghdad."

Either the author, or Elizabeth Drew, or both, are trying to find a dark conspiracy in what seems to be a pretty sensible and straightforward view of the problems and possble solutions in the middle-east. Surely they do not hold the contrary position - that all of the problems for nearly 1 Billion people spread over millions of square miles is the result of problems affecting a couple of million occupying what could be no more than 100 square miles or so? It is like Davis blaming his problems on U.S. foreign policy in Antigua.

[William McKinley]

Perhaps he should have put quoters around the 'hidden Jewish interest', but given that in the previous paragraph, less than 20 words before, he had used the terms egregious and explicit, the author probably felt it was unnecessary. As would have I.

As for the title, I guess it loses something in the context. The website I got it from is a hotbed of neoconservatism; there it would be taken as ironic or sarcastic. Here, where there is a contingent that is highly antagonistic, it may not have been the best title; but then they chose the title for their website, not this one.

[Helms]

"Over the last months, the term "neoconservative" has been in the air as never before in its 30-year career."

This is largely because the Kultur War is fully engaged and pits the deconstructed Postmodernist Leftists against their arch rivals the Neo-cons.

What might ‘postmodern history’ look like?

* malleability of language and identity, undecideability, reflexivity (not objectivity), multiple voices...

* understanding conditions of judgement, writing, subjectivity without preset schema

* revelling in multiplicity and open-endedness...

http://www.arts.auckland.ac.nz/online/history300/lect7.html