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I don't like Zinni one little bit.

I agree the term NeoCon often insinuates Jewish.

I do not however agree that it ALWAYS means Jewish anymore than PaleoCon ALWAYS means anti-semite.

I think learned folks here know the differences.

I do enjoy seeing Zinni squirm over it even if perhaps unjustified in my view.

I agree the term NeoCon often insinuates Jewish...I do not however agree that it ALWAYS means Jewish anymore than PaleoCon ALWAYS means anti-semite.

You're right, they're old terms, but unfortunately recent usage has made them imprecise, at best, in terms of defining political views.

Interestingly a search for neocon+Jewish from Jan 1, 1995 to Dec 31, 2000, six years, returns 21 hits, of a total 381 for neocon alone. The same search from Jan 1, 2004 to today, less than six months, results in 25,200 hits, of 88,200 for neocon.

Clearly, in 2004, neocon is not only far more commonly used, but the faith of the neocons is a vital issue to many.

"Neocon" actually re-emerged from the left in this recent incarnation. I think it was a salon.com article that started up the whole kerfuffle in the last few years. Strictly speaking, a neocon is only someone who was left-wing (usually communist) who became a "man of the right" if not a full-blown conservative. It would not be appropriate to refer to any prominent commentator today, with the exception of David Horowitz as a neocon.

There are two reasons the term survives: (1) the neocons developed a distinct ideological strain that abandoned the isolationism that characterized conservatism, but had not been a factor in the larger movement because of the need for engagement in order to fight communism and (2) Bill Krisol emerged as a prominent commentator and he is often thought of as being an extension of his father.

Not everyone who uses the term neocon is using it as code for Jewish, but everyone who implies or states that neocons run the administration is.

The fact is, we are all neocons now: Reagan, Gingrich, W can be put, ideologically, in what is viewed as the neocon camp.